Directory Assistance.... can I help you?

I just updated the dmoz (aka open directory project) directory for mailart and artistamps. I've been a volunteer editor for this category for a few years now and I try to keep it up-to-date and make sure there are no bad links. If you know of any sites that need to be added, please go to the appropriate category, click on "suggest URL," and add a short description of the site.

One of the newest sites which was added is by Mozoprimo, A Dutch artist with great ATCs including collages of fish, manikins, found objects and camels with candles.

Banana's Add & Pass

This postcard was sent to the den by Anna Banana from BC Canada. The back of the postcard reads "Sticker Tree Project" and asks the recipient to add the stickers from fruits and vegetables to the branches. It took me about 2 months to eat my quota and fill up the branches on this card.
You'll find mangoes, apples and pomegranates plus a fake fruit sticker.



There is a poem on the reverse of the card which reads:

Who will then snicker
When all the leaves
of all the trees
Are
replaced with
corporate stickers?

Anna has been in the mailart network for quite some time and is probably best known for her VILE magazine project (which she co-edited) from 1974-1983. You can read more about her influence and activities in this article from The Spare Room web site.

Artist of the Month

kiyotei is artist of the month on art.net. I still remember joining up with this group over 10 years ago and all the help and collaboration I've received from Lile Elam and the rest of the art.net artists. I'm proud to be a part of the group and here's wishing us all another 10 years in cyberspace together! Cheers!

Special props to Tom Coffin, Jaxxun, Marketta and Jennifer Crystal Fang-Chien for inspiration. collaborations and perspiration.

Interlacing Channels

Popped down to the post this morning and was surprised to find a rather large package in the box. The return address was reminiscent of Johns Wayne's real name but the city was Taipei Taiwan. Racking my brain to remember if I purchased a sweatshop t-shirt of Happy Bunny or a loaded CD-Rom of warez, I opened the package to find two paperback books (one large and one small).

The large book immediately caught my eye because the art on the cover was by long-time collaborator, Denis Mizzi of Australia, who ARTicipated in my first mailart call "X-Ray Spex" in 2000.

A brief scan through the books contents reveal quotes from religious and ancient texts juxtaposed with observations from the author's travels. The name on both books is Madison Morrison and upon opening the small book, I found a handwritten note on the back of a change of address card. It said, "Why don't you send me some of your work? I saw you listed in Braincell 593. All Best, MM."

For those of you who don't know, Braincell is one of the most well-known and long-running mail art projects created and maintained by Japanese artist Ryosuke Cohen. His wonderful project arrives from time to time in my box and is a colorful and fascinating beast. The collages are created from stamp designs, rubberstamps, stickers, drawings and seals he receives from other artists. He then prints these materials onto A3 size paper and creates 150 sheets and sends a sheet back with a list of addresses to each participant. He publishes the Braincell project at intervals of 8 to 10 days and each sheet includes about 60 people. Ryosuke is always accepting artwork and designs, so check out his pages for more info and the mailing address if you are interested in collaborating with him. You can view an example of this project at the Artpool Website in Budapest.

A search for the author by name on Google brought up another interesting mailart connection. It seems a certain Dr. Madison Morrison, who graduated from Yale and received his Ph.D. from Harvard recently spoke about Homer and Western Tradition of Literature at the Jeju Culture & Art Foundation (JCAF) in Korea on October 19, 2004. I had heard of the JCAF because The Jeju International Art Show in October 2001 hosted a mailart call titled "Peace Island." I submitted artwork to the call and received a beautiful jam-packed printed documentation for the show. You can view some really great photos of the conference and mail art exhibit by visiting Jas W. Felter's (Vancover, Canada) Peace Island pages.

Coincidence??? Mail art connections passing the globe from Hungary to Japan to Korea and on to Cali. Gotta love it. All art is good. I'm looking forward to reading these books.

Pati Mailed

Received 6 snazzy ATCs (artist trading cards) from Pati Bristow of Los Altos, CA today. She used a variety of old stamp sheets, office supplies (affectionately known as paper assholes) and advertising scrap for these recycled mini-collages. They are quite colorful and I always enjoy seeing one person's trash turned into art and not a landfill.



She has been a prolific contributor to the ATC Virus call with two batches of cards send so far including Abstract Virrii and Peace Virus for a total of 18 virus infections.

Some Recent ATCs

Some recent ATCs that I sent out in limited edition batches. The first one was done in markers, the middle is a digital creation and the third one is painted in opaque acrylic with pen.

From left to right they are tilted: Kanji Bones Green, Spells in the Cupboard and Tattoo Doodle Bear. I'm always up for trades, Jams and Round Robin swaps, so email me and let's set something up.

A new ATC book is coming out just in time for the Holidaze. It's by the good folks at Stampington.com and has over 500 ATCs to view. This company has been around for a while and is best know for the great catalogues they produce. There is a bunch of cards to wander through in the book including one of my watercolor ATCs.


Pronghorn Shaman

Day of the Dead is upon us. Celebrate life and honor the memories of relatives long gone.

For the third year in a row, the nation of Matangi has issued an artistamp for the holiday. The mailartist.com has been updated to include this artistamp on the Matangi Island Postal page for the ficticious island nation.



A close-up image of the artwork for the stamp, including the 2002 and 2003 issues can be viewed by visiting the Day of the Dead page.

If you would like a sheet of stamps, contact me and we can arrange a swap.

Tom Ridge Read My Mail Art!I retrieved my mail from the P.O. Box today and noticed that it had been sliced open on one end and taped back up with a piece of fluorescent green packing tape.

The official-looking emblem on the tape was an eagle surrounded by the words U.S. Department of Homeland Security. There are also large letters reading U.S. Customs on the tape.

They must have been freaked out by the return address from Turkey and the 2 CD-ROMs inside.

I hope the agent enjoyed reading the documentation from Sinasi Gunes' mail art call: Watch.The mail art call on the theme of being watched is quite ironic eh?

The web site for the call including docs is here:
http://www.simulasyon.net/watch/"
Check it out - Good stuff there.

Here is Mr. Security himself with my mail:


P.S. Sinasi Gunes has a new mail art call which follows:
Theme: Woman and Ecology
Deadline: June 30,2005
Media: Photographs, emails, cartoons, collages, poems, visual poems,paintings, prints, digital images...
Size: Postcard size
Send to: Sinasi GünesAbide-i Hurriyet Caddesi
Arslanoglu Apt.80/18 Sisli / Istanbul TURKEY
No selection, no fee, no return.
Works will be displayed on this website.

I suggest you send him something soon so you can have your privacy invaded too!

kiyotei

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