Self Portrait
Yoko Ono
Born Japan, 1933
1965
A modest brown paper envelope stamped in ink and inscribed in pencil, enclosing a tiny metal mirror, in which Yoko Ono offers an ironic “self-portrait” that makes whoever looks into it the subject.
At first glance the rough brown paper and bold, playfully capitalized stamp read like a quiet announcement, and the knowledge of the small mirror inside turns that modest object into an intimate trick that instantly makes you the work’s image.
A Fluxus-era conceptual multiple, this piece collapses authorship and portraiture by using everyday materials and viewer participation to make presence and perception the artwork itself.
Medium
Envelope with stamped ink and pencil, containing metal mirror
Dimensions
envelope: 2 7/16 x 4 1/4" (6.2 x 10.8 cm); mirror: 1 15/16 x 1 15/16" (4.9 x 5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Gilbert and Lila Silverman Fluxus Collection Gift
Accession
3186.2008.a-b
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
