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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
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.
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 Art Books
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
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.
The Latest Buzz about Mail Art
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- PetArtMelinda
- just finished a fun postcard for the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery-Mail art project-working on a custom dog pendant tonight and tomorrow.
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- cutclick
- Looking into having a mail art issue in nov. With a exhibition to go with it for early 2010. Would there be any interest?
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- mistressdebrina
- I'm about to update my blog with the latest mail art I've received!
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- andrewghayes
- @joannayoung What's the mail art project?
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- crafthotty
- New post! Mail Art: A D.I.Y. Guide | TABlog | Tokyo Art Beat http://tinyurl.com/kkz3wy
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- crafthotty
- New post! Mail Art: A D.I.Y. Guide | TABlog | Tokyo Art Beat http://tinyurl.com/mb4h8w
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- cpalmieri
- Mail Art: A D.I.Y. Guide: So, you want to get involved with mail art? What should you do to get started? 1) Deci.. http://tinyurl.com/m8g4qz
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- thegraffik
- Mail Art: A D.I.Y. Guide #thegraffik http://bit.ly/TiyKJ
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- joannayoung
- @bradshorr I'm going to spend tomorrow being creative... doing my postcards for @jancartier 's snail mail art project. Nervous & excited :-)
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Correspondence Art Gallery
![[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
IMG_6960
collaborationkellyap...
i heart sgodt
collaborationkellyap...
Mainstreet weekly
The sweetest weekly
Red Box Card
Red Box Card
Chele's 1st mailart
be a dear
collaborationjustin7
collaborationjustin1...
collaborationjustin8...
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.
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.
- Mail Art: A D.I.Y. Guide | TABlog | Tokyo Art Beat
- In our second article on mail art, TABlog tells you how to start up your own network and get involved.
- Mail Art Postcard Exhibition: Radish Mail Art Show
- 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. ...
- Little Rabbit Miniatures: Sneak preview of Mail art #20 & 21
- Sneak preview of Mail art #20 & 21. Posted by Little Rabbit Miniatures at Friday, July 03, 2009. Labels: cross stitch, Mail art. 0 comments: Post a Comment · Older Post Home. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) ...
- DAVID-BAPTISTE CHIROT: SKETBE Mail Art Call: NO TO VIOLENCE, YES ...
- NO TO VIOLENCE, YES TO CREATION is a mail art call from SKETBE, an association of visual artists in Northern Greece. Deadline is September 15, 2009. Free medium in postcard size. Mail to: SKETBE, Gorgous 11, 54634 Thessaloniki, GREECE. ...
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.
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
The 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.
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 byFascinating Looks Inside the Postal Art Movement
and some pretty pictures, too
Comments
Are you a mail art maven?
homecarediva wrote...
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.
Posted April 09, 2009
aniaArt wrote...
I've hosted an ATC swap and am hooked on mail art. At the moment I'm working on a March MS Awareness Postcard campaign.
Posted January 26, 2009
