August 2011
4 posts
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ray johnson to robert warner, reprinted in esopus 16
i’ve spent the past few nights reading the collected correspondence of ray johnson, an artist whose best work was done in the mail. johnson’s letters are always funny and sometimes sad. several of his them are stamped BRUE EYES CRUB. several are stamped with snakes. several of them mention a mythical place called NIPPLE...
I rarely hold opinions more than a few hours. Finishing leaves me with despair. But I also make wild, rather intriguing collages that fascinate me by their separateness. Don’t remind me that I turned out wrong because I had a nanny who washed my wee-wee out with Q-tips and I wore hats and coats to match…. I feel best when alone with pocket money, quite thin, agile, and slightly viscious…....
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dear stubborns: we are eminently changeable beings
(As Oscar Wilde pointed out, people didn’t see fogs before certain 19th century poets and painters taught them how to; surely, no one saw as much of the variety and subtlety of the human face before the era of the movies.)
susan sontag, “the aesthetics of silence,” 1969.
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“Babies in carriages take to me instantly,” Ms. Byrd said, leaving the salon as a blonde a shade beyond beach. “I think it’s because they were conceived while their parents were watching my show. Dogs love me, too. I’m like an old friend because when people fall asleep with me on TV, the dog is still watching.”
robin byrd in the nytimes, c. 1996....