ABSTRACT
In late 1966, musician John Lennon was invited to attend an art exhibition called Unfinished Paintings and Objects at the Indica Gallery in London. He had no special interest in avant-garde art and had never heard of the artist, a woman named Yoko Ono, but when he arrived, one particular piece caught his attention: a tall stepladder in the center of the room. Mounted above it, on the ceiling, was a white canvas that appeared to be blank. Above the ladder, beside the ceiling-mounted canvas, hung a magnifying glass on a chain. John eyed this weird assemblage uncertainlywas he just supposed to look up at it? The painting looked blank-but if it was, why was the magnier up there? He bolstered his courage, climbed the wobbly ladder, and, precariously balancing on the top step, picked up the magnier and craned his neck to look up at the white canvas. At rst he thought it was blank, some kind of artistic statement about nothingness. But then he saw it: one tiny word, impossible to read without the glass, that would change his life forever.
