Marjorie Cook, as part of Marnie Slaters Free Tours project did a tour of Paul John's inspired re-installation of Yoko Ono's plaque gifted as a tribute to John Lennon and what he stood for. I was at a concert by Lucky Dragons and I think the collaborative nature of it really rubbed off; a guy came up to me and asked if it was me who did the tour of Paul John's Strawberry Fields Forever (my picture is next to where it is advertised in the brochure), and seeing as I'm not Marjorie, and he claimed to be The Beatles' "Biggest Fan" AND is in a tribute band to them (!) we got to...collaborating, we thought how great it would be if there was another more joyous celebration with his band and a rerun of Marjorie's tour, which originally took place just after the official morning tea at the opening weekend. I think this is a great idea! But in case it doesn't happen within the parameters of SCAPE Marjorie has kindly reproduced her transcript for us. Thanks Marjorie :) And Enjoy....
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
“Strawberry Fields Forever”, the title of John Lennon’s 1966 song, takes its name from a children’s home in Liverpool, close to where John lived. John was brought up as an only child by his aunt and uncle and he used to enjoy going there to play with the other children. His aunt disapproved, but he still wanted to go and felt it was, “nothing to get hung about”.
Years later “Strawberry Fields Forever” was to become one of the many well-known songs performed by the Beatles.
The name has also been given to a memorial for John Lennon in Central Park, New York. After John was assassinated in 1980, his widow, Yoko Ono, provided a $1 million endowment as seed money for what she called an "international peace garden" which included 161 different plants, one from each nation of the world. The memorial features a stunning circular mosaic, where fans leave flowers, pictures and tokens in memory of John Lennon. The mosaic is made of black and white Italian marble with the word "IMAGINE" spelled out in the centre -- the title of John's poignant song, about his dreams for a better world.
In 1990, to mark the tenth anniversary of John Lennon’s death, Yoko Ono approached cities around the world, suggesting that they erect a plaque in John’s memory.
As a result, a “Strawberry Fields Forever” plaque was installed in Little North Hagley Park, Christchurch, and was surrounded with strawberry plants. The plaque was unfortunately removed some time during the intervening years, but now, through the vision and energy of Paul Johns, and the 2008 Scape Biennial of art in public space, it has been re-instated as we see it today.
John Lennon believed in, sang about, and stood for, world peace.
This plaque keeps alive the memory of John Lennon and what he believed in.
It provides a connection with people the world over who strive for peace, and those who visit here are reminded of his message:
Imagine all the people Living life in peace You may say that I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one \
To quote Liz Gogerly, in her book, “John Lennon: Voice of a generation”: “In many ways, John will always be here, in his music, and [in] his words. John would have been happy with that – he often said the message was all that mattered.”
And John Lennon’s message lives on here today.
Marjorie Cook, Scape 2008
Thanks Marjorie :)
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