Film No. 4 (Bottoms)

In silent, black-and-white sequences, Yoko Ono shows 6 minutes and 9 seconds of naked, walking buttocks, including her own, her daughter’s, and a few of her artist friends’ in New York. Filmed in close-up on a concealed treadmill, the movements of flesh are transformed into a rhythmic, minimalist procession. Shot for George Maciunas’s first “Fluxfilm” anthology in 1966, the film displaces the face as portrait, proposing an image of humanity in its vulnerable and egalitarian form.
In the winter of 1967, Yoko One took part in the Exprmntl Festival in Knokke-de-Zout, where she presented not only Film No. 4 (Bottoms) but also her performance, Bag Piece. Ono’s Fluxus short film will be shown before the world premiere of the digital restoration of the film Exprmntl 4 Knokke by Claudia von Alemann and Reinold E. Thiel.

Born in Tokyo, Yoko Ono is an artist whose work spans visual art, performance, film, music and conceptual practice. Emerging in the early 1960s New York avant‑garde, she was a pioneering figure in Fluxus and conceptual art. Ono’s early instruction-based pieces and performances questioned the role of the viewer and the artist, dissolving fixed distinctions between art and everyday life. Her work has been widely exhibited in museums, galleries and festivals. Alongside her artistic practice, Ono has maintained a long-standing commitment to peace and social justice.

Director Yoko Ono.

Films: 1966: No. 4 (Bottoms) (Forum Expanded 2026), Match. 1968: Two Virgins (co-directed by John Lennon). 1969: Rape (co-directed by John Lennon), Bed Peace (co-directed by John Lennon), Self-Portrait. 1970: Apotheosis (co-directed by John Lennon), Fly (co-directed by John Lennon), Freedom (co-directed by John Lennon). 1971: Up Your Legs Forever (co-directed by John Lennon), Erection (co-directed by John Lennon). 1972: Imagine (co-directed by John Lennon).