Those holes in Bruxelles pic give a strange aura of having eyes. Had no idea that building's been around for such a long time. I saw it in person about 20 years ago and thought it was under construction. Maybe it was being refurbished.

Thanks John,

Berlaymont was full of asbestos which the EU discovered very late on. They closed it down, moved people to other (often temporary) buildings in Brussels, took all the asbestos out, refunished/refurbished it, and opened it up again. You probably saw it during this asbestos-clearing process. In the words of a Commission spokesman at the time, 'We are doing as best as we can'. (Sorry about that!)

Thanks Heleen,

1. "what if you are not a donkey and love donkeys?" I can't possibly answer that here where children might be looking. (I might confess though to not being a Siamese cat and love Siamese cats. I would like to be reincarnated as a Siamese cat like Mr. Boots.)

2.

2. "It seems that the escalator in front is swallowing people!.." I agree. It swallowed people up, and that was the end of them. Hence Brexit....

3. "btw how comes card nr 2 to hang above your desk when you think it boring? Did it hang with the picture in front or the message?" The card is dated 1977, and sent on one of my visits to Brussels to my family in Krimpen a/d Ijssel. I wasn't 'into' boring postcards then. I don't know of any works on that subject before Martin Parr came along at the end of the 1990's. Going back almost 45 years, I wonder if Mail Art as we know it here because of, and through IUOMA existed that long ago? 5But PLEASE let's not have a discussion about the history of Mail Art here!)

DOW CHEMICAL MAIN OFFICE BUILDING, MIDLAND MICHIGAN....FROM DIANA HALE

An old and rather tired postcard with no information provided. Thanks Di!

A tired postcard... great term!

And belated thank you for the snapshot of Mr Boots - the blue and bluest eye look wonderful! If that photo would have bern a postcard I would have bought one (as a far-from-boring-and-very-interesting-impressionist-art-postcard)!

FROM MIKEL UNTIZILLA -- thanks Mikel!

Gare du Nord, Paris (Fraance, not Texas)

A nice view of the front of the station. But look what happened in 1895...

The train crash photos are NOT postcards, but I thought a' before and after' view of the staion might ake Mikel's Postcard a bit less Boring...and even Interesting

TWO MORE FROM MIKEL UNTZILLA (Mikel: sorry for the delay in posting these, but I lost them for a few days after cleaning up my study)

1.Central District, Hong Kong

Four boring skyscrapers and one interesting colonial-style domed buiding in front of them.

Does anyone know what the Chinese writing on the red banner says?

2. Calle Carmen 4 (Puerto del Sol), Madrid, Spain

This is a Postcard handed out by the Hotel Europa and Café Europa which are in the building front right

Hello and Welcome to our new Puero Rico Plasticienes...to whom I have a question --:what, if anything, has your 'Voces' posting got to do with Boring Postcards? It is far from obvious( to me at least) -- please explain. Thank you. Val

Bon Jour Val!

heeheeheee

...maybe because the Mail Art Call to Puerto Rico

is asking for "postcard"  *10x6 inches size entries?

(English translation :-)

"VOICES: IN THE MIDST OF THE PANDEMIC" The year 2020 left us, 
among so many things, a pandemic experience. 
It had not occurred in Puerto Rico or other parts of the world 
more than a hundred years ago. Like any major global event, 
the COVID 19 pandemic provokes various reactions to this 
historical situation. 
We see it in all areas of knowledge and from each of these spaces 
we hear diverse voices that tell their story of gain or loss, 
of new horizons. In the art world there are also voices that are expressed 
from different disciplines. 
For this reason, the 2nd International Mail Art of the Association of Plastic 
Artists of Puerto Rico (known by its acronym AAPPR) was created,
 entitled "Voices in the midst of the pandemic." 
There will be total freedom of media or support

*remaining within the 4 "x 6" mail art format (10.16 cm x 15.24 cm) 

DEADLINE TO RECEIVE THE WORKS: Thursday, JULY 15, 2021 
DATE OF EXHIBITION: IN CELEBRATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL ARTIST DAY
 ON OCTOBER 25, 2021.
Send to:
AAPPR
Association of Plastic Artists of Puerto Rico,Inc.
P.O.Box 8608
Fernandez Juncos Station
San Juan, Puerto rico 00910-0605
 
Exhibition will be documented in the official Blog of 
"VOICES: In the Middle of the Pandemic" 
and there will be a face-to-face Expo in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 
Then we will inform the day and place of the exhibition. 
Visit our page on Facebook Asociación de Artistas Plásticos de Puerto Rico, 
Inc.

Post cards are the most expensive way to mail an image. It is so thoughtless to limit the size of an artist's response to a call for mail. It is so thoughtless to choose an impossibly small size to work. I seldom have a response so small. And It costs the same to mail the nothing as to mail a much larger response. It leaves a large carbon footprint. Someone did not think it through. 

(Sir Guido Bondioli)...yes, the "BIG" barf is impressive.....but, if I may: the modest little  postcard has served humankind well over  the past century  & while it is true [at least, here in the U. S. A.( b.,c., etc.)]  that  the  international rate for sending a postcard & or an envelope  are the same they both have distinctive advantages in  their own separate characteristics ---as well as for the personal reasons & choices that an   individual might prefer. & you're right about the the "large carbon footprint" as well. It's high time we put an end to all this "mail art nonsense" & utilize email more effectively .Then maybe we can concentrate more  on contributing to all that space junk & satellite debris floating above our heads.

Guido, Bradford and Richard...Please, gentlemen, comrades and fellow mail artists, this group is about BORING POSTCARDS, not postcards in general, not international mail rates, not carbon footprints...just BORING POSTCARDS;

All other discussions, Guido, belong somewhere else...and I suggest you look at the evolution of this Group...yes all 42 pages of it -- to see what we are trying to do...and why. Then, hopefully, you will understand what's going on.

Val

Sorry, VMH et al, but I had to respond to the Guido-posting.  My rebuttal image has been posted as a blog instead of here.

https://iuoma-network.ning.com/profiles/blogs/wonderful-hand-drawn-...

If you want to respond to my comment feel free. I see you have not addressed my comments at all.

Guido, your comments about the "postcard size" for the Mail Art Call in Puerto Rico should be directed at the "Events" blog:

VOCES: En Medio de la Pandemia

• Added by Asoc. de Artistas Plásticos PR
• Send Message   View Events

Organizers of mail art events often have a stipulated size, possibly because of their exhibit area, or even the size of their postal box .

................

Here at Val's group it is not the place for discussions about format sizes of mail art, it is about sharing "Boring Postcards".

A discussion about the pros and cons of postcards might be best done at Ruud's group: "FUNNY POSTCARDS". Or, create your own group for discussion.

Meanwhile...back to Boring Postcards:

what is happening here?

UFO?

Discovered a batch of old 1950's...boring? or interesting ?

UFO, Katerina?

Here is the Evoluon UFO in Eindhoven, the Netherland.; It used to be a Museum of the Philips Company, but is now a Conference Center. Eindhoven is a one company town, and that company is Philips.

It's practically a USO due to its proximity to water.

THREE POSTCARDS FROM M. RICHARD CANARD -- mercy buckets!

1. Grade School, Unionville, Mo

I don't think this is, or was, a very good Skool as the person who wrote the caption had problems spelling School, Schole, Schohle....

2. The Queen of Hearts

'Why?', I hear you asking, 'is the Queen of Hearts stuck on a fence log in the middle of a field?' on this Boring Postcard.

She's looking for the tarts she made and the rascal who stole them.

'Explain, please, Val'

Here's an English poem and nursery rhyme from 1782:

The Queen of Hearts

She made some tarts,

    All on a summer's day;

The Knave of Hearts

He stole those tarts,

    And took them clean away.

The King of Hearts

Called for the tarts,

    And beat the knave full sore;

The Knave of Hearts

Brought back the tarts,

    And vowed he'd steal no more.

(And if you're still interested in Her Majesty you can read all about her in Chapter 11 of 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'

This Boring Postcard was 'Photographed by Diana Hale...Based On A Notion by Richard Canard'. Bravo Richard -- I think you are first ever Boring Postcard designer!)

3. Time Saver Card -- Time is Meaningless-- Check Items Desired

This looks like an old Postcard, but it ain't. It's a lock-down Covid card, as you can see from the available choices. In fact, it's rather clever, and maybe it should be in the Interesting Postcards section.

This Postcard was also 'Reimagined by Diana Hale'

26.05.21 Dare Mister Val M. H., ...Thank you for your attentions & insights. I just wanna underscore that Ms. Diana Hale's photograph featuring the "Queen of Hearts stuck on a fence log" is also "a playing card atop a post". A "Post" & a "Card " ...yes, a bad pun--- which should easily qualify as" boring". SinCelery, Richard Canard

Thanks Richard, and I underscore this reply. Have you got any more of Diana's Postcard 'Reimaginations?

Yes,  I can relay to you another of the same "lock-down Covid Reimagination" (if  that is to which you refer).  Unfortunately, I am not  aware of Ms. Hale's total repertoire--there may very well be more . Ms. Diana Hale is very much a member here at the I.U.O.M.A.

Oh..... or do you refer to the "Post" / "Card"?

FROM DIANA HALE -- AMAZO PLAZA COURTS

Thanks Diana -- a great Boring Postcard.

Sent by Su in, I think, 1940 or 1960, from Little Rock, Ark, which she describes as a 'really nice area'. She doesn't, alas, say anything about the Beatyrest Mattress on her bed, but maybe she slept on the floor or in the bath.

Well, I don't know. If you're from Texas, love travel, motels, hotels, and the like this nostalgic image from the 40s is interesting. If the back is inscribed and posted, all the more so. There is at least one boring image from the famous Alamo Plaza Courts series I'll try to dig up to show you what boring is all about.

THREE OLD PARISIAN POSTCARDS (not in very good condition, alas) FROM MIKEL UNTZILLA, for which many thanks,

1. Cabaret du Lapin Blanc (1864)

Can you see the White Rabbit, Alice? I can't.

2.View from l'Arc de Triomphe

Note the two men with boaters. The French Tennis Open finished yesterday, and 99% of the male spectators seemed to wear boaters. (My French chapeau de choice is a pith helmet)

3. The Charmer of Birds

Another boater. And a Charmer in a top hat.

You may wonder why os he charming birds? As he's French, he's probably going to eat them.

This postcard seems to pre-date Covid by about 150 years -- the Charmer is either heavily bearded, or wearing a mask.

WAITING FOR GODOT....SORRY, THAT SHOULD BE WAITING FOR CEZANNE

Here is a Boring Postcard of a garden chair alongside an, ancient stone, er, table that Cécile sent to Germaine in 1980

What was Cécile doing there? you might ask. She was waiting for Cézanne, as the next Postcard shows.

The little stone pillar at the bottom left of the Postcard marks the exact spot (so the back of the Postcard tells us) where Cézanne set down his easel to paint 'Le Paysage de Sainte-Victoire' in 1885.

I don't have a Postcard of his painting, nor the original work which is in a museum in Philadelphia (of course), but here is what his painting looks like.

(Later versions of Cézanne's work include Cécile's chair)

MOVE A BIT TO THE RIGHT, CELY, AND SEE IF YOU CAN LOSE THAT BOAT

Two remarkably similiar Boring French Postcards of a sunrise or sunset taken by 'Cely'.

Start with this one

"It's not bad, Cely, but see if you can loose the boat as that will make the Postcard more Boring. Try moving a bit to the right."

And he did:

"Getting better, but too much of the old wagon, and not enough of the pier. Try moving a bit more to the right, Cely."

And he did. And there should be a third Boring Postcard.

But Cely moved too far to the right and fell off the cliff.

The lessons to be learned from this are i) there are dangers in being a Boring Postcard photographer in Franve; and ii) there are dangers in moving too far to the right in France

PREHISTORIC STONES FROM 4500BC: BUT WHO IS THE GRAFFITI ARTIST?

Here are two Boring postcards of lots of old stones from ancient sites in Brittany in the north west of France. 

1. 'The Alignment of Stones at Kermario'

There are, says the local Tourist Office, 1029 old stones here -- count them if you have nothing better to do. Or play 'Spot the Old French Cars'. (I spotted 3rd from the left a Renault 4; fourth from the left a VW Beetle; and 4th from the right a Citroen 2CV).

Now here, maybe, it gets interesting:

2. The Alignent of Stones at Ménec'

Lots more old stones from the same era and the same part of France. Is that modern graffiti on the stone front left, or was it part of the original and very ancient carving?

PLEASE CHOOSE A TITLE FOR THIS BORING POSTCARD FROM MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND, FROM THE LIST BELOW, OR PROVIDE AN ALTERNATIVE ONE  (It says'General View' on the back)

1. Extract from a 1970's garden furniture catalogue

2. Everyone's gone to the Montreux Jazz Festival

3. Everyone's gone to the Moon, Jonathon

4. "I told you we didn't need a reservation"

5. "And I told YOU that this was a terrible restaurant, and that's why thete's no one here."

6.  etc

Agreed:

NOT "Boring" :-)

see the blog, too:

• From the State of illusion: richard canard

FRENCH HUNTERS (methinks they should be shot) HIDING IN A BIRD HIDE

The guy at the top seems to be peering out of a tank whoch, seems, even by French hunting 'standards', to be an unfair piece of armanent to shoot birds.

These hunters, even by French hunting 'standards', can't be very good and/or are very short-sighted, as there is a pigeon perched on theor hide.

Vive le pigeon!

Title for boring postcard:

"This is NOT Greece" 

THIS:

is Greece (obviously :-)

HOW TO MAKE A BORING POSTCARD A BIT MORE INTERESTING, PART 1

Here is a Boring Postcard of a sort of barn (a grange) at a monastery in Rochefort, France:

Not a lot is happening there, but if you turn it on it's side it looks a bit more interesting:

(Part 2 will come after a break from our commercial sponsors)

Photof from annual Polish Episcopathe meeting.

Catholic intellectuals in Poland since 2005, since the death of John Paul II, have argued about the definition of the JP II generation, which is faithful to his teachings. But recent experiences related to the Episcopate and Bishops in Poland show that this generation is only a corporation of bishops. Honors - money - pedophilia - moral rot. this is how the search for noble ideals reached the prosaic reality embellished with a pedophile and hiding it. thats my commentary...

HOW TO MAKE A BORING POSTCARD A BIT MORE INTERESTING, PART 2

Here is a Boring Postcard of the shopping center at the Perrache Station in Lyon, France. You can't really see the shops, as two-thirds of the Postcard is given over to a hanging 'thing':

But if you turn the Postcard upside down then the 'thing' (and the shops) takes on a different perspective -- sort of an opening flower?

Thanks Raphael -- is this a Postcard? If it is, it is certainly Boring. Thank!

(I feel that I am on safer ground  limiting my comments to the image you posted, rather than the very serious issues that you raise. It is not that I seek to avoid discussing them with you, but this is not really the place to do so. That's my commentary)

I CAN'T SEE IT, CAN YOU?

This is a Boring Postcard of le Moulin (the windmill) de Rosmadec, Pon-Aven in France.

I can't see  a windmill: can you?

Nowy Targ, Poland, about 1975 year. Post card send to ma by my Grand Mother.

I got a postcard from Wrocław (Breslau). It shows two hippos, photo taken in the mid-1970s. These hippos could live in any zoo in the world. There is no distinguishing feature in the photo that this is Wrocław, in Poland.

Do the hippos look Bored, or are they enjoting themselves 'wherever they are)?

What does the message on the back of the card say? "Here I am with young Pieter at Warsaw Zoo'?

The stamp is interesting; a Medieval woodcut of a fisherman.

Berlin (West), Zentralverein der Taubstummen, postcard about 1980 year.

"PANORAMA STUPENDO!" Panorama Boringo?

The Stazione Idrotermale Climatica - Balneare; Garden of the Penisola Sorrentina, Vico Equesne, Italy

This was sent by Gefy, Ely, Robi and Jhonny to Linuccia in Napoli in October 1988. Their message on the reverse of the Postcard ended "Panorama Stupendo!"

Panorama Boringo?!

Saluti! to one and all