Conducted by John Held, Jr.
September 10, 2012
Noriko Shimizu and Ryosuke Cohen. Photo courtesy of John Held Jr.
Ryosuke Cohen is not a Japanese Jew. He was introduced to Mail Art by prankster Byron Black (originally from Fort Worth, Texas, an ESL teacher and world traveler), who when asked to translate Ryosuke’s family name, should have replied Koan – but didn’t. A source of confusion perhaps, nevertheless, the Ryosuke Cohen appellation stuck. Ryosuke was not the first Japanese Mail Artist, but he is the longest running Japanese contributor to the international network, who has based his participation on his long running Brain Cell project, which gathers images from Mail Artists on a single page accompanied by an address list of contributors from some fifteen countries per unit. Doing so, he is perhaps more responsible for the spread of Mail Art than anyone else in the Network. I began writing to Ryosuke shortly after he became active in Mail Art, and have remained in contact with him for thirty years. Over this time, we have met on several occasions, both in the Untied States and Japan. Our most recent meeting was in Tokyo to view the exhibition, “Gutai: Spirit of an Era,” at the National Art Center. I took the opportunity to question him about his involvement in Mail Art.
Can you tell me when you began doing Mail Art?
1981.
How did you hear about it?
Byron Black, a Mail Artist from Canada [who had lived previously at Western Front, Vancouver, Canada]. He showed me Mail Art at AU group meeting. Shozo [Shimamoto] and I first found out about Mail Art at this time.
When year did AU [Artist Union or Art Unidentified] begin?
In 1976.
It was started by Shozo Shimamoto in his old house. The house where Gutai magazine was first printed.
Yes, in Nishinomiya.
for rest: see http://www.sfaqonline.com/2012/10/19/interview-with-ryosuke-cohen-f...
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