P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center presents Yoko Ono: Freight Train (1999) for the first time in New York. The work consists of an actual freight train with a locked door, riddled with bullet holes. Inside the freight train, there is a very strong light source sending beams of white light out of all the bullet holes and from a singular large hole in the roof.
The concept of Freight Train comes from a specific instance of human brutality. Several years ago, a group of Mexican workers attempting to enter the United States, were locked inside a freight train for the crossing, and perished when the transporters abandoned the train in the American desert. This single incident inspired the artist to create an artwork expressing resistance, healing, and hope for the next century.
Yoko Ono is a multi-media artist who constantly challenges and stretches the traditional boundaries of sculpture, painting, film, photography, theater and music. Born in Tokyo on February 18, 1933, her long and varied career began with her seminal performance art as a member of the Fluxus group in the early 1960s and continued in the 1970s with her experimental films and collaborative music with husband John Lennon. From the 1980s to the present her artwork has been shown internationally in one-woman shows and retrospectives. Yoko received the Skowhegan Award in 2002.
Freight Train was first exhibited in Berlin in 2000 and then exhibited in Yokohama in 2001-2002. A sound element was added by the artist in 2001 for the Japanese exhibition.
