RAY JOHNSON 96 - NOTHING, CHANCE AND IDENTITY

16 október 2023

#exhibition

#event

The mysterious circumstances of Ray Johnson's death generated speculation among his friends and the police. Friends who knew that he was careful with hidden relationships, symbols, and numerology, didn't fail to notice that Ray, aged 67 (6+7=13), arrived at a hotel on Friday, the 13th of January 1995, checked into room 247 (2+4+7=13), and prepared his suicide for 7:15 (7+1+5=13) am. Most likely, it was an art event. His only work where chance and diversity had no role to play. Some artist friends recalled that a few days earlier, Johnson had called and told them excitedly that he was working on his greatest performance.

Source: Sofia Kofodimos: The Open Curriculum of the New York Correspondence School: Ray Johnson’s Pedagogical Mail Art
Illustrations from Ray Johnson's *A Book About Death*, 1963–1965

For Ray Johnson (16 October 1927 – 13 January 1995), art was not about consumable objects, but about participation and collaboration. He was an agent of "nothings", imagining an event from which he immediately distanced himself and left the audience alone, thus allowing events to unfold spontaneously. About his lectures and meetings, Johnson explained, “I begin with no plan. I face the void…I play…I do nothing.” Johnson simultaneously asked and answered: “mail art is not a square, a rectangle, or a photo, or a book, or a slide. It is a river.”

Ray Johnson often drew or painted **ducks** that could be interpreted as **rabbits** laid on their sides. The **duck-bunny** image is Johnson's **alter ego**, functioning as a representation of his self-identity.

videos in the exhibition

CONNECTIONS: RAY JOHNSON ON-LINE (40:55)
Directed by Lars Movin & Steen Møller Rasmussen (2001, 41 min.).

A portrait of American artist Ray Johnson (1927-1995), based on a personal interpretation of Johnson's avant-garde strategies, using the telephone and the Internet as primary sources of sound and images.

The film features telephone statements by William Anastasi, Mark S. Bloch, Dot Capuano, Christo & Jeanne-Claude, John Giorno, Coco Gordon, Helen Harrison, Jon Hendricks, Les Levine, Katie Seiden, Lawrence Weiner and John Willenbecher

RAY JOHNSON MEMORIAL SPACE OF ARTPOOL, 1997 (12:07)
Correspondence Art of Ray Johnson, Ernst Museum, Budapest, 1997
(organiser and curator of the exhibition: György Galántai, Artpool) 

RAY JOHNSON MEMORIAL SPACE OPENING CEREMONY, 1997 (11:12)