mail art = senders receive
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by Michael Crane & Mary Stofflet, 1984.
Very hard to find and worth seeking to learn
how it all started and about the early players.
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for a lot of interesting information on the network.
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made by people all around the world.
I need to look into it and see
if Anna Banana is still printing this.
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wrote a book called: Eternal Network A Mail Art Anthology.
Not long after I received my copy,
he wrote and mentioned it was out of print.
If you find a copy, grab it.
What Is MA?
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until she handed it off in the late 90s.
I only saw one issue after that.
It was a must read for mail art calls,
among many others.
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made some amazing faux postage stamps and mail art.
Ray Johnson inspired, the man given credit for starting this
and who started the New York Correspondance School.
More details on much of this at a later date.
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amazing art work in it,
topical to the times it was printed.
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over time and dabbles in poetry,
found items, dada, fluxus and cigar box gee-tars.
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would have a list of people, send an idea around,
and everyone would do whatever they wanted
and the last person would send it off to the receiver.
It was fun, but after awhile, there were so
many projects circulating, it was hard to keep up.
Not sure if it's still going or when it stopped as a group.
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This was one I sent something to,
and he then made booklets with everyones project, name and address.
Sadly, I believe he died a few years ago.
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involved for many years. In the 70s,
due to his protesting of the policies of the government.
He was arrested and his mail art confiscated.
He still sends mail which is topical
and reflects on issues around us today.
25 comments:
Oh, gosh, this is a lust worthy post. I am nutty for vintage emphemera. ((drool))
Hi! C.M. and Willow,
What a nice collection of mail art and sounds by Max Richter.
The quote(?) by Julius Ceasar...LOL!
Thanks, for sharing!
DeeDee ;-D
what a fabulous post Michael! There is still so much about mail art i've yet to stumble upon. This gives me lots of direction! Thanks. i can't wait to dig into some of this deliciousness. have a fab weekend.
Looks like you could write an interesting history.
my dad loved to recycle envelopes and reuse, tearing off old indicias and blacking out old addresses, inserting his own on an address sticker. One of my girlfriends made envelopes out of magazine pages. They were always colorful and interesting and I loved them.
Rec'd my "coffee mix" today (I'm terrible about going to the post office. Haven't opened yet but I thank you in advance. Your hand crafted envelops is too cool.
Great stuff!
That's an incredible collection of images you have there.
Thanks so much for sharing and I agree with Susan!
see my blog for a link to GL's boneyard...
attacking rabbits in their own homes???
this is a fabulous post, what a lot of great stuff.
I particularly like the envelope received back in the day
willow: There's some amazing art floating around.
dd: Thanks and for noticing the quote ; )
janet: There's so much out there, it can be overwhelming. You just need to jump in and start sending.
artS: Not me, but I know someone who could, and should ; )
cg: Hey, good 4 UR Dad! Glad it made it OK.
zenC: Hey, Thanks for taking a look C!
megan: Thanks.
skybridge ; )
lettuce: Thanks, it's always fun and interesting. CK has art showing in or near you, I believe.
You've given me a touch of motivation. Nice post!
Very interesting post, Coffee. Especially the Dead White Mail Correspondence Project. That one has really got my brain churning.
Ah, "Cargo Cult." The halcyon days of 362. It was folks like yourself that started the fire! Thanks brah
what a cornucopia of delights
great that you are keeping this lost art from being truly lost!
and yes one of these days you must do a book....
wow, wow, wow
Heroes All. And STILL the Impulse LIVES!
Great+Mighty Post .
gorey laurie.... any relation to edward gorey or just inspiration for nom d'art?
b-e: Thanks for stopping by.
ks: Thanks for taking the time to peruse the linkage.
hR9: You did more than I ever did, to be sure. I miss your zines....
kimy: There are already too many books, plus, most do this and send, without expectation. So when you receive something, it's always a surprise. When you finally, if ever get around to it, then you send something back. People all around the world are involved.
As to the name, many never use their real name.
tony: Hi ya, and Thanks for stopping by.
inspirational. makes me want to clear off my desk, get away from the computer, and start cutting and pasting. Which I think I just might. Hello, Coffee! the last time I was by, comments weren't being accepted
I love/ed the mail art genre. It is very zen to throw something out there....-Jayne
t & T: Thanks 4 stopping by.
h-h: Very ; )
wow,
I feel like such a philistine, mail art was an underground movement way before the likes of Nick Bantock or any of those happy scrappy moms did it..
Wow! What an amazind array of postal art. Love it.
g & d: Oh yeah, and there's a story, once heard, thousands of years ago, where a message was sent, via cutting a persons hair and running them to a king or something.
That was the 1st sending of mail art ; )
don: Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment. Cheers 2 U!
I find mail art and faux postage stamps fascinating-- have you seen the book THE STAMP ART & POSTAL HISTORY OF MICHAEL THOMPSON & MICHAEL HERNENDEZ DE LUNA? As I mentioned before I am a fan of Ray Johnson.
layers: Hi....no I haven't, will have to seek it out. Donald Evans was an early proponent of this also.
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