Since the 1964 publication of her groundbreaking artist's book Grapefruit — often cited as an early example of conceptual art — much of Yoko Ono’s work has been instruction-based. In SOUND PIECE V (1996), Ono transforms the traditional musical score into a simple written prompt which, by inviting viewers to record the sound of their friends laughing, reveals the ordinary to be extraordinary. As Ono said of her instructions, “I like the idea of doing something that stimulates people’s minds and, of course, they can use their own creativity to think about it.”

For her participation in Feral File's MoMA-curated exhibition, SOUND MACHINES (March 2024), Ono reconceived SOUND PIECE V as a digital, on-chain interactive work that invites public participation. Each time the piece is performed, participants can add their own recordings to successively build an ever-evolving public archive of sound. Ono encourages any and all to contribute their own recording to this archive of laughter, which will remain freely accessible in perpetuity.

Through Whitney’s role as Executive Director at Feral File, Whitney oversaw artist and curator relations, exhibition management, and exhibition promotion. She worked with MoMA and Yoko Ono’s studio on the creative ideation for the artwork and with the Feral File engineering team to complete the technical execution.

Press:

• “Sound Art Gets a High-Tech Spin in MoMA and Feral File’s New Online Exhibition” by Richard Whiddington, published on Artnet, 1 March 2024.