Chess

IMAGINE PEACE

An avid chess player, Ono has made numerous objects based on a 1966 concept for an all-white chess set. Her simple alteration— painting the board and pieces a uniform white—derails any ordinary play of the game according to traditional rules. Instead, the players lose track of their pieces as the game progresses; ideally this leads to a shared understanding of their mutual concerns and a new relationship based on empathy rather than opposition. Peace is then attained on a small scale; perhaps the rules will even be revised so that the game can continue. While Play it by Trust, like White Chess Set, is of course closely related to Ono’s consistent and varied activities toward the attainment of world peace, its one-on-one scenario is consistent with her wish that her work encourage each of us first to “deal with oneself.” White Chess Set, which was at John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Tittenhurst Park residence, appeared in the film Imagine: In the movie, the famous couple argue over a game played out on this chess set. The first version of this piece was made for
Ono’s 1966 Indica Gallery exhibition and titled simply Chess Set. It consisted of a table whose surface was a chessboard made of alternating raised squares, a set of chess pieces, and two chairs, everything painted white. An accompanying sign attached to the table instructed viewers to play. Ono’s interest in chess is contextually linked to that of Fluxus mentor Marcel Duchamp, who in the 1920s announced his withdrawal from art-making to pursue his passion for chess.