Yoko Ono Tribute Concerts

In concurrence with Yoko Ono's Wish Tree and A Dream You Dream Together – A Symposium Celebrating Yoko Ono, Making Space at the Armory presents two intimate tribute concerts in one of the Armory historic period rooms inspired by Ono’s works and legacy.

Matmos: Fresh Squeezed Grapefruit
Saturday, February 15, 2025 at 8:00pm

Experimental electronic music duo Matmos come to the Armory’s Veterans Room for a performance responding to Yoko Ono’s pathbreaking book of instructions Grapefruit (1964), first self-published in Tokyo in 1964. Using this foundational anthology of poetic and conceptual instructions, often with performative prompts, Matmos activates a selection of the objects and actions described in Ono’s text pieces, including: chewing gum, whispers, stones, masks, maps, smells, mirrors, water, sticks, alarms, flutes, pencils, tape, egg timers, gauze, and tuna fish sandwiches. Playing these objects, sampling and manipulating their sounds, Matmos enact Ono’s instructions and constructing new forms in real time out of these everyday materials in a performance titled “Fresh Squeezed Grapefruit.”

Double Bill: Alicia Hall Moran & Carl Hancock Rux
Sunday, February 16, 2025 at 8:00pm

The weekend continues with a double bill performance by vocalist and performer Alicia Hall Moran and visionary multidisciplinary artist, poet, playwright, and musician Carl Hancock Rux in the Veterans Room. A solo by Moran engages Ono’s 1981 song “Walking on Thin Ice,” while Rux is joined by DJ Spooky and Indian classical multi-instrumentalist Kamal Sabri in a meditative piece with three movements evoking Ono’s spoken word.