Mail art: its maker and its recipient

[Nancy Bell Scott]

Still being on the new side, I am curious about how more experienced mail artists approach their work mentally when sitting down to do it.  Do you form a piece specifically for a certain recipient, after you've come to know a few things about that person?  Or do you tend more to go all-out free when you get to work, and send works to different artists without considering or worrying about that person's own style?  I am hoping for replies from anyone who approaches their mail art one of these two ways, or both, or in some way different from the choices above.  Thanks to all for your thoughts.

 

[Nancy Bell Scott]

Angie (ok, & Snooky), do you know I never even looked at another mail-art site.  Something brought me here -- forget what -- and it just took.  The some-rules-ok-but-not-rules-ok-too philosophy is a major draw.  People are plenty smart enough here to decide when to follow some and when not to because it's not necessary & artistic freedom, rah rah. Thanks for your post, it's a good one.

 

[1cgqtuoblpeqc]

snooky has a lot of insights.

and even angie chimes in now and then! ;-D

[Nancy Bell Scott]

Poor Angie, with Snooky's butt apparently outshining her on IUOMA.

 

[Nancy Bell Scott]

That's a great description of your method, Helen, and it makes a lot of sense to me, especially "for me the mail art is a great way to play with ideas, and receive other peoples experiments also.  its like an Art Lab.  this then feeds into my other areas of art practice."  You have its place well established, which in the end probably means:  anything is possible.  (I'm an agnostic in just about every facet of life that comes up.)  No doubt my work at mail art these past few weeks will have unknowable effects on my other areas of art -- which after 25 years I've suddenly neglected almost completely since finding IUOMA.  Whatever is happening here, however it is inspiring me, is taking place in some apparently gaping hole in my studio and me and changing them.  I think it's art communications, but other things also. In any case, thank you very much for telling me about your approach, and I've learned from it.  By the way, I started a piece for you yesterday, before I read your response here!  It is done and going out tomorrow.  There were and are no bunnies.

[Frieder Speck]

I like to communicate with mailart  and I love if mailart communication with one person developes but I send also some of the small things  that are just growing out of the fingers and daily influences, fingertraining, playground without to much thinking. Artfun