What exactly is MailArt?MailArt may include rubber stamped images
and very often does...
but it could also include collage,
copy machine art, poetry, sketching,
computer art, postage stamps...
just about anything
as long as it's mailed
through
the mail!
It might even be a hula hoop
or a Cowboy boot
mailed unwrapped through the mail,
to test the limits of the USPS!
MailArt is NEVER "cute"
unless it's done in an ironical manner.
If a teddy bear is rubber stamped on a card,
then the
teddy bear will be on a skewer
being roasted over the barbecue
along with the tomatoes and green peppers.
"Cute" has
its place
and is very popular
in making greeting cards
and sending warm fuzzies
through the mail
but it's not what
MailArt is...
nor does it hope to be.
Sooooooo,
if you are serious minded
and don't want sacred cows
made into hamburger;
if you would feel uncomfortable
getting
an unwrapped plumber's helper
delivered to your door;
if you don't want to appear "odd"
to your mail deliverer,
then
MailArt may not be for you.
But if you don't mind any of the above,
you too can have lots of fun
sending and receiving MailArt...
who knows,
you may
EVEN be the first on your block!
MailArt treats art
as a non-precious exchange
of creativity
from one person to another
outside the usual gallery
or
museum setting.
You mail your art
through the mail
and the addition
of cancellation
and routing marks
or machine
damage to the art
is considered part of the art itself.
MailArt can be highly political in nature.
Many of the people
attracted to the MailArt movement,
are feminists
or
pacifists
or animal right advocates
or vegetarians
or civil rights activists
or child abuse defenders...
or all of the above...
or none, of course!
It's a wide open movement
with much individuality
and irreverence being expressed...
with or without a cause
to
espouse.
Mail Artists
are generally a bit "odd"
compared to Mr. and Mrs. America.
But then, if you're a stamper,
you already
know about the odd looks
people give you when you tell them
you, a supposed ADULT,
rubber stamp!
The look in their
eyes
lets you know
they just don't "get it"!
The MailArt (or Correspondence Art) movement is an outgrowth or parallel to Fluxist art and Dada art... the early MailArt
people were trying to make a statement about art. They were unhappy about what had been happening to art since
museum directors and gallery owners came to be the ruling gurus in art and were deciding which art was "worthy" and
which wasn't. They wanted to do art for art's sake, to decommodify art, to make a protest statement about art, to
exchange art with like-minded souls around the world... in a sense to send out "disposable" art that wasn't judged
by anyone as to its worthiness... even though such art is seldom disposed of by the receiver unless the receiver is
not in tune with MailArt and would have preferred you'd sent them a "store bought" card to begin with!
In a sense, MailArtists are protesters... and protests aren't usually "cute". Protesters don't hold up "cute" or "sweet"
signs. Yes, you can mail "cute" art (not in an envelope unless the envelope is the MailArt) and be a mail artist since you are mailing art but the MailArt movement is GENERALLY startling, surprising, experimental, subversive, abstract, nutty,
trashy... it's most likely to be an unexpected juxtaposition of images and sayings... there's probably a "message"... it's
surreal, it's dada, it brings a smile to your face, it has hidden meanings... you know instantly just how over the edge
the sender is!
This quirky, fringy, semi-underground activity known as MailArt brings great satisfaction and smiles to many people
who wouldn't think of sending out a boring envelope even to pay their phone bill and don't want any naked envelopes
arriving in their mail box either. They look forward each day to seeing what surprises will be waiting in their mail. And they
imagine the reaction of the recipients of the MailArt they, themselves, send out... they are probably NOT sending MailArt
to their mother as she wouldn't likely "get it". They MAY be sending to an underground network of other MailArtists
or they may be participating in MailArt Calls around the world.
On these pages, we've tried to present a cross section of what MailArt is all about and we've offered some MailArt
Calls you might want to answer... if you have a MailArt Call yourself, we'll be happy to include it here. When
responding to a TRUE MailArt Call, you should be aware that ALL work
is displayed, there is NO judging and NO prizes for the "best" MailArt,
usually MailArt is NOT returned but some Calls will say "Documentation
to all" which can mean anything from getting a list of participants to
a full catalog of all the MailArt submitted together with the names of
those submitting, pictures of the event, etc.
MailArt Calls
