
That Was the Answer: Interviews with Ray Johnson by Julie J. Thomson, David Bourdon, Sevim Fesci, Richard Bernstein, John Held, Diane Spodarek, Randy Delbeke, Richard Pieper, Henry Martin, Sydne Didier, Weslea Sidon, Shirley Samberg, Clive Phillpot, Ray
"I did one of my most bizarre lectures up at the Rhode Island School of Design. It consisted of my trying to move a piano across a stage, and people kept coming up to ask if they could help, and I said, 'Certainly not! I mean the point is that I can't move this piano, and I'm struggling to move it, and it's obviously not going to get moved across the stage, and I'm putting out a great exertion of energy, and I'm on a public platform, and you are all viewing me, which is the whole point of this thing.' I said, 'You figure it out.'"–Ray JohnsonRay Johnson (1927–1995) was a singular artist, for whom life and work were inextricably linked. Born in Detroit, Johnson attended Black Mountain College before moving to New York, where his work anticipated Pop art and he was active in early Fluxus circles. Best known for his collages and Mail art activities, including his New York Correspondence School, he operated fluidly in a wide range of modes. For Johnson, everything and everyone were potenti