Mail Art News #34: Selbstporträt

work by Jurgen Olbrich, 1992, recently posted by nonlocal variable


A big thank you to nonlocal variable for sharing from his mail art archives on IUOMA. Just think of the millions of letters and postcards sitting in storage boxes around the world. Also thanks everyone for joining me on my mail art journalism adventure, as I construct an ongoing self-portrait (Selbstporträt) of the mail art community. There's an interview in the works with the help of IUOMA member Sarah Roe. See the section titled "The Internet at Large" immediately below for more of an idea on that. And I am really excited about an upcoming post scheduled for the end of May / start of June that will focus exclusively on the use of rubber stamps in mail art. Several artists have already responded to the questions (Maxima Strange, Mim Golub Scalin, Joey Patrickt, Pam Chatfield, Lulu Flanagan and Carien van Hest so far).
 
Do you use your rubber stamps in your mail art? If so, Mail Art News wants to hear from you. Please send me a paragraph or two or ten (to mailartnews@gmail.com), answering the following questions:
  • How did you get into rubber stamping?
  • How many stamps do you have in your collection?
  • Why do you like rubber stamps so much?
  • How do you use them in your mail art?
  • Include between one and four photos of your rubber stamped mail art / your collection (suggested)...if you send ten images, that's ok too.
You can also send answers to questions I didn't ask above. I'm going to combine all the answers into a blog post by the end of May / start of June 2023. You can email your answers and images to mailartnews@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
Additionally, I'm emailing with Casey Rubber Stamps in New York City to get these turned into rubber stamps. So, look out for them in the future! We'll see how some of the more detailed ones turn out.



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The Internet at Large

Sarah Roe shares the following article, via IUOMA message: My Ukrainian Correspondence Saved My Life by Cameron Terhune, from 2022. We are working on an interview there. 





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Blogs

There's always something new to learn when researching mail art. For example, here's a selection of pages from the mail art zine Circulaire 132. I was not aware of its existence until very recently.





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Instagram

Adam R. sends me the following preview of my rubber stamp portrait, as part of his ongoing and historically significant Rubber Portrait Project. Thanks again Adam! Now I'm just waiting for it to show up in the mail, so I can get to stamping. 



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Facebook

Maya Lopez Muro posts the following photo. What is this? I don't know, but I want a copy. 




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IUOMA

Adam R. shares a progress shot of some of the 212 rubber stamp portraits completed so far.



M. Orr proposes or commands the following: 



Please send Mail Art Workshop items to:


MAIL ART WORKSHOP

c/o Coco Muchmore

PO Box 373

Perry, KS 66073



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Outgoing

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Incoming



add & return from Luke McGuff 



a request to add & return, from Erica Durante


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Random from Archives

Mike O. sent the following post card to me in October 2021, featuring his hand-carved rubber stamps. Check him out on Instagram: Mike O. 

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Reader Mail 

"Really like what you're doing with your publication, Mail Art News." -JP

"Hi there---and congratulations! Your Mail Art News group seems to be taking off with flying colors. People seem to keep joining and there's been some lively conversation. Bravo to you." -M


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I will keep at it then. And really, if you get a burning desire to contribute, send an email to mailartnews@gmail.com. All feedback is appreciated. Maybe you're a mail art journalist yourself. Maybe you just like to rant. I love a good rant.

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