Curator, Christophe Cherix: Ono’s longstanding love for the sky began when she was a child growing up in Japan during World War II.
Yoko Ono: Well, I was getting into sky a lot – I mean, this was from the time that I was a teenager, even before I was a teenager. I got into it in the place that we moved during the war.
In those days, I just looked at the sky, and it was so beautiful. And there was not many beautiful things in my life except the sky. And the sky was always changing, bright, beautiful. And so I really fell in love with the sky at the time.
Christophe Cherix: The staircase was specially built for this exhibition.
Yoko Ono: The staircase itself has a touch of blue – so the touch of blue of the Manhattan sky. But still, it's far from the sky. And I like that concept, you know, that we are not tall enough to touch the sky.
Christophe Cherix: Nearby, you’ll find a piece called Sky TV.
Yoko Ono: You know how I made that one? So, I was moving to many different apartments, so a small apartment I got. And I went in. And there was no window. And I thought, "But I do need the sky." So I thought, "How am I going to get the sky?" I mean, you know, even with a window, we can't get it. And so – ah, what about the sky TV? So that's how I made the sky TV.