T. Brown, color pencils and rubber stamp on envelope, on outgoing, Nov 2025
Looook, it's been a year, so I'm not going to stress myself with doing a superb art history nerd job at this blog post, AND I may not be blogging again any time soon. So here it is, enjoy. Take a break from deciphering your bizarre dreams and have a look at my corner of the mail art universe.
Have you ever wondered: "What does discoflux mean?"
I have. So I looked it up.
From Google: "In the satirical Erisian (or Discordian) religion, Discoflux is a religious holiday celebrated on the 50th day of the season of Discord (which corresponds to May 3rd on the Gregorian calendar). It is one of the five seasonal flux holidays mentioned in the Principia Discordia."
Discoflux has also sent photos of two different mail art exhibits over the past year, but I neglected to ask for further info at the time. Here are some of the photos at any rate:
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And here's an example of Baumann's non-mail art:
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Incoming:
Now I'm sure I got a few more things in the mail over the last year, so you'll have to forgive me for leaving anyone out. The most recent piece is from P. M. Wilson, which showed up the same day as my submission to the Clouds mail art call went out. The synchronicity there, or whatever you'd call it, may have pushed me over the mental block that was preventing me from blogging again. For a little while anyway. USPS prices going up again? If you want my new mailing address, email me: mailartnews@gmail.com.
I did manage to send out a few things. Here's a sample:
T. Brown, outgoing
T. Brown, outgoing
T. Brown, outgoing
This last one (below) will be going out, once I find something to put inside of it. We've been going to vintage/thrift stores and estate sales. Found these rubber stamps at the last estate sale and decided to test them out.
T. Brown, outgoing
And if you've sent me anything over the last decade, there's a chance it will be given a new life with someone else because I have been putting things in this little free art library in Havre de Grace, Maryland, which is just up the road from my new place in Aberdeen, MD. Yes, after 45 years I was finally able to Escape from Baltimore.
From IUOMA:
The 1990s are making a comeback. This style has a '90s feel to me.
And the 1980s. People are looking to re-capture something from decades-past because the 2000s seem to have brought with them a boring lack of creativity and individuality. Plus...physical media. That's my take on it anyway.
And let me comment briefly on Jeanfi'sTypologie 21 email newsletter. Here you get one artist's ongoing exploration into the big soul of French-speaking culture in the form of collaged newspaper and magazine clippings, but also including some English clippings and work from artists who send things to him in Belgium. Subscribe at: shash_belgium@yahoo.co.uk.
from the most recent issue
from the most recent issue
Bon digestion. This is something a young French-speaking African woman from the Ivory Coast told me at work the other day as I was cleaning my Pyrex lunch bowl in the breakroom at work. Ah...of course, there's bon appétit and bon digestion. Where I work, there's an impressive mix of cultures represented: Hispanic, African, Nepali...to name the main groups I am seeing. It's different than the American "white" and "black" dynamics that I experienced for the majority of my youth and adult life in Baltimore. Everyone seems to get along ok. Sure, sure, there's always small dramas under the surface, behind the scenes, somewhere in the building, but I'm saying overall, everyone seems to be able to tolerate each other so we can all get paid. On that note...recently I realized just how much our individual and shared cultural identities are shaped by drama. Think about it. The family drama, things happening in the neighborhood, things on TV, in movies, in the news. Along with consciousness, drama may be the stuffs of the universe.
(And the 1970s). It is such a shame, shame, shame!... that these vintage mugs and glasses are considered unsafe to drink from due to lead content in the paint. You'll see them at the antiques malls, vintage stores, thrift stores, and online. Are the websites all exaggerating the risks? I don't know. Basically, they're only safe for display on the shelf.
postal prank from Chris Stadler, with rubber stampings by T. Brown, using the stamps sent by A. Warner Not all mail art is delivered by the postal service, though most is. Delivery by private citizens is the rarer method. For example, the package of old New In Chess magazines from one "Magnus Carlsen" showed up in the hallway of my apartment building yesterday. Further research determined the sender to be one Christopher Stadler, an associate of Mail Art News - Media Specialist, Ariel Greenwood. And then there's the set of rubber stamped post cards from rubber stamp collector, Amy Warner, which made their way to me via Tom Warner, another associate of A. Greenwood from the Pratt Library. If it's art (pranking is an artform) and it came to the Mail Art News headquarters in an envelope, it's mail art. As a reminder, we're in the process of relocating our headquarters from Baltimore to Aberdeen, Maryland. And so, as in an attempt to shake this tabasco sauce add...
J. Matevish , 2015 cut to ATC size from 1995/1996 30" x 22" original I am really happy to receive the above ATC from Julie Matevish. Why? I don't know...it looks like something I might make if I sat down and received the instructions to do so from some invisible muse. The style speaks one of my languages. The card was # 9 of 64 cuts from the larger original. You can see a low resolution scan of the original below, which Julie was kind enough to print and mail to upon request. To locate the original high resolution scan would require some real searching on Julie's part, and that's too much to ask. Also below is a digital collage I made, using the print of the original as a background (with colors altered). The text is a reminder to anyone about all of the experiences, "good" and / or "bad" that they've been through, are going through now, and could possibly go through in the future. Also included is a US postage stamp of famous slave owne...
from Lubomyr Tymkiv to Zack Well it's only taken me eight months to get back to blogging about mail art. I was planning to get back to it in January, but here it is JUNE! I'm in the process of moving, so I will put my new address on IUOMA at some point. To get the ball rolling again, here's what I had in my folders for January. ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ from M. Conroy to Juan Petry ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ Yaşar Kemal MailArt posted on October 25, 2024: o Bela Bartok International Mail Art Project Exhibition opened on October 22, 2024 at 17:00 at Osmaniye Cebelibereket Cultural Center. The exhibition will continue until November 22, 2024. ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ ✉ Some pro-library propaganda (below) from sender unknown. What does it mean to attack libraries? To cut funding? Libraries ARE essential, even in the Age of the Internet. Hopefully the keepers of the books are getting paid a decent...
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