Ray Johnson wrote poetic texts and letters and integrated language and a unique system of cryptic signs into his work. Considered by many the ‘father of Mail Art’, as early as 1953 Johnson began sending highly conceptual images/texts to friends, often encouraging the recipient to ‘add to’ the work, or ‘please send to’ someone else, or ‘return to Ray Johnson’. Forming the ‘New York Correspondence School’ in 1962, Johnson established an enormous network of participants throughout the world — one that remains active even after his death. Between 1963 and 1965, Ray Johnson printed thirteen pages of his book about death with the Pernet Printing Company, 120 Lexington Avenue at 28th Street. His title, which designated the thirteen unbound pages as a book, is A Book about Death, yet also A Boop about Death and A Boom about Death.

In “A Book About A Book About Death” close friend and author Bill Wilson elaborates on each of the pages of “A Book about Death”.

Ginger&Piss is a cross between an academic journal and a darts club newsletter. The journal (falsely quoting Lawrence Weiner) is published twice yearly, and starts off in a limited run. Each issue contains a maximum of 5 or 6 contributions, of any length necessary.

The idea behind Ginger&Piss is to offer an outlet for authors to say what they feel is vital (and not necessarily at all related to the art world). The concept dictates that each contributor writes under a pseudonym. We–the editors–guarantee full privacy. We see the use of pseudonyms as an answer to the cowardice of the art world, be it a somewhat hypocritical answer. By allowing a platform to exist for candid critique but at the same time by still letting the author hide behind a pseudonym, we recognize our own cowardice. In fact, Ginger&Piss fully embraces its somewhat misleading bravery, but we think it makes sense for now, for the current cultural climate. 

Gay is the “subject” of the second issue of Ginger&Piss and continues the magazine’s flirtation with all-purpose (non) themes. As a verb and as an expression (and maybe even a curse) Gay may appear less one-dimensional than Loud (Ginger&Piss’ first theme. Flamboyantly exhibited as internal swagger and compulsive paranoia, the articles in this issue continue Ginger&Piss’ journey towards immaculate speculation.

Dear Reader,

Ginger&Piss is Kunstverein’s in-house magazine — a cross between an academic journal and a darts club newsletter. Ginger&Piss (the name a misquotation of Lawrence Weiner) is published twice yearly, with the first edition appearing in a short run. Each issue contains a maximum of five or six contributions of varying length, appropriate to the individual subject matter.

The remit of Ginger&Piss is simple: to offer an outlet for authors to say what they feel is vital (and not necessarily at all related to the art world) but were unable, unwilling or too afraid to publish previously. The concept dictates that each contributor writes under a pseudonym. We — the editors — guarantee full anonymity.

Loud is the subject of the first issue and it is a broad — probably far too broad — theme (if a them at all). In fact Quiet might have been more appropriate. But we at Ginger&Piss think a clear, ‘honest’ voice is better suggested by volume than whispering.

— Krist Gruijthuijsen and Maxine Kopsa