RALPH LEMON
Choreographer and Artist
The choreographer and artist once said he aspired to be “only a rumor.” In a boundary-pushing survey at MoMA PS1, which ran through this March, his ineffable ability to fuse the two disciplines was on full display
WHAT QUESTION DO YOU ASK YOURSELF MOST OFTEN WHILE YOU’RE MAKING WORK? How much do I care about this thing that I am doing?
WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE, WHAT WERE YOU KNOWN FOR? Instigating. I drove my siblings crazy—as much as I loved them. Once, one of my sisters became so angry that she stabbed me in the arm with a pencil.
NAME AN INFLUENCE OF YOURS THAT MIGHT SURPRISE PEOPLE. My two daughters.
“How much do I care about this thing that I am doing?”
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SURPRISED YOURSELF IN YOUR PRACTICE? This afternoon.
WHO DO YOU CALL THE MOST? My mother.
WHAT’S ONE BOOK, WORK OF ART, OR FILM THAT GOT YOU THROUGH AN IMPORTANT MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE? The Miles Davis quote “Play what’s not there.”
in your life?
