''Apple'' is a 1966 conceptual artwork by the Japanese artist

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

. The work is classified as

Temporary art Ephemeral art is the name given to all artistic expression conceived under a concept of transience in time, of non-permanence as a material and conservable work of art. Because of its perishable and transitory nature, ephemeral art (or temporary ...

Work

The work consists of an

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

on top of a

plexiglass Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a synthetic polymer derived from methyl methacrylate. It is a transparent thermoplastic, used as an engineering plastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and bran ...

stand. A brass plaque bearing the word 'APPLE' is fixed to the front of the stand. The piece was subsequently covered in

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

as part of Ono's 'Bronze Age' series of artworks.

History

The work was shown at Ono's autumn 1966 show, ''Unfinished Paintings and Objects By Yoko Ono'' at the

Indica Gallery The Indica Gallery was a counterculture art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first us ...

in London. The preview night of Ono's Indica exhibition on 9 November 1966 was visited by the musician

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

who had heard that "this amazing woman was going to be putting on a show...and it was going to be a bit of a happening". Lennon described himself as "astounded" at the "apple on sale for two hundred quid; I thought it was fantastic—I got her work immediately...it was two hundred quid to watch the fresh apple decompose". The piece also appealed to Lennon as he "didn't have to have much knowledge about avant-garde or underground art... the humor got me straight away". Lennon took a bite out of the apple on display, before apologising and putting the apple back. Ono later recalled that "...he just grabbed it and bit it and looked at me like, you know, "There!" you know? I was so furious, I didn't know what to say. And it all showed in my face: How dare this person, you know, mess around with my work?". Lennon was subsequently impressed by his interaction with Ono's piece '' Ceiling Painting/Yes Painting''. ''Apple'' was recreated for the first time in four decades in 2006 at a recreation of the Indica Gallery at the art gallery

Riflemaker Riflemaker is a contemporary art business and exhibition space in London specialising in exhibiting and representing emerging artists. The building is a historic gunmaker's workshop off Regent Street. Built in 1712, it is one of the oldest publ ...

in London's Soho district. The original Indica had closed in 1967. The piece was displayed at Ono's 2015 retrospective, ''Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960–1971'' at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York City. Critic Bruce Handy highlighted ''Apple'' as one of the "must see" pieces from the exhibition, and believed the

itself to be of the

Granny Smith The Granny Smith is an List of apple cultivars, apple cultivar that originated in Australia in 1868. It is named after Maria Ann Smith, who Fruit tree propagation, propagated the cultivar from a chance seedling. The tree is thought to be a Hybri ...

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

Interpretation

In 1966, Ono described the "...excitement of watching the apple decay, and the decision as to whether to replace it, or just thinking of the beauty of the apple after it's gone". Bruce Handy wrote that the accompanying label for ''Apple'' highlighted for the viewer the juxtaposition between the physical permanence of the pedestal's brass plaque and the "passage of time marked by the apple's decay and periodic renewal as it is replaced throughout the course of the exhibition" a relationship that begins as "the transparent base recedes into space".

References

{{Yoko Ono 1966 works Apples Conceptual art Works by Yoko Ono