MAIL ART NEWS #5: Stardust and Water, with Adam Blackshaw
TB: Hi Adam. How did you get into mail art?
AB: Hi Thomas.
I first started creating Mail Art in the early 1980s while at university. I was in my late teens and hadn't studied art at school at all but I was interested in the Surrealists and just painted for my own pleasure. Like many young people I had a yearning for something bigger. Some connection to people and places elsewhere, beyond the conformity of the small town I grew up in.
I don't remember how I first came across Mail Art. But it was a call out in 1983 to participate in an international exhibition in Berlin. The theme was, 'Kunst Für Der Frieden'. For a young person living in Australia, the idea of contributing to an exhibition halfway around the world was incredible. It was like sending my work to another planet. I can't even recall the work I sent, but I do remember the feeling that I was living a parallel life to my friends which gave me a feeling of 'specialness'. You have to realise that this was pre-internet days and the world was much bigger then. There was a greater sense of geographical - and therefore psychological - isolation.
Eventually I did go to art school and became less interested in Mail Art. I think I saw it as a lesser form of art practice than the gallery system. However, in the past two years I've returned to it, and am enjoying the challenge of creating new work. I've read about the history of Mail Art, including the story of Ray Johnson, and appreciate it more as a genre. And I've always had an anti-authoritarian / subversive streak so I'm attracted to a practice that gives the artworld the middle finger. I like that Mail Art is so egalitarian.
Eventually I did go to art school and became less interested in Mail Art. I think I saw it as a lesser form of art practice than the gallery system. However, in the past two years I've returned to it, and am enjoying the challenge of creating new work. I've read about the history of Mail Art, including the story of Ray Johnson, and appreciate it more as a genre. And I've always had an anti-authoritarian / subversive streak so I'm attracted to a practice that gives the artworld the middle finger. I like that Mail Art is so egalitarian.
TB: I remember the pre-internet days.
To date, what is your favorite piece of mail that you have received or sent? If you don't have just one, then what kind of mail art is your favorite? What is the ideal piece of mail art that if it showed up on your doorstep would change your life for the better in all the ways that need changing for the better? Include a picture or two that you would like me to include with the blog post. Do you have any websites you would like to share?
AB: I have a few favourite Mail Art works I have made. The one attached is the very first I did since I returned to making Mail Art. It was for an exhibition at The White Sanctum Art Gallery in Bangalore, India. The theme was 'Water' and my interpretation reflected that we are all made out of stardust (stella pulvis) and water (aqua). It was born out of my travels in India and watching cremation ceremonies by the Ganges in Varanasi. It is a postcard sized gouache painting.
I don't do much in the way of collage, which seems to be very popular among other Mail Art makers. I tend to draw, paint and often use a drawing tablet to make digital art. I also don't get involved in swapping Mail Art, which is also popular among IUOMA members, I focus more on call outs, though I have contributed to a few zines. However, some IUOMA members have really wanted to send me their work so I have given them my address and I appreciate what they have sent me.
What I enjoy seeing is the work of people who have lovingly created something. I particularly like those who carve erasers and make stamps. I've enjoyed seeing some really beautiful, gentle printmaking using this technique which is in contrast to the world in which we live - often loud, brash and cynical. I'm also particularly attracted to Street Art and Outsider Art - which are cousins of Mail Art - because they exist away from the mainstream artworld.
My work can be seen:
https://iuoma-network.ning.
https://iuoma-network.ning.
Best wishes and thanks for this, I've enjoyed it,
Adam
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