Since first becoming aware of mail art about 20 years ago, I've participated in many shows and put on a few of my own. I was drawn to the concept because it brought together several of my previous interests and talents while stimulating the development of new ones. I was a collage artist and rubber stamp user/eraser stamp carver already and I was used to having lots of penpals around the globe whom I might never meet in person. I was thrilled to find out that there might be a way to combine the two, as well as communicate primarily through the visual medium, while also supporting one of my most cherished political and social beliefs -- that art belongs to everyone, not an elite few, and that all art is valuable in and of itself.
Long before I had a computer, I made everything by hand, one by one, with no way to keep records of what I sent out. I sometimes made black and white copies of the pieces but my work was always full of color and that was lost. When color copiers became accessible, and then affordable and high quality, I started using them in my work and to record my work. When computers became accessible, then affordable and high quality, I started using them in my work and to both reproduce and record things. I have also used the internet to expand my senses and connections even further as it has grown. I've been excited and pleased by the way that mail art has been adapted to the web and to email.
Before this show, I had only organized one large mail art show and that was in connection with my job. I manage a Women's Studies department at a major university and I felt that it would be both interesting and transformational for the department to sponsor a mail art show on a theme relevant to women and/or gender. When the UN Conference for Women in Beijing was being planned, the then Chair asked if I'd like to have the show coincide with meetings in preparation for that conference and I jumped at the chance. The show was called 'What Do Women Want?' and it was hugely successful in ways we hoped for as well as in ways we never could have anticipated. One thing we didn't have then was access to the internet, though, so this is the first large show I'll have attempted where an online catalog and show are an integral part of the process.
As I worked on planning the open celebration in connection with getting married to my now- husband Graham, I decided it would be great to have a mail art show about marriage since it would add to both the seriousness and the absurdity of the event. I wanted to infuse the event with art and the spirit of DaDa in some tangible way while giving reception guests something other than us to focus on. I sent mail art call postcards to people in many areas of my life -- mail art friends from years gone by, online friends from Cafe Utne, family and friends from work and various art and music projects I've been involved with. I also posted details of the show at several online mail art sites as well as putting a print ad in ARTWEEK. The result is what you get a glimpse of here in this online catalog.
We received 68 marriage mail art pieces from 60 people (as well as a dozen or more other pieces) as well as several mail art calls and other ephemera. Pieces came from 13 countries including the United States (17 states within the US, and 3 provinces in Canada). There were tiny packages, huge packages, postcards, manila envelopes, scrolls, and a decorated broom! Deep thanks go to my daughter Kimber and her husband Tom for saving us the day of the event by hanging the show for us. They did a beautiful job, as you will see if you browse these photos taken on the day.
We didn't hire a professional wedding photographer for the event -- though one working professional was there as part of the throng of guests and ended up taking wonderful shots like this. Instead, we asked all of the guests to take photos, some with their own cameras and some with disposables we had in a basket by the door. One of the great results is that several of the younger guests went on a photo- taking field day and their perspective on the event was a real eye opener. It was also fun to see all the people and interactions we missed in the craziness of the moment by seeing them through the eyes of various guests.
Over a span of two hours, about a hundred people saw the show and there were 11 people who participated in the mail art show at the event. The print catalog went out to participants the week of August 15th and I've gotten feedback that they have arrived, for the most part, intact. There was a three-fold card-weight exterior enclosing a scroll made in quanitity by Dija Land tied into the catalog with gold elastic cord and a sheet of Mail Art Calls folded inside. Five of the participating artists were represented in the print catalog by some of their work. I wanted to include everyone's work but couldn't afford either the time or the financial output. If you would like a print catalog of your own, you can still get one by sending me a piece of marriage mail art. :-)
Graham and I have created this online catalog together and hope you enjoy it. Please sign our guestbook. The full online show will be up through the end of October 1999 and will be archived thereafter but I am not sure yet where.
To the participants and anyone with a stake in mail art: We have limited the online show to images which in some way reflect the show's theme and to a maximum of 3 images per artist. We have also, very unwillingly, censored one image because it could be considered child pornography under UK law. Since the site resides on a UK server, and because Graham is still a UK citizen (not to mention under the eagle eye gaze of the INS here in the States), we are making this very uncharacteristic decision. It is not our wish nor does it in any way reflect our own personal ethics or beliefs. On the contrary, we are against censorship in any form and urge you to join us in supporting the
If I've described your work in a way which doesn't seem appropriate to you, please let me know what you'd rather be said. If it's not too long, we'll print it in its entirety. :-) Please give us feedback (thanks Kristen and Miranda!) on the show and let us know you got to see the online version, and/or if you've received your snail mail version in the post.
Carla Cryptic - PO Box 1274 - Berkeley, CA 94701-1274 - email: crypticmail@btinternet.com
© All works are the copyright of their respective authors. The copyright of these pages resides with Carla Cryptic.