Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

GOOD Spends International Day of Peace With Yoko Ono

On the International Day of Peace, we spoke with Yoko Ono about her new Times Square installation to mark the occasion.

Yasha Wallin
By Yasha WallinSep 24, 2012
Yasha Wallin
See Full Bio

Today marks the International Day of Peace. To celebrate, activist, artist, lover, and legend Yoko Ono has taken over Time Square, one of the most trafficked intersections in New York City to spread her message of world peace and nonviolent action. Ono's films entitled "Imagine Peace" will display this exact message in 24 difference languages. Produced in conjunction with Art Production Fund and Times Square Alliance, they will show half-past every hour on three television screens—the largest measuring 15,000 square feet—throughout the day. The ambitious project is an extension of Ono'sImagine Peace Towerin Iceland, dedicated to John Lennon, which encourages the public to make a wish for a better world. To find out more about her installation we spoke with Ono, who has mobilized peace efforts through music, performance, installations, and "instructions" for decades.


GOOD: "Imagine Peace" aims to spread awareness and encourage the community to take responsibility and promote world peace. How can we turn that message into something tangible that we can do on a daily basis?

YOKO ONO: As you know, your thoughts create reality. The most pragmatic way to create world peace is to use your power of visualization. Think Peace, Act Peace, Spread Peace, Imagine Peace. Your thoughts will soon cover the planet. The most important thing is to believe in your power. It works.
GOOD:The Imagine Peace campaign encourages people to send in their wishes. What are some of the most memorable wishes you've read since the project's inception?
ONO: We don't read people's wishes. The wishes are suppose to be direct communication to the Universe. Your interception will weaken the power of the wish. All wishes create an upswing line when it is manifested. Therefore, together, it becomes an incredible upswing of power, whatever you wished. Of course, the more high level wishes, which covers the whole human race is stronger than wishing for getting ice cream for your dessert!
GOOD:How did your upbringing and some of the hardships you experience as a child propel you be involved in the peace work you do today?
ONO: I was not too aware of the connection, but the fact that I and so many of us of our generation, have experienced cruelty and severity of war and it's violence during the Second World War, must have been the basis of my feelings for the urgent need to create a better world.
GOOD:You have nearly three million followers on Twitter. Do you think social media and the advent of new methods of communicating are helping us or hurting us as a society?
ONO: What you call the "new method" if it is an effective one, is an ancient way we all know in the depth of our beings. As the mass understanding, it has been forgotten for many centuries. But now, because of the urgent need of our planet, we are starting to remember it, and bringing it out as pragmatic peace action.
GOOD:You've said growing up you always felt like an outsider, and you've been famously misunderstood artistically. Do you still feel that both of those things are true?
ONO: I still have the outsider's vision, which is creating wisdom I can share with the world. The fact that I am misunderstood has always given me an added impetus to work on communication to bridge the gap.
GOOD:You work across many mediums; do you have a particular allegiance to any?
ONO: I love all media.
GOOD:How do you feel feminist art has changed since you began producing work, and what do you think the female artist might still need to address?
ONO: We are still living in the male society. Many women, particularly in the Middle East, are suffering the life without human dignity and justice. We have still a lot of work to do.
GOOD: Who are some of your heroes?
ONO: Lately, so many activists sprung out in the world and they are doing incredible jobs that need much courage and daily effort. I respect and love them all, and the ones who have yet to bring out their potential activism.
GOOD: Aside from your vision for world peace, what are other issues that you are passionate about?
ONO: To have world peace, we all have to have a healthy understanding of what is necessary to bring World Peace. It's not something that will be dropped on our laps. We have to work for it. Until we get World Peace, I think my strongest passion stays in the effort to get it.
GOOD: What would be the one wish you'd write down today?
ONO: For us all to heal the damage done to our planet, it's life and our soul.

Photos courtesy of Art Production Fund and Yoko Ono


cultureartcreativitycitiesyoko onointernational peace dayelections and politics

The Latest

Woman pays $5 for stranger's food, a year later, she receives a heartwarming message
Heroes

Woman pays $5 for stranger's food, a year later, she receives a heartwarming message

Sister who had to wait years to adopt brother from foster care surprises him with a trip of a lifetime
Family

Sister who had to wait years to adopt brother from foster care surprises him with a trip of a lifetime

Woman learns husband’s ex-wife’s baby is going to foster care, decides to adopt him for heart-melting reason
Heroes

Woman learns husband’s ex-wife’s baby is going to foster care, decides to adopt him for heart-melting reason

A former nightclub could be Pittsburgh’s first LGBTQ landmark, but faces challenges from local developers.
Featured

A former nightclub could be Pittsburgh’s first LGBTQ landmark, but faces challenges from local developers.

More For You

11 hilarious posts describe the everyday struggles of being a woman

Between the bras, makeup, periods, catcalling, sexism, impossible-to-attain beauty standards, and heels, most men wouldn't survive being a woman for a day without having a complete mental breakdown. So here's a slideshow of some of the funniest Tumblr posts about the everyday struggles that women face that men would never understand.

All photos courtesy of Tumblr.

Keep ReadingShow less

Satanists put up a billboard in Florida promoting state's abortion law loophole

This article originally appeared on 12.30.20.



In some states, women are put through humiliating and dangerous pre-abortion medical consultations and waiting periods before being allowed to undergo the procedure. In four states, women are even forced to bury or cremate the fetal remains after the procedure.

These government-mandated roadblocks and punitive shaming serve no purpose but to make it more difficult, emotionally damaging, and expensive for women to have an abortion.

Keep ReadingShow less

Awesome chart shows you how far you can drive on empty.

There are two types of people in this world – those who panic and fill up their cars with gas when the needle hits 25% or so, and people like me who wait until the gas light comes on, then check the odometer so you can drive the entire 30 miles to absolute empty before coasting into a gas station on fumes.

I mean…it's not empty until it's empty, right?

Keep ReadingShow less

19 countries photoshopped one man to fit their idea of the perfect body

If you ask people what they think the “perfect" body looks like, you're sure to get a range of answers, depending on where the person is from. Last year, Superdrug Online Doctor created a project, “Perceptions of Perfection" that showed what people in 18 countries think the “perfect" woman looks like. The project was a viral hit.

They've recently released the male version.

This time, they asked graphic designers—11 women and eight men—in 19 countries to photoshop the same image to highlight the male beauty standards for their country.

Keep ReadingShow less

Trying To Guess Which Twin Smokes Is The Perfect Way To Help You Quit

It's not revolutionary news that smoking wreaks havoc on your body in different ways. More often than not, however, the focus of anti-smoking campaigns is on your internal health, citing emphysema, heart disease, and lung cancer, to name just a few consequences.

While the superficial effects may not be as lethal, appealing to people's sense of vanity can have a powerful effect as this clever gallery below shows. Twins, only one of whom smokes, sit side by side, showing the profound damage smoking can cause to your face, hair, and teeth.

Keep ReadingShow less

A viral Twitter thread about body autonomy is a reminder of the ‘fear’ and ‘shame’ women still are forced to confront.

Body autonomy means a person has the right to whatever they want with their own body.

We live in a world where people are constantly telling women what they can or can't do with their bodies. Women get it form all sides — Washington, their churches, family members, and even doctors.

Keep ReadingShow less

19 rude and selfish parkers who messed with the wrong parking lots

Vandalizing someone's car is wrong and illegal, so don't do it.

But what you can do is check out what happened to these incredibly rude parkers who ticked off the wrong people.

Keep ReadingShow less

A teacher's viral extra credit questions lure students into a phenomenal prank

A mystery teacher has become an internet scholar after imgur user SharkyTheSharkDog shared photos of the extra credit questions on their exams.

While the first six are really fun—you should see if you can get them all correct—the last one is pure torture in the form of public humiliation.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2025