Painting To Be Stepped On 1960

Editor: This is Yoko Ono’s “Painting to Be Stepped On” from 1960, an assemblage incorporating photography and found objects. It feels almost like a dare… what do you make of this? Curator: Ah, yes. Ono, a force! At first glance, it's unassuming, a grainy photo of what appears to be fabric scrap. The little typed note is so easy to miss, practically whispering an instruction rather than shouting. I find myself contemplating its playful irreverence, almost like a Dadaist prank. It asks, what happens if art is meant to be…violated? Do you think she wanted people to actually step on it, or is it more of a conceptual game? Editor: It’s interesting you say Dadaist, because I immediately went to, well, should I actually step on a photograph in a gallery?! And if it’s *art*, does that change things? Curator: Exactly! That discomfort, that hesitation – that's the heart of it. It dismantles the traditional reverence surrounding art, turns the gallery space into…well, a playground, or even a battleground. Consider her performance art too – often inviting audience participation, destruction, creation. A lot of Fluxus was happening then, challenging conventions. How does that affect your reading? Editor: Definitely complicates it, because now I'm thinking about the context, the breaking down of barriers…it makes me reconsider where the ‘art’ really lies: in the object or in the interaction. Curator: Precisely! Isn’t it fascinating how a simple, almost crude assemblage can open up so many questions about art's function and our expectations of it? Editor: It really is. I came in thinking it was provocative for shock value, but now it feels more like an invitation for dialogue – and maybe a little bit of rule-breaking.