Mail Art News #46: Weekly Review

collage by Paul Keene, posted by Jean-Philippe Gilliot on July 13, 2023 

Welcome to another weekly review of my little corner of the mail art universe. What's out there? In the header image, you can see the rubber stamped word "accimus". I think this is Latin for "we summon" or "we call for". Whenever I get a summons for jury duty, I sing the song "Summons Rocking My Dreamboat" but I'd much rather get mail art. Here's a selection of incoming mail: 

from Cascadia Artpost (of Mail Art News #45 fame)

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from Nick Tauro, Jr.

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from James Chester

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from Reina Huges (temporarily taped with washi tape for scanning)

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from Nonlocal Variable (of Mail Art News #11 and #16 fame)

(send me all the chess art)

This sampling is probably 1/5th of what NLV sent this week. I sometimes have to be selective with what I scan in the interest of time. Most interesting is the Mail Art Continuum self-evaluation chart. My dot will be on the Art for Art's Sake square because I say "Why limit yourself to one ism?" I will however include political messaging when I've had enough of constantly being told what to think and feel by the corporate-news-media-government-finance-big tech-industrial complex. 

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Lots of mail art related books to look at, thanks to Mail Art News media specialist Ariel Greenwood (of Mail Art News #43 fame). I will post a little more about each one, once I've had time to look at them more. If your local library doesn't have a book, you can request a copy from interlibrary loan. Libraries all over the world share books. 

• Griffin & Sabine, An Extraordinary Correspondence by Nick Bantock
• Too Sad to Sing, a Memoir with Postcards by Kenneth S. Brecher
• The World of Donald Evans by Willy Eisenhart (1994 edition)
• Eternal Network, A Mail Art Anthology by Chuck Welch

On Instagram, printer Tom Colson is making artistamps. 

Tom Colson

On Facebook Adam Blackshaw (of Mail Art News #5 fame) shared the following eye-catching work: Plastic Scream (2023), digital image in frame, 600mm x 500mm, adamblackshaw.com, for DADA DOMICILE at the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Snug Harbor Cultural Center in Staten Island, NY. 

Sergio Guerrini posted work by Paulo Teles in the Facebook Mail Art group, as part of the ongoing call for mail art about War. 

Jon Foster is waging a war on Add & Passes, but is taking a break from that to work on his current project: Magnet Show. Visit the link for more information. 

Then I see on FB that Rick Meli is also working on a magnet show in Jamestown, Rhode Island, USA. 

And what the heck is this on IUOMA? I like it. 

work by Cliff Wexler, seen on IUOMA

  o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 

These Comic Strip Classics postage stamps will be fun to use on outgoing mail, though they aren't 66 cent stamps, so I will be combining them with some 34 cent stamps celebrating American Illustrators of the past.

I've started making some artistamps with the Epson ET-2800 printer that I bought in June. The whole sheet will contain 99 different stamps, but I only have three different designs so far. And I'm still working on the denominations. For example, the sun stamp is zero cents, but the other two stamps are in Universe Bux, which will be the currency of the future, based on real time monitoring of all energies in the universe. I have not perforated these test stamps yet because I don't have a perforator, but once I get all 99 stamps designed, the plan is to send the sheets to someone who does have a perforator. 

Sarah Roe sent a picture of her Rosback perforator. Here's some copy/paste: Frederick Peter Rosback was a machinist and inventor. In 1881 he started the Rosback Company in Chicago with the invention of a foot-powered tool for the bindery that could perforate paper with small metal pins. It was used to create paper that could tear easily such as stock certificates, stamps, and checks. Available in a variety of sizes from table-top to stand-alone models, the perforator is fairly simple to operate: slide paper under a row of pins (using guides to set margins) then depress the foot pedal to punch holes. Some models have metals bars that can be removed, allowing the operator to bypass a section of pins to create shapes beyond uniform lines and squares. A helpful tip for successful perforating is the use of waxed paper, punched every so often, to lubricate the pins.

The Rosback Perforator was upgraded to operate with steam, then electricity. In 1905 the company relocated to Benton Harbor, Michigan and soon began producing a motor-powered Rotary Round Hole Perforator. Though the Rosback Foot Power Perforator is no longer produced, the family-owned Rosback company still operates in St. Joseph, Michigan, making modern bindery equipment.

photo from Sarah Roe

I found a booklet of souvenir prints outside and re-purposed a few of them. The blog address (made with a PRIXEL stamp press kit) serves as an encouraging reminder for the recipient to visit Mail Art News. 

And one more outgoing piece...just seeing if some thrift store rubber stamps from Scrap B-more would work well together. They seem to say something about something, yes?

Next week: a mini-interview with Julie Matevish. And, there's a ZMAG meeting tonight. Send any mail art related news to: mailartnews@gmail.com. Maybe you're a blogger or you're writing an article or a book on mail art. Maybe you have a current or upcoming project or mail art show. Maybe you have an interesting link to send me. Maybe you want to share your mail art memories. Insane rants are also appreciated but bewares! I may include them in a future blog post. 

Here's an archival post card from Mary England. 

Ignore alien orders?

Initial thoughts: Any kind of content on any kind of media that was created outside of a person's own mind / body could be considered alien. That goes for the TV, the radio if that's still a thing, the internet, etc. Some alien content could be beneficial, while other alien content could be the opposite. My goal is for Mail Art News to be a useful and helpful alien, visiting you on your computer screen. 

See you in the mails...and see you in Cyberia. 

“ON TO CYBERIA” John Evans Rubber-stamp,1985, 
Mail Art in Cyberspace by Chuck Welch