Artless Blog

[DKeys]

Nancy, hope you don't mind me posting this--

This is an excerpt from a note from NBS that I thought was very evocative and poetic. I love the image of mail art being a 'colorful riotous crowd of crazy people"

 

What do you do with received MA? There's so much I love and can't stand to just file away in a box or closet. Right now, four months' worth is on my desk in a big but low box so that it looks like a colorful riot of MA standing up every which way--like a crowd of crazy people or something.

[DKeys]

Hey Nancy, yes, for a mail art show I had, I displayed all the artwork in a binder and laminated all the pages--envelopes and all. I love that I have everything preserved that way and it was fun watching people look through it. The rest, unfortunately is lovingly placed in a big box-I wonder if anyone has ever been crushed by a mail art hoard? It could happen

[Nancy Bell Scott]

Diane, thanks for the most unexpected blog, and the photo you chose is perfect! It's great to read everyone's approach to handling their received mail art--very helpful--and burgeoning new ideas such as Lisa and Val are proposing. Did you mean you laminate and put in binder, Diane, or someone else? I might have to do some version of a notebook (with clear pocket-pages) for the MA that isn't on the wall. Probably end up with a lot of notebooks, but at least it would be easy to look at the art, with the envelope there but contents outside the envelope.

[Valentine Mark Herman]

Cheryl, bonjour! All wall space here is given over to...well, art and photos and mirrors and collags and assemblages and bits of driftwood and old confirmation certificates and posters and there ain't any more room, alas.

To all other artists and artistes reading this: I've had an idea, and that is we should share our existing mail art with each other. It would be a sort of recycling, or more accurately of resending, the mail art that we have already received to someone else (not it's originator!). That way I could share my best art with you. That way it would 'live on', and not be put into enforced hibernation in a box in the storage area.

But you can post pictures of it on the site, Val!

I suppose so, but that's not the same at all. I'd rather receive one nice card/envelope/whatever in my post box than see 17 trillion images on IUOMA. For example, pictures of Cheryl's fantastic books just don't compare at all with the originals -- made, bound, coloured, sewed etc by Cheryl and sent to me.

I'm sorely tempted in starting a Resending Mail Art Month.

Wotcha think, gang?

[DKeys]

V. Marque, that's exactly what Cheryl said. Having a theme allows you to categorize them, which is genius. i'm just not that organized. I do have one book in which all the mail art is laminated and put into a binder. The mail art metro is a great idea Lisa!

[cheryl penn]

Boxes, Frames and Books - The excellence get framed - I have WALLS of art. The other excelllents have books made for them with pockets (I'm VERY far behind) and I give power points all over showing off the work I receive - so its out there :-) - BUT a lot is in boxes too :-( - thats why I annoy you all with themes - so that I can put the work into BOOKS :-) X

[Valentine Mark Herman]

What do you think of this?

At the start of the 'Photos' section of this site are 5 'Featured Photos', chosen, I suspect by Ruud.

is there scope for something here along the following lines...

...it (the Metro? something else?) could be called 'Best of 2011'...we could each contribute just one piece that we have received over the last 12 months that we consider to be the best/most inspirational/funniest etc of the bunch...it would be hard to make this choice, but nevertheless the collective results could be instructive...it would be shown and tell, with no prizes....

Just a thought.

And I know that i would it difficult in the extreme to nominate THAT piece of Mail Art.

Val

[Valentine Mark Herman]

Await details to come later, Artists & Artistes, Boys and Girls, about a Mail Art Exhibition I will be hosting in Sigean (France: where I live) called  "Sige(a)nEnveloppes" [a play on words, en francais] in which I will showcase some of the envelopes I've received from the IUOMA gang, plus some of my own envelopes.

One of the ideas behind it is to liberate these envelopes from their time in storage.

Another is to inspire the local community to participate in another Exhibition I'll be arranging later in the year called "Summer in Sigean/L'Eté à Sigean" which, again, will feature envelopes. But more about that later, too.

Meanwhile, I'll check out the Metro 'timetable'.

Val

[Nadine Wendell-Mojica]

No kidding. I also take better care of my recieved mail art than anything else. I'm trying to think of a way to have  a changing home exhibit. People are always shocked at the gifted inspirtion all of YOU have given freely.

[Human Artist Vending Machine LTD]

I store my  MA for now, it is better protected then my own art. I have a few out to inspire. I hope one day to show it off to a group..I tell gallery friends and share with co-workers..when I can..one day when I pass I hope it goes to a flea market ..and spread out again..keep a flow of movement in the world.

[Svenja Wahl]

Diane, thank you for this wonderful and "heart-warming" thoughts about mail art and the matching picture!