| Mail Art Archives |
[Mar. 26th, 2008|06:41 pm] |
Every so often I am asked how to secure mail art archives. Crackerjack Kid seems to tell people I have this knowledge. Here is the sum of my knowledge as written to the most recent inquiry.
Dear Sheril,
Thanks for your letter about your mail art collection blues.
Chuck and David did contact me about David’s archive before he died. Then an archivist working with David's collection before and after he died also contacted me.
I do not have any personal information about collecting, donating, or securing mail art archives, although I think Chuck Welch thinks I do. When I was doing my doctoral research on mail art one of my main findings was that mail artists of a certain age were very concerned about the safety of their archives and wanted to find them a home in an institution.
Here is what I learned and it may be helpful to you.
John Held Jr. a professional librarian with a well-organized archive has sold parts of it to various institutions such as the Smithsonian National Archives and the Getty. John has received a lot of flack for selling mail art, but in fact, that’s a way to get a large institution interested. If you are giving away an archive then it has no actual value to the acquiring organization such as university library or museum.
Judith Hoffberg also a professional librarian donated her archive of artists’ books to her university's library.
CORRECTION FROM JUDITH HOFFBERG:
> Anna Banana sent me a statement from a blog that cited the fact (from
> you) that I had GIVEN my artist book collection to UCLA. In fact, they
> purchased my collection in three increments from 1985 through the mid
> 1990s.
>
> My mail art collection was GIVEN to them by me in the 1990s, but my
> archive and other mail art has gone to the UCSB (Santa Barbara) Art
> Library and Special Collections.
>
I would start by talking to these two mail artists about their archives and how to get yours secured into an institution. Then publish how you did it on the web at mailartist.com. Send your solution to me and I will post it there.
Another avenue is to contact a school of information (formerly called school of library science) at a university. Offer your archive as a capstone project and let students research how to handle mail art archives. I think this is the best idea yet. Grad students get a unique problem they can 1) research 2) solve and then 3) write about in scholarly journals. A byproduct would be that you would secure the works you care about.
I wish you the best of luck in securing your archive or repurposing it into new art. I am a recycler myself so I don’t have an archive and I don’t have archive legacy issues that go with archives.
Best wishes,
honoria |
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| Fake Picabia Sisters' Mail Art |
[Feb. 23rd, 2008|05:05 pm] |
off to Italy
and to our German butler
hot pink elephants |
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| Mail Art to John Held Jr. |
[Feb. 20th, 2008|04:56 pm] |
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| Postcard to Ennio |
[Dec. 14th, 2007|03:15 pm] |
elefantus friend
flikrized his mailart
posting pachyderms
discover the amazing collection of elephants collected by Ennio Pauluzzi at http://www.flickr.com/photos/elefantus |
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| The Sticker Dude Universe Show |
[Nov. 22nd, 2007|10:18 am] |
honoria's mail art for the Sticker Dude Universe mail art show
Theme: The Sticker Dude Universe
Size: Maximum 5.5" x 8.5" (148 x 210 cm, A-5)
Deadline: December 12, 2007
No work returned. Documentation to all.
Mail to: The Sticker Dude Universe Mail Art Project
Art 101
101 Grand Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211 USA
If you are in NY I encourage you to attend the opening that will include a Sticker Dude performance.
December 14, 6-9 p.m. at Art 101, 101 Grand St. in Brooklyn NY. |
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| mail art painting |
[Sep. 21st, 2007|09:35 pm] |
Theme: the french singer, Georges BRASSENS
Please send me any medium that deal with any technique.
Info: turlure@gmail.com Deadline to be received: October 12, 2007
Jean-Luc TURLURE
125 rue Castagnary
Paris 75015 France |
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| archer and bow |
[Sep. 21st, 2007|11:14 am] |
archer and the bow
Size: A4 maximum. All techniques accepted.
info: penthesilee@aliceadsl.fr
A virtual catalog will be on line on this website: http://www.windowswords.canalblog.com
Deadline to be received: October 15, 2007
Windows on the Words
6, rue Edouard Manet
92600 Asnières
FRANCE |
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| Mail Art |
[Sep. 20th, 2007|10:46 pm] |
 to Russia |
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| Take a walk in the future mail art call |
[Sep. 20th, 2007|06:09 pm] |
3007: take a walk in the future.
Add & come back
Instructions and backgrounds at: http://www.impostedart.net
Deadline: September 30, 2007
Doc & show!
info: 3007@impostedart.net
impos(t)ed art
francesca+gabriele+maria+guido
via Spinola 1/6A
17100 Savona
Italy |
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| Mail Art Philosophy Day |
[Sep. 20th, 2007|02:20 pm] |
Happy Philosophy Day
Mail art bound for Greece
Philosophy Day - 21st November
1st International A4-A5 Mail Art Thessaloniki
Please send any medium any technique. Size: from A5 to A4.
One work per Artist.
Exhibition will open on November 21, 2007
info: goteetotum@yahoo.gr
Deadline to be received: September 30, 2007
Teetotum
Ioanninon 44
Thessaloniki 54639
Greece |
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| Bill De Kooning's Bicycle Seat |
[Jun. 27th, 2007|11:34 am] |
Bill De Kooning’s Bicycle Seat is a mail art project started by Ray Johnson in the 1980s. Recently the Getty and ArtPool in Hungary have sent out a call to bring together the classic bicycle seats in the mail art world. I wonder what that show will look like?
I am inspired to surprise seasoned mail artists with painting variations on the bicycle seat. These are yesterday’s paintings in ink, watercolor, rubber stamp and gouache for Mike Dickau, Dragonfly Dream, Ryosuke Cohen, and John Held Jr. |
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