Kota Ezawa: Lennon Sontag Beuys

Kota Ezawa

Lennon Sontag Beuys, 2004

Single-channel video (color, sound)

2:10 minutes, looped

Edition of 10

Lennon Sontag Beuys is an animated video projection based on existing footage of impassioned public speeches addressing notions of peaceful protest. Each segment features the piece's titular figures: John Lennon and Yoko Ono, surrounded by journalists, tout the potential of their "bed-in" to stop the war; Susan Sontag, seen giving a lecture at Columbia University, discusses how images of violence might be considered instruments of protest; and Joseph Beuys, filmed in the ‘70s during a public forum at the New School in New York, expounds on his thesis of “social sculpture." By bringing together these three distinct messages, Ezawa exemplifies how an artist — whether musical, literary, or visual — can act as an agent of social change.

Lennon Sontag Beuys was screened January 25 to 31, 2021, in conjunction with Haines Gallery's presentation in 4x8-bridges.