Ray Johnson (1927–1995) was the founder and foremost proponent of the New York Correspondence School, an essentially conceptual enterprise consisting of an underground network of collaborators who sent mail to each other.  Placing special emphasis on the structure of the postal system and the interconnections it enabled, Johnson is known for a strategy called “on-sending” in which participants receive a letter or object in the post, add to or subtract from that item, and then mail it onward to another participant or return it to Johnson. 

For Johnson, mail art involved self-dissemination, the pleasant recruitment of others and an extensive gift economy. The whole concept of authorship was completely disrupted as was the commodification and institutionalization of art. Johnson’s mail art was markedly private while fostering community. His whole identity was reflected in it through its ever-evolving, metamorphic raw materials, methods, intersections, and collaborations. Characters like Mickey Mouse and Helena Rubenstein were present in many of Ray’s mailings as he was attracted to stars and cultural icons. All of his mailings were specific to the recipients and nothing was left to chance. Everything had a defined meaning although indecipherable to most.