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Activated Art and the Politics of Repair: Yoko Ono's Mend Piece

Yoko Ono’s Mend Piece stands as a testament to the transformative power of art, transcending the gallery space to create a dialogue on healing, value, and human interconnectedness. Presented at the Springfield Art Museum, the piece asks participants to engage directly with broken ceramics—cups, saucers, and dishes—using glue and string to repair the fractures. This participatory nature makes Mend Piece an ideal candidate for analysis through the lens of Activated Art, which emphasizes art as a means of creating tangible change rather than passive observation (Ono, 2022). By inviting the audience to physically mend something that is broken, Ono metaphorically challenges our collective mindset on brokenness—whether in individuals, relationships, communities, or even the environment.

Hal Foster’s Critique: The Artist as Ethnographer

Using Hal Foster’s concept of the “artist as ethnographer,” we can understand Mend Piece as more than just a call for repair; it’s an anthropological study that positions participants as both artists and healers. Foster criticizes the ethnographic turn in art, where artists often approach cultures as an "other" to be studied and represented. However, in Mend Piece, Ono avoids this pitfall by making the act of mending personal and universal. Participants aren’t asked to repair someone else’s culture—they are asked to repair the damage within their own hands, reflecting their internal and external worlds. The result is a work that encourages self-reflection while also commenting on broader societal fractures (Foster, 1995).


Foster’s lens allows us to see the artwork as a social critique—one that resists the commodification of culture and, instead, emphasizes participatory action. By involving the audience, Ono challenges the passivity often associated with art consumption. Her work pushes viewers to reckon with the idea of brokenness not as an end state but as a process of ongoing repair and healing.

Environmental and Economic Dimensions of Mend Piece

In a world increasingly driven by consumerism and disposability, Mend Piece calls attention to the environmental implications of our actions. The broken ceramics symbolize our throwaway culture—where objects, and even relationships, are discarded when they no longer serve us. This resonates with current environmental crises, where ecosystems are often seen as irreparably damaged or not worth the effort to salvage. By physically repairing these broken objects, participants engage in a symbolic act of environmental care. The repair becomes a metaphor for restoring not just objects, but also the planet (Setyawan et al., 2021).


Ono’s work also critiques economic systems that devalue repair in favor of new consumption. In capitalist economies, there is little incentive to repair what’s broken—whether that’s an object, a community, or a natural landscape. Instead, value is placed on acquiring new things. But as participants engage in the slow and deliberate process of mending the broken ceramics, they are reminded that repair is not only possible, but also meaningful. This act becomes a powerful critique of our globalized, consumer-driven economy.

Future Iterations: Repair as Activism

Building on Ono’s concept, future iterations of Mend Piece could extend beyond the gallery into real-world environmental activism. Imagine participants not just mending ceramics, but repairing deforested landscapes or polluted waterways. This expanded version of Mend Piece would merge art with direct environmental action, turning the symbolic act of mending into tangible ecological repair (Collins, 2021).


Additionally, in the digital age, Mend Piece could evolve into a digital platform where participants "repair" fractured online communities. In a world where social media platforms are rife with division and misinformation, a digital version of Mend Piece could encourage participants to engage in constructive dialogue, working together to mend the societal and emotional fractures that dominate online spaces.


Conclusion: Art as a Force for Change

Yoko Ono’s Mend Piece epitomizes the core of Activated Art, asking viewers to move beyond passive observation into the realm of action. By mending what is broken, participants are drawn into a conversation about fragility, value, and care. Using Hal Foster’s theory of the “artist as ethnographer,” we can see how Mend Piece goes beyond ethnography to become a lived experience—a call for repair in every sense of the word.


Ono’s work challenges us to rethink our relationship with brokenness and repair. Whether applied to personal trauma, community healing, or environmental destruction, Mend Piece forces us to consider that healing is possible, and more importantly, that it is necessary. The future of Mend Piece lies in its ability to adapt and evolve, calling on new audiences to engage in the ongoing process of mending the world around them.


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