bibliography

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

ONLINE
The site of Artpool, Budapest, gives an extensive overview of works, essays etc. by and about Ray Johnson. Includes biography, chronology and bibliography, and online publications about the correspondence art. Comparable is the bibliography on the site of the Ray Johnson Estate.

WRITINGS & INTERVIEWS

INTERVIEWS
Sevim Feschi
'Interview with Ray Johnson' conducted by Sevim Feschi on April 17, 1968 (Smithonian Archives of American Art. Oral History Interviews).
John Held jr.
'Illogical as an Instructive Process. An Interview with Ray Johnson'. The interview took place on December 2, 1977, at the Mid-York Library System, Utica, New York, the day following Ray Johnson's performance of Barry White Ecstasy, at the Root Art Center, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, where his work was on display. The interview is also online on the site of Fluxus Heidelberg Center.
Ruud Janssen
In 1994 Ruud Janssen published his 'Unfinished Mail-interview' with Ray Johnson, text-version of the two answers Ray give as part of the interview-project.
Henry Martin
'Should an eyelash last forever? An interview with Ray Johnson'. The interview was held in New York, 1982 and published in Lotta Poetica 2, no. 6 (February 1984) 3-24. The interview was reprinted in Donna De Salvo and Catherine Gudis (eds.), Ray Johnson Correspondences (Paris etc. 1999) 183-199. The interview is online available on the site of Artpool.
Clive Phillpot
Ray Johnson on Flop Art. Fragments from Conversations with Ray Johnson 1988-1994 (Fermley Press : London 2008)
- [abstract] Ray Johnson and Clive Phillpot corresponded from about 1981 to 1994. This correspondence was accompanied by phone calls that became particularly frequent from 1990, the year that Phillpot agreed to write about Ray for an exhibition in Philadelphia. Phillpot acquired the habit of taking notes of these conversations and now presents a small selection on five themes, accompanied by illustrations of correspondence sent and received in parallel with the calls.
R. Pieper
'Ray Johnson. Conversation with R. Pieper', published in Mail, Etc. Art (University of Colorado, Tyler School of Art, etc. 1980). The interview is online available on the site of Artpool.
Diane Spodarek and Randy Delbeke
On September 26, 1977, Ray Johnson had a conversation with Diane Spodarek and Randy Delbeke at the Detroit Artists Monthly offices. The interview was printed in the 'Detroit City Issue' of the The Detroit Artists Monthly (February 1978) and put on the site of Jim Pallas.
'A Panel Discussion on Ray Johnson'
Shortly after the death of Ray Johnson, WBAI-FM art critic Charlie Finch and Artforum Executive Publisher Knight Landesman assembled a panel to talk about Johnson's art and legacy. The panel: Chuck Close, artist; Jill Johnston, critic; Richard Feigen, dealer, Mark Bloch, multi-media and mail artist. The discussion is transcribed from live radio broadcast on the Pacifica Network's Artbreaking, on WBAI-FM in New York hosted by Charlie Finch. Portions reprinted from Coagula Art Journal Issue 18.

PUBLICATIONS

Peek a Book of the Week / Ray Johnson (Ray Johnson Graphic Design) : New York [1957?]) [8] p. ; 10 x 18 cm.
Book of the Month / from Ray Johnson (Ray Johnson : New York [1957?]) [8] p.; 11 x 18 cm.
A Book about Death / by Ray Johnson (Ray Johnson : s.l. 1960s). A set of offset mailings compiled in no prescribed order. Cf. Ray Johnson : Correspondences (Paris etc. 1999) and Correspondence, an exhibition of the letters of Ray Johnson (Raleigh 1976). Each copy has various foliations. Each copy has some sheets not found in the others. See Clive Philpott, 'Ray Johnson's Book about Death 1963-1965', published in Blastitude 13 (August 2002).
The Paper Snake / by Ray Johnson (Something Else Press : New York 1965) 50 pp. (unpaginated) 22 x 27 cm. 1840 copies, 197 copies special edition with collage or ephemera by Ray Johnson.
Reference: Peter Frank (ed.), Something Else Press. An annotated bibliography (Brattleboro 1983) 13.
Ray Johnson / [questions by Clive Phillpot; answers by Ray Johnson; photographs by Richard P. Meyer] (Nassau County Museum of Fine Art : Roslyn NY [1988], c1987) [8] p.: ill.; 17 cm. Printed as an edition of 125 copies.
Book about Modern Art / Ray Johnson (Ray Johnson : Locust Valley NY 1990- ). Contents: Book about Modern Art. Pt. 1, Book about Modern Art. Pt. 2, Book about Modern Art. Appendix, A book about Modern Art Nothing. Pt. 3.
A Book about Cranky Ant ... and other books, 1992-1993 / Ray Johnson (Ray Johnson : Locust Valley NY 1993). Contents: A book about Cranky Ant, Moderately Successful Pop Art, A book about Unknown Art, This Typewriter needs a New Ribbon.

CRITICISM AND INTERPRETATION

DISSERTATIONS/THESES
Michael Lumb
Mail Art 1955 to 1995. Democratic art as social sculpture (October 1997) Thesis, Chapter 1. deals specifically with Ray Johnson.

PERIODICALS
Lightworks No. 22 (2000). The Ray Johnson issue (includes CD-ROM).

ARTICLES, ESSAYS and PAPERS
Vittore Baroni
'Ray Johnson Raymembered'. Text for Arte Postale! 69 - Ray Johnson lives! Issue (1995).
Mark Bloch
'Cornering Ray Johnson', put on the site of Mark Bloch (s.a.).
Mark Bloch
Illustrated Introduction to Ray Johnson 1927-1995 (1995).
David Bourdon Jr.
'Cosmic Ray. An open letter to the founder of the New York Correspondence School - letter to the late artist Ray Johnson', published in Art in America (October 1995). Online available on FindArticles.
George Brett
Ray Johnson. A Critical Collage (1977; rev. ed. 1996).
Clive Phillpot
'The Mailed Art of Ray Johnson', published in the catalogue for the exhibition 'More works by Ray Johnson' held at the Goldie Paley Gallery, Philadelphia (November 1-December 15, 1991).
Robert Pincus-Witten
'About Ray Johnson', published in Art Journal (Spring 1977). Put online on the site of Artpool, Budapest.
Edward M. Plunkett
'The New York Correspondance School', published in Art Journal (Spring 1977). Put online on the site of Artpool, Budapest.
Allan Revich
Ray Johnson. Paper published for Digital Salon (2004).
John Suiter
'Last Post: Ray Johnson...', published in Independent on Sunday (June 4, 2000). Put online on the site of Warholstars.
William S. Wilson
'New York Correspondance School', published in Art and Artists 1, no. 1 (April 1966). It is accompanied by a new introduction written in February 2004 by the author William S. Wilson. Put online on the site of Warholstars.
William S. Wilson
'Ray Johnson and the number 13', published in Blastitude no. 13 (August 2002). Eternity Blast Special, edited by Cary Loren, page 13 of 13.

FILM & VIDEO

How to Draw a Bunny. Originally produced in 2000. Directed by John W. Walter and Andrew Moore. Runtime: 90', color, sound (mono).
Special features "From the cutting room floor", "The Ray Johnson memorial show", commentary track with director John Walter and producer/cinematographer Andrew Moore; photo gallery; previews. The documentary film 'How to Draw a Bunny', driven by an inquiry into Johnson’s mysterious suicide in 1995, which some consider to be his final 'performance' is itself a collage of photographs, artworks, interviews, letters and home movies that flow together like a jazz ensemble. It includes interviews with Roy Lichtenstein, Christo, Chuck Close, James Rosenquist, and Johnson himself.

Connections : Ray Johnson On-line by Lars Movin. Runtime: 41'.
The film is based on personal interpretations of Ray Johnson's artistic strategies, using the telephone and the internet as primary sources for sound and image. The film includes statements from William Anastasi, Mark S. Bloch, Dot Capuano, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, John Giorno, Coco Gordon, Helen Harrison, Jon Hendricks, Les Levine, Kalie Seiden, Lawrence Weiner, and John Willenbecher.