Mail art

I was just thinking . . .

I do this thing called mail art. Very free and loose and off the cuff kind of stuff. Lots of rubber stamps, collage, photocopying. Some people do things that are more complicated (chapbooks, handmade rubber stamps, prints, artist stamps) but it's not required. It's very fun to see what you get in the mail.

So I have some things that have come my way over the past few months that I was going to send along, and I thought maybe someone here would like to join in? Just asking.

I don't really understand what "mail art" is through your description. Do you make collages and mail them to people to look at, or something entirely different??

That's one aspect of it. I have a list of names I've compiled over time, some that are individuals, some that are more formal groups, not all American. I make a piece of art of some kind and send it to one or more of them. The recipient makes a piece of art and sends it back to me.

Now, sometimes people intentionally send items that are designed to confuse the post office. One call I heard about (did not participate) was about hands, and one responder sent in 2 plaster hands with the address on the cuff and stamps on the stump end. I understand it arrived in good condition, too. So I tend to do paper things that are easy to mail, but it's not limited that way.

On my desk right now are these:

~ a chapbook on tomatoes, I add some art and pass it along

~ 2 or 3 add-and-pass items, a photocopy that I change in some way, along with a list of the previous contributors, and I send a copy to each of them and pass the original to someone else.

~ some computer generated art that has been cut and pasted into something else

~ a 6-panel comic strip in booklet form

~ one of those folded paper snowflakes cut from a page of the Dutch phone book, unfolded it has tulip shapes

~ several smaller pieces of paper with a list of addresses or an invitation to participate in a project on it


So, really, all kinds of stuff. Some people are clearly professional artists or at least very talented, but others are just average folks reaching out into the network to see what they get. I usually wait until I have a small packet of stuff and mail to several people. I haven't done this in months, maybe since geting back to Texas, but I miss finding cool stuff in my mailbox, so it's time to start it up again.

It is kind of hard to explain! In some ways, you just have to jump in.

Sounds like fun Allison.........add me to your list.....and I will send you something soon.

I'm not much of an artist, but it sounds fun. I'd like to join just to see what is it like. I'll pm you my address.

What is a chapbook?