Mail Art News #89: Zorica Obradović
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| Zorica Obradović, from Kragujevac, Serbia |
What is mail art? What is mail art not? Not much I can do about it either way. I contacted two people online to see if they had anything to say. One did and one did not. Surprisingly, Zorica Obradović had plenty to say without much effort on my part, which is all I'm asking for. You talk, I blog.
Thomas Brown (TB): Do you have anything you would like to say to the readers of Mail Art News?
Zorica Obradović (ZO): [Translated from Serbian by Gmail]: These are not the only threads that connect us ~
Thanks for asking. Thanks for your inquisitive nature.
I come from a small country, and the chances that you have even heard of it are slim to none unless you walk within its borders. I am also an inhabitant of the planet Earth, which carries a similar probability of being known to you if you are not currently at that location. Therefore, that is not a strong enough argument to spin a web of complexes around my mind.
I heard about mail-art by chance—if we want to believe that coincidences exist at all.
I was a participant in an international, classical, juried, and competitive gallery exhibition. It was organized by a Doctor of Painting, who is also an art faculty professor and a high-ranking official in the museum and gallery sectors. Driven by my innate curiosity and analytical nature, which always seeks more details and deeper reference points, I began exploring the artist's biography. There, alongside an impressive number of exhibitions worldwide, I discovered a vast opus of mail-art exhibition participation. What is it that drives an "established artist" into the waters of mail-art?
From the 1990s until 2018, I was active as an author of texts in art catalogs and anthologies, where I translated the "words" of artists through the lens of art theory—without compromising by entering the domain of evaluation, praise, or criticism. I did the same during exhibition openings and their media promotion. The postmark was the missing piece that allowed me to fit into the mail-art mosaic. In this journey, the IUOMA platform welcomed me into its broad embrace.
Marking two years of friendship with mail-art friends, I published a text in an international anthology (printed by a literary club from Serbia in 2025). The story speaks of mail-art artists from almost all over the world, gathered around the same idea without the need for labeling—spreading peace and love.
Why did I choose to tell you exactly this? Most people predict the robotization of the world and the disappearance of the need for non-digital records. My vision suffers from different fears: how we will consume all the electricity in the world, and how all types of batteries will melt due to global warming and the disrespect of nature. That is why I transform digital entities into another form.
The beginning and the absolute origin—what was that again?
TB: Yes I have heard of Serbia ... and Earth. Thanks for all of this!! I will add it to my next blog post.
Do you think mail art contributes to global warming?
[Note for the reader: I guess the science isn't settled yet. https://dailysceptic.org/2026/03/25/shock-new-evidence-showing-no-link-between-co2-and-temperature-over-last-three-million-years-stumps-net-zero-activists/ ]
ZO: I had a beautiful thought and feeling when I read your sentence/joke about having heard of Serbia and the planet Earth... thank you for that.
A tricky question. Yes, it does contribute. Its ecological footprint on a global level is extremely small and negligible. After all, that paper is made of wood, rice... that airplane runs on kerosene, the soles of mailmen's shoes are made of plastic... the production process of mailboxes... compared to the ether and supercomputers. Though, of course, everything is measurable, seen from one's own angle and prism. Which is wonderful, indeed. Our differences, like wild flowers and greenery, are a beautiful landscape in themselves. It would be even more beautiful if the way we connect, contact, and interact were reduced to personal choice. Looking through a gunsight is a bad option, which has been attached as a side effect to all creatures, phenomena, and actions. So, damage will always exist, whether through our action or inaction.
And to joke at the end: I asked an AI assistant on my mobile device: 'We call you "artificial intelligence," but what do you call us, your "users"?' The answer was: real intelligence.
TB: I don't take it very seriously: global warming/climate change caused by human activity. I think it's overstated. To me, it's a tool used to manipulate people. It's human to manipulate others.
But that's where we are today, infinite possible disagreements. Everyone has a very strong opinion, but who really knows the truth?
Well, there are multiple types of intelligence in individual people, developed to different levels of skill. It seems that there are networks of mushrooms that stretch for miles and miles. Are they intelligent? In their own way, yes! Are mushrooms our masters? I don't know! There are theories.
ZO: I like how you formulated that thesis. I completely agree.
That's exactly what I meant by the plastic sole metaphor. Here, when someone mentions something like global warming, we joke using a line from a local movie: "It's not the worst thing that's happening to us" (it's an omnibus depiction of various tragedies and personal dramas... and you always have the option of saying "it's not the worst thing that's happening to us", in a dark, caricatured way, of course). Yes, the roles have long been assigned, we are drowning in manipulations large and small - a hypnotized crowd listens to part of the chorus or sings along with it.
Mail artist, Jai Tanju, of the Film Por Vida - Print Exchange Program, did not respond. Maybe he didn't see my Instagram message or maybe he prefers the postal approach. I will reach out again. Mail art gets around. You can see he had a show in Tokyo in 2015. Ah, but that was 11 years ago. Let's figure out what he's up to these days.
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| Dave Schubert |
Mitsuko Brooks is on Instagram. Here's an advert for her archives show in New York City. I don't see any photos of the event online yet.
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| Mitsuko Brooks |
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| Jason C. Motsch |
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| Jason C. Motsch |
I happened to be watching Popeye, starring Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall...and then I saw this on IUOMA. Coincidence? I think not.
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| Olive, added by Stefaan Vermuyten |
Is this the first post card sent from the sun? No, it's just marbling. Learn more about the history of marbling here.
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| Postcard History |
Now, this is a cool one, also from IUOMA. Probably spray paint on cardstock.
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| Subreal Alchemy to Pizo |
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| T. Brown, envelope art |
If anyone wants to collaborate, send me an email. Work with me, people! Any past or present postal employees? We want to hear from you. Contact: mailartnews@gmail.com
Maybe you're a retired post master general in Arizona. Or a mail carrier in Saskatchewan.
But really, LOOK, if you're a mail artist, you frankly deserve to be interviewed a little, even if you're not famous, so send me an email. OR I might be contacting you. Contact: mailartnews@gmail.com
Oh right, I found this rubber stamp ("Please remove from mailing list") for free at Friends of the Montgomery County Library. Reserved for special occasions. Here it is...combined with some other stamps I bought at an estate sale in June 2026.
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