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Where Art and Mail Collide
This lens is my attempt at pulling the various strands of the mail art movement into one cohesive resource. Mail Art, or Postal Art, is many things to many people: sending art randomly to friends, swapping art covered envelopes with other artists and many variations including artist trading card swaps.
My friends involved in correspondence art in the 1980's and '90's were counterculture folk interested in recycling and giving postal workers something interesting to look at. I found mail art to be part intellectual artsy snobbishness (and I can talk cause I've been there, done that) and part silly madness. It was a way to let the otherwise serious artist's trickster side come out. Today there are so many people of varying degrees of artsy-ness sending works of art through the mail to each other that it's become more of a fad and less of a statement. But, at the same time, I think it's a good thing that the line between an "artist" and the rest of the populace is getting blurred. To me, the concept of mail art is what started that merging of worlds.
Art courtesy of Lord Marmalade on Flickr
My friends involved in correspondence art in the 1980's and '90's were counterculture folk interested in recycling and giving postal workers something interesting to look at. I found mail art to be part intellectual artsy snobbishness (and I can talk cause I've been there, done that) and part silly madness. It was a way to let the otherwise serious artist's trickster side come out. Today there are so many people of varying degrees of artsy-ness sending works of art through the mail to each other that it's become more of a fad and less of a statement. But, at the same time, I think it's a good thing that the line between an "artist" and the rest of the populace is getting blurred. To me, the concept of mail art is what started that merging of worlds.
Art courtesy of Lord Marmalade on Flickr
The Twitter Mail Art Project
A lens about a group of mail artists who were organized via Twitter.-
The Twitter Mail Art Project
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It's really amazing what happens when you express your passion for something. By sharing my love of art on Twitter, I have met others who have this same passion, and together we've cooked up some pretty interesting ideas. One of these ideas was to s...
Correspondence Art Gallery
Monty Cantsin: Greet...
IMG_1948
Halloween Cards Read...
IMG_1949
Mailart #7
Mailart #8
Mailart #10
Mailart #9
Mailart #1
Mail art
Fluxus mail art
Mail art, Copyleft b...
Fax art
![[e]mailart stamp #2 by runran](http://static.flickr.com/3545/3493339818_19022a028e_s.jpg)
[e]mailart stamp #2
![[e]mailart stamp #1 by runran](http://static.flickr.com/3544/3492436435_9c5b45964b_s.jpg)
[e]mailart stamp #1
A beautiful woman ha...
Renato soldato
artistampseriesNo.54
automatically generated by Flickr
What is a mail art call or exhibition?
A mail art call and/or exhibition is when a piece of art is sent in to be displayed either in a real life or virtual exhibition.
Mail Art Calls/Projects/Swaps/Invitations
Opportunities to send and receive mail art.
- Mail art Page
- **THIS MAIL ART PAGE IS UPDATED ON A WEEKLY BASIS** The Mail Art Projects listed here come from a variety of sources. Please contact me if you want to announce your own mail art project : Gandha Key, email:gandha07[@]yahoo.co.uk
- Mail Art Projects
- Overview of Mail-Art projects provided by the authors of this blog. If you want to enter information as well. Send an e-mail to info@iuoma.org The blog can contain all kind of projects the group wants to share. There is also a blog for a general Mail-Art Discussion
What's a swap?
A swap involves a group who sends the set amount of entries to the swap leader, who then sends them back out to members of the group.
Good Mail Day
A Primer for Making Eye-Popping Postal Art
Good Mail Day: A Primer for Making Eye-Popping Postal Art
Amazon Price: $13.59 (as of 12/10/2009)
Readers will learn to create decorated and illustrated envelopes, faux postage and artistamps, find penpals, make a mail art kit, and much more!
How to Do It
Different methods to create your mail art
- Mail Art at Art By the Yard
- A brief explanation of how to create mail art.
- Go Make Something - Mail Art How-To Instructions
- What On Earth Is Mail Art? * Metal Flashing Mail Art * Plastic Bottle Mailgrams
- How to Be a Good Mail Art Participant - Associated Content
- Might be obvious to some, but if you've never exchanged art by mail this is a good list of what to do.
Mail Me Art:
Going Postal with the World's Best Illustrators and Designers
Mail Me Art: Going Postal with the World's Best Illustrators and Designers
Amazon Price: $19.80 (as of 12/10/2009)
Mail Me Art began with an idea. It became a community. But it doesn't end there. Open this book, experience the array of mail art illustration, and become part of the journey.
Ray Johnson, the "father" of modern mail art
Ray Johnson was a collage and performance artist who was part of the Pop Art movement in New York. Although less famous than his friends Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, the de Koonigs, etc. his influence can be seen in the collages, mail art, artist trading cards, altered art, art swaps/round robins and other mainstream paper arts activities of today.
After a decade of making collages he wondered what to do with them all and started sending them out in the mail to friends and acquaintances along with instructions to send the pieces on and even alter them. In 1962 he dubbed it "The New York Correspondance (sic) School".
The documentary How to Draw a Bunny inspired me to create this lens. It shows how even the most eccentric and celebrated artists have the same problems as the rest of us artistically.
After a decade of making collages he wondered what to do with them all and started sending them out in the mail to friends and acquaintances along with instructions to send the pieces on and even alter them. In 1962 he dubbed it "The New York Correspondance (sic) School".
The documentary How to Draw a Bunny inspired me to create this lens. It shows how even the most eccentric and celebrated artists have the same problems as the rest of us artistically.
Nick Bantock
The man who made mail art mainstream
Nick Bantock's first book, Griffin and Sabine: The Extraordinary Correspondence (1991), is written and illustrated in the form of letters between two people. The more artistic side of the rubber stamp crowd grabbed onto this idea and made mail art and collage a popular form of artistic expression. Today there is a line of Nick Bantock rubber stamps and ink. His work continues to be very popular in the paper arts world.
Mail Art Books
Fascinating Looks Inside the Postal Art Movement
and some pretty pictures, too
curated content from YouTube
Mail Art Blogs
Image courtesy of wiccked on Flickr.
- Mail Art Postcard Exhibition
- This is an exhibit of mail art postcards. Any techniques or media are welcome, from hand made to digital creations. Not all cards submitted will be posted. Artists may send their pieces by traditional postal mail or by email.
- Frips Mail Art Blog
- The catalog/blog of mail artist Frips.
- A.1.Mail Art Archive
- Current blog that catalogs mail art.
- arriving and outgoing mail art
- "In this blog you can see my outgoing mail art - collARTages - as well as the arriving mail art."
- mailXart
- mailxart's journalLog
From Here to Arternity
A Mixed Media Metamorphosis for the Time of Your Life
From Here to ARTernity is self-paced e-course with live teleclasses + Authentic Art Supply Kit sent to you via U.S. mail. It is a fun, yet powerful Mixed Media Metamorphosis that invites you to make dynamic, magical shifts in your life by organically re-shaping the way you think about time and completely altering the way you see it and use it!
The Latest Buzz about Mail Art
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- armundsexy
- heute: DIN A6 - #vernissage im kunstraum t27 #neukölln - mail art von (fast) allen künstlern der galerie http://kunstraumt27.de
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- weeklyhoot
- didn't get any mail art today and no correspondance.
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- Spike_Dennis
- Working on some pieces for some upcoming mail art projects this evening
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- WhittheNinja
- @reallybignumber Want some sappy mail art!?
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- learntoart
- @kendraart I know! everytime I have to mail art, I cross my fingers! it doesn't seem right!
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- laurennscott
- spending the day doing all mail art and post related things. :]
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- madamemuffin
- @cutclick howzat then? re mail art exhibitionionion
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- poxaro
- RT: @CenSta: Submit your work for the @cutclick mail art themed exhibition. Full details here: http://bit.ly/cutclick
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- robertoallen
- RT @CenSta: Submit your work for the @cutclick mail art themed exhibition. Full details here: http://bit.ly/cutclick
automatically generated by Twitter
Great Mail Art Idea
What to do with junk mail...
Jen Light on Flickr takes those business reply cards such as you get in magazines and puts art on the non postage side and sends them back. Although I suppose the companies don't really appreciate that (might even be illegal for all I know) there's something good about the idea that could be refined.
Artistamps
An outgrowth of mail art, artistamps are faux postage usually featuring imaginary places.
The Latest Blog Posts About Mail Art
Image courtesy of Lord Marmalade on Flickr.
- arriving and outgoing mail art: no mail art today, but instead ...
- Mail Art annotated Bibliography by John Held Jr. / Ray Johnsons Paper Snake from 1965 / Catalogue of the Ray Johnson exhibition in 1999 / the Art hats from 1983 / A Mail Art catalogue from 1982. I plan to exhibit those catalogues ...
- Bismarck Mail Art ...: ... some books related to Mail Art
- Send me mail art on the subject "Otto von Bismarck", 2011 there will be an exhibition in the Museum: Museum Obere Saline - Bismarck Museum - Bad Kissingen (Germany). How do you see this famous politician today, be creative, critic, ...
- Mail Art Projects: MAIL ART “SPORT AND ART”
- Overview of Mail-Art projects provided by the authors of this blog. If you want to enter information as well. Send an e-mail to info@iuoma.org The blog can contain all kind of projects the group wants to share. ...
- M O N E Y mail-art call: wacky's reply to Art Postal
- M O N E Y mail-art call. Where did it all go? Can I have it back, please? Can I create my own? When did you last see your money? How much is that in real money? Who needs it anyhow? Is it only a dream? ...
Further Reading
- The Electronic Museum of Mail Art
- Chuck Welch's online museum of mail art.
- Postal Art History
- A brief history of postal art from the turn of the 20th century.
- Mail Art | Artist Trading Cards | Artistamps
- Links to mail art or postal art information and art calls.
- Vortice Argentina
- A wealth of information about mail art here.
- Mail Art
- A group of sites (webring) with content relating to mail art. Probably more information here than you can ever have time to get through.
- Open Directory - Arts: Visual Arts: Mail Art and Artistamps
- A huge list of links about mail art.
- A Mail Artist's Anthology. Ruud Janssen , TAM & IUOMA , 28 Year History in MAIL ART.
- MAIL ART. MY WORK IN THE MAIL ART NETWORK. MAIL ARTIST. PUBLISHER OF MAIL INTERVIEWS, FOUNDER OF THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF MAIL-ARTISTS IUOMA, TAM RUBBERSTAMP ARCHIVE, TRAVELLING MAIL ART
Astarte's Mega-Zine
Go Make Art!
A high quality, downloadable, e-zine in the style of Somerset Studio or Cloth, Paper Scissors with articles by and about popular artists such as Claudine Hellmuth, Lee Silbers, Leslie Riley and others. Not only are there articles about everything from collage to polymer clay to felting to creativity and beyond, there is free clipart in every issue!Take it from someone who has subscribed to Somerset Studio from it's beginning, Astarte's Mega-Zine is in the same league. It's gorgeous and very much worth taking a look at!
Casa Maison Haus von Collage
The blog of mail artist Jim Kaufmann of Iowa City, Iowa
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byThe Artist Trading Card or ATC
Artist Trading Cards are another outgrowth of mail art. They are individual pieces of art created on 2.5 x 3.5 inches substrates (the size of playing cards). Technically they are never sold, only traded. ACEOs, or Artist Cards Editions & Originals are the commercial version.
Comments
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- BuffaloKid BuffaloKid Jul 24, 2009 @ 8:14 pm
- This is a super lens. Thank you so much for putting the work into it. It will take me a while to visit all the sites referenced here but you can be sure that, in the meantime, I'll be tweeting about it. Five up!
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- Ramkitten Ramkitten Jul 24, 2009 @ 10:03 am
- I'm off to tell my husband, a Twitter mail artist about this now. Great lens!
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- Evelyn_Saenz Evelyn_Saenz May 19, 2009 @ 11:31 am
- I had never thought of mail as art before. Cleaver idea.
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- homecarediva homecarediva Apr 9, 2009 @ 3:00 am
- Now that is cool! This lens is invited to join The Cool Lens Group - where EACH lens gets VOTES from the admin and gets FAVORITED too. Hooray, one of the coolest and busiest groups is reopened.
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Reply
- karanta karanta Apr 5, 2009 @ 7:19 pm
- Interesting lens!
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by Intuitive
I am a massage therapist, artist, crafter, blogger, foodie, and Second Life enthusiast.
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