Chess, Peace, Art: Yoko Ono's 'Play it by Trust' from War Is Over! (if you want it)

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hello everyone,

Chess, Peace and Art with Yoko Ono and Alexandra Kosteniuk: Jonathan Keats has done a nice review of a very special art exhibition in Australia: Yoko Ono's War Is Over! (if you want it). There's a special exhibit based on chess - 'Play it by Trust'.

Keats writes: Currently on exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia – and available for tournaments all day long every day of the week – Play It By Trust is as profound as it is simple. All chess pieces are white, as are all squares on the board: Both sides are identical and the contested ground is undefined. Intended “for playing as long as you can remember where all your pieces are,” the game is designed to undermine the competition it incites. Playing invites “a new relationship based on empathy rather than opposition,” Ono has noted. In contrast to antiwar propaganda, which tends only to make jingoists more bellicose, Ono’s chess sets dissolve absolutes. Participation changes people from within.

"The same is true of most of the art produced by Ono since the 1950s, and the majority of it falls into the rarest of cultural categories: Art that is essential, without which society would be considerably impoverished. The most vital and enriching are her Instruction Paintings, koan-like conceptual works that exist only in words until they’re performed. (“Drill a small, almost invisible hole in the center of the canvas and see the room through it,” reads her 1961 Painting to See the Room.)"

“You can assemble a painting with a person in the North Pole over a phone, like playing chess,” Ono once wrote. Or you can assemble it by trust – not unlike world peace.

Experience the works of legendary artist, peace activist and musician – Yoko Ono – when the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia brings War Is Over! (if you want it): Yoko Ono exclusively to Sydney this summer.

We're sure, Chess Blog readers also remember that Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk is an ambassador for Peace and Sport. One of the videos from this post (with more videos and photos) is GM Alexandra Kosteniuk's message of peace.

Chess Queen Kosteniuk’s Peace Message: Play Chess, No Wars!

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