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Comment by Walter Rovere on September 18, 2014 at 4:05pm

thank you VMH (valent mail heartist?), well before GAC and Ray there were the futurists (Giacomo Balla postcards as early as 1912), but I think this Bray was even earlier?

book review on goodreads:

The first impression of W. Reginald Bray (1879-1939) was one of an ordinary middle-class Englishman quietly living out his time as an accountant in the leafy suburb of Forest Hill, London. A glimpse behind his study door, however, revealed his extraordinary passion for sending unusual items through the mail. In 1898, Bray purchased a copy of the Post Office Guide, and began to study the regulations published quarterly by the British postal authorities. He discovered that the smallest item one could post was a bee, and the largest, an elephant. Intrigued,he decided to experiment with sending ordinary and strange objects through the post unwrapped, including a turnip, abowler hat, a bicycle pump, shirt cuffs, seaweed, a clothes brush, even a rabbit's skull. He eventually posted his Irish terrier and himself (not together), earning him the name "The Human Letter." He also mailed cards to challenging addressessome in the form of picture puzzles, others sent to ambiguous recipients at hard to reach destinationsall in the name of testing the deductive powers of the beleaguered postman. Over time hispassion changed from sending curios to amassing the world's largest collection of autographs, also via the post. Starting with key British military officers involved in the Second Boer War, he acquired thousands of autographs during the first four decades of the twentieth centuryof politicians, military men, performing artists, aviators, sporting stars, and many others. By the time he died in 1939, Bray had sent out more than thirty-two thousand postal curios and autograph requests. The Englishman Who Posted Himself and Other Curious Objects tells W. Reginald Bray's remarkable tale for the first time and includes delightful illustrations of some of his most amazing postal creations. Readers will never look at the objects they post the same way again.

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on September 18, 2014 at 12:57pm

Trying to work out who invented mail art is about as futile as trying to work out who made the first rock'n'roll record.

Concerning mail art, there are lots of nominations for the 'honour', and they tend to be nationalistic ones -- the Italians put forward the claim sof Cavellini, the Americans those of Ray Johnson, etc;
I do think that all such claims suffer not only from nationalistic bias, but also lack historical perspective.

Postal systems (hand delivered mail, sent by stage coach or horse, and, from 1825 onwards, by train)  existed in the UK before May 1840. I suspect, but I can't prove it, that some art was delivered by mail before then.

On May 1 1840, the first ever postage stamp -- the Penny Black -- was launched in Great Britain, and 'mail' as we know it today started.

The mail took the form of addressed envelopes.

On May 6, 1840, pre-printed and pre-illustrated envelopes -- Mulready envelopes -- went on sale. I consider these to be the first examples of Mail Art -- again 'as we know it today'. Although these were pre-printed, people personalised them bycolouring them in, adding extra illustrations, etc.

Postcards became popular in the 1870's. Many of these were on plain paper and people drew and painted on them -- early mail art! People also started illustrating their own envelopes about this time.

I consider the first proper mail artist to be W. Reginald Bray (1879-1939), the subject of a book by John Tingey (who used to be an IUOMA member) called "The Englishman who posted himself -- and other curious objects". Tingay did post himself, and, amongst othert things, a bike pump, his dog, a bowler hat and some sea weed. He also challenged the Post Office to deliver envelopes and postcards that had coded addresses on them. Bray boldly went wehere many of us are going today.

Bray came before Cavellini.

Bray came before Johnson.

Bray can be recognised as the first Mail Artist.

Comment by Walter Rovere on September 18, 2014 at 12:42am

Dear Richard, I don't think GAC ever claimed to have invented mail art, I'm not even sure he could be defined a mail artist, for me he was a fully fledged artist who also used mail art practices (as for his "Domicile exhibitions", etc)..

However, I would say, although mail art is non-hierarchical, that people like him (or Ray Johnson) were art geniuses who stand out from the crowd (as his Picasso homage alone I posted I think demostrates..) of hundreds of either mail art or fine art practioners...

To Katerina: yes he was born 9 sept., at 15 in the afternoon (3 pm), that's why the GAC tribute exhibition in Brescia opened at that time..

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on September 17, 2014 at 7:51pm

I am not a Man of Acronyms.

I am a Man of Letters.

I live in France.

So am I Man of French Letters?

Comment by Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat) on September 17, 2014 at 3:53pm

His 100th was September 11, 2014 :-)

Comment by Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat) on September 17, 2014 at 3:51pm

G.A.C., my dear Valentine, are the initials for our dear Cavellini:

Guglielmo Achille Cavellini

..but we just call him GAC , for short?

Comment by Richard Canard on September 17, 2014 at 3:42pm

17.09.14 Dare Walter R. & Sir Valentine, Practically every mail artist thinks she/he discovered mail art him/herself, & naturally tis absolutely true.  ... & of course, G.A.C. "buttered" his own toast rather lavishly ... "God bless us everyone. Dickens Canard

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on September 17, 2014 at 3:34pm

Well, it looks like I've failed again as a wannabe Mail Artist, and have been firmly put in my place.

And all along I thought that 'GAC' stood for, Granular Activated Carbon, or General Aviation Commission, or Geological Association of Canada, or General Affairs Council, or Guidance and Control, or Global African Congress, or Grumman Aerospace Corporation, or Global Assessment of Change, or German Aerospace Centre, or Ground Assault Convoy, or....

But I guess that's the trouble in using acronyms and assuming that everyone knows what you are talking about.

The only other things I can contribute to this is that this reply was written by 'VMH' -- but no prizes for guessing what that stands for.

Comment by Ruud Janssen on September 17, 2014 at 2:16pm

Comment by Walter Rovere on September 17, 2014 at 1:59pm

ahahah well as any mail artist should know, there is only one G.A.C. in art (self) history!

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