Mail Art

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Baltimore Mail Art
postal systems as venue & medium for artistic exchange

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[edit] What is Mail Art?

From Wikipedia: Mail Art is art which uses the postal system as a medium. The term mail art can refer to an individual message, the medium through which it is sent, and an artistic genre. Mail art is also known as postal art and is sometimes referred to as Correspondence/Mail Art (CMA).

Mail artists typically exchange ephemera ...

[edit] From "Rev." Paul

[edit] My participation in the Jungle of Mail Art
by "rev."paul (j. mitchell-summers)

I was first made aware of Mail Art / Postal Art in El Paso texas. I was still an undergraduate ceramics student at the University of Texas at El Paso. It was a summer break when a California mail artist visited El Paso. I dont even remember how we met or her name, but she told me about this art movement that had been going on since 1950. Mail Art began when artist Ray Johnson had an exhibition in New York called Correspondence. This show consisted of objects & decorated postcards of Ray Johnson's correspondence with other New York artists. The first Mail Art Show included pieces of burnt wood from one artist's home that burned down. Other such objects & paper postcard-sized cards were hung on the gallery walls. An art movement was born ... (More will be added as I review my histories of mail art as a movement & will add to this page.) Peace- "rev."paul

(Jan08)


[edit] Mail Art Shows

Spring 1981- another ceramics artist(Linda Joens) & I came up with a proposal for a mail art show to be held at the Glass Gallery at the University of Texas at El Paso. The Name of this show was called-"Mail Art for a Cosmic Age". I did not at this time have all that many mail art contacts, but after designing our poster & sending it to all the mail artist's i then knew of & by posting the announcment to many art magazines in the ads sections we managed to attract a very good number of artist's to post entries.

While there are no real 'rules' to mail art shows - the following is a few of the things to know in mounting this kind of show: 1. a mail art may or may not have a central theme. 2. there are no limits to how many entries anyone may send in. 3. there is no limit to size or media used. 4. all work is exhibited. 5. there is usually a catalogue made up & sent to all participants.

Unlike other art exhibitions there is no jury. The idea to this- is that no jury could possibibly 'grade', or judge any one work. Mail art is not the same as a regular art show in that it is radically different & aims to be inclusive. The catalogue is intended also to be a vehicule for the participants to know one anothers address- thereby increasing mail art proliferation as widely as possible. The catalogue can also be ones show record of the many mail art shows one has been in. There is no deadline- well there is a sort of deadline to let mail artist's know well enough in advance when & where to send works to be shown, but as it always happens - there will be artist's sending in postcards, packages, etc. all the way up to the deadline & even to the day of exhibit & placed on the walls. Mail art is also placed on walls in every spot imagineable. Mail art is as much about the art viewed by the public as it is about the communication between the many artists in any show. As you can imagine mail artist's will develope many new contacts & friendships with a huge number of artist's all over this global village. As one receives new postal art cards & whatever from the many new artist's that will send one new mailed objects- these are now one's archive of mailed things. As the reader can well imagine- any mail artist will keep a large number of these objects. Mail art consists of artist made booklets or chap books. Altered postcards & rubber stamped cardboard with many stickers. Rubber stamps can be hand made by carving with exacto knives rubber erasers, or images conceived by the artist and made by any rubber stamp place like card stores or companies that make stamps for any job. I have hosted mail art shows from Texas, Baltimore, Maryland and at Pennsylvanis State College (PSU). I know that with my very large address book - I can have any new message or show announcement in flux around this global village in only 2 weeks. When ever I move or because of illness & become unactive - I will make up a new postcard to tell the many postal artist's what is happening to me.This another good communicative thing about postal art. I dont really have to send hundreds of cards or xerox announcements to the world - my message will be copied (if one asks for it to be copied)& sent to anyone that I may not even know or mail to currently.





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[edit] History

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Correspondence or Postal or Mail Artists have been active in and around Baltimore since the 1970s or earlier. Sending their hand-crafted, rubber-stamped, xeroxed & collaged pieces through the (snail) mails, usually to other Mail Artists regionally & around the world. Historically, the free-spirited, experimental artwork is associated with the post-Dada movement of the 1960s, Fluxus in America, Europe & Asia.

[edit] Mail Art Links


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