Mail Art News #31: Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
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| collage by Jason Motsch, seen on Facebook 5-5-2023 |
I knew this would happen at some point. Eventually, I was going to feel compelled to comment on the potential meanings of a collage. Here is my take on the above collage from Jason Motsch.
I see it as a bird or plane, representing an individual in motion, whose head is kind of a speech bubble. The theme of motivating factors comes to mind.
Within the speech bubble, there is a landscape and door representing some promised or expected environment ahead, though there may be some unknowns (dark door), but even then the destination will only be temporary because there's the door again which could lead to the next destination or is the door to be avoided? Once a person gets to their next destination, however long or short-term, there are doors for them to enter and doors for them not-to-enter. This seems relevant to social situations, particularly engaging another in conversation.
Maybe the body is telling these things to the head and all of this becomes the head, the mind. These instructions, expectations, and warnings become the current mind of the individual in motion. Let's see what the artist himself has to say about the collage. Was I on the right track?
From JM:
"Hey Thomas! Thanks for including this in your blog. I pretty much just make stuff and piece it together as I go along so it's up to the viewer as to what it is. Thanks again!"
Well, there you have it. It's up to the viewer, so I'm right. 😎
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Now, let's search the internet for mail art news. What's this? An article from 2018 about IUOMA member Diana Hale?
Diana is super creative and we've been mail art friends for a number of years, so it's nice to see that she got some deserved attention for her organizing efforts. I know it's from 2018, but news about mail art in the newspapers is relatively rare. Few and far between, as the saying goes. And it's nice to revisit these types of projects to keep them alive in the memory. Read the article here. Head on over to tumblr to check out the Philpott Lake Project and the Mail Art Experiment.
Philpott Lake Project: Postcards were displayed at Piedmont Virginia Community College.
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Sara Marie Bottaro, For the Fishes June 8, 2015, Boston, MA, USA |
Mail Art Experiment: The results were on display at the Crozet Library through October 2, 2018.
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| Terry Owenby, Gresham, OR, USA |
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IUOMA member CrackerJack Kid in the news. Read the article here.
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IUOMA member Jennie Hinchcliff in the news. Read the article here.
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Never before seen photos of Ray Johnson. Read the article and see more photos here.
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Path of headshots and back steps (spring 1992). The Morgan Library & Museum. Gift of the Ray Johnson Estate, courtesy of Frances Beatty. © Ray Johnson/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. |
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Reader mail / Incoming:
(Note: I am enjoying the book of Ruud Janssen interviews. Thank you again Coco M. for sending.)
"I haven't checked out your blog yet, but it is the talk of the mail art world, I hear it is really wonderful." -DH via Instagram
"I'm enjoying your Mail Art News blog. I thought I would send you some mail art. Peace." -Pam Chatfield of Pam's Mail Art Blog.
Thank you Pam! This envelope art is just what I'm hoping for. Rubber stamps and I am into aliens and other sci-fi stuff. Fun mutant veggies. And an undersea scene that I'd avoid. Those are not the happy fun sea creatures from The Little Mermaid, are they? Ah, nice use of the smiley face sticker on the back of the envelope too.
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And then mail art gold from Shmuel, in response to a post card I'd sent out asking people how they got into mail art. Shmuel replies with: "How did I get into mail art? And what can I do with my archive?"
What to do with an archive is an important question and probably deserves its own blog post. What does happen to the archives of mail artists? I know some are gifted to museums. Others are distributed to other mail artists. And then there are examples of art collectors acquiring the archives of well-known artists, looking to make a profit.
I would have made this drawing the blog post cover image, but I already had the collage analysis ready to go, and these two pieces of mail art from Pam and Shmuel arrived mid-process. I am happy to include them here. Drawings and rubber stamps are my favorite. Collages come in a close third place.
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Via IG message, Marcelus Freitas, shares the work from one of the pioneers of postal art in Latin America, the editor and poet Clemente Padin. What? I had no idea. There's so much to learn about the history of mail art, which will provide near endless content for Mail Art News, so if you would like to volunteer, JUMP IN. Send me articles, essays, or any mail art memories you feel like sharing. Send to mailartnews@gmail.com and I can give it look. I'm trying to avoid anything too politically charged, but I understand that "politics happens" and political mail art is a thing, so there may be some of that here.
For example, you can see that this work by C. Padin (below) contains political messaging. You get this sense that internationally, the USA is seen as the corrupt policeman of the world, spreading "democracy" or "liberty" around the world at the behest of these corporate forces. That's my take on it anyway.
The US is so dysfunctional currently. The international entanglements and political tensions are causing problems domestically. I do not want my society to be so divided and constantly on edge, but I cannot agree with things that I do not agree with. I can however accept that people have different opinions based on their experiences, with the caveat that there are news / media corporations out there constantly instructing people how to think and feel, which creates and fuels the ongoing socio-political tensions. Generally, people in a society would like to work together? but problems arise when it comes to economics and the making and enforcement of laws.
And of course, there are concerns for one's personal safety and health, the safety and health of those they love, autonomy, and personal property and other rights.
What can I really do about these types of things? What more can I say as a serf in today's neo-feudalism? Send me politically charged mail art if you must, must, must. I will accept that this is your opinion and you have a right to it, even if I do not always agree 100%.
I hope that with this new invention called the Internet, governments will ask more and more what the citizens think about government decisions made in their names.
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Moving on, moving on. Check your address book:
- Katerina Nikoltsou has recently moved to Athens.
- Francis Lammé also has a new address.
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These triangles are intriguing. Seen on IUOMA.
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| From Virgo to Mikel Untzilla, 5-5-2023 |
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And finally for today, I first learned of the White Sanctum Gallery in Bangalore, India during an interview with Adam Blackshaw (MAIL ART NEWS #5: Stardust and Water, with Adam Blackshaw). Now, in my search for news, I see that they currently have regular mail art calls. Visit the White Sanctum Gallery website. Contact: whitesanctum@yahoo.com
WSG representative on IUOMA: Bindu P V
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I thank you for reading and commenting. See you in the mails.
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