Unfortunately the Ex Postal Facto meet up didn’t’ happen when I could make it all the way out to San Francisco. All of the images coming from the event made it look amazing, a lot of fun, it would have been great to go. It did seem like there were a lot of older folks there, which is troubling, only because I worry about the health and longevity of the whole project. I want it to continue so we need more new blood. It could have simply been a time and money issue and not a lack of interest from folks younger than the first or second generation of mail-artists.
The main promoter of the event recently posted something about an official catalog off the event that I was thankfully able to be included. I sent several things to Carmela in California and she turned those items into a book. Before I saw the catalog I saw a video of someone wondering through the exhibit and there it was something I made behind glass. I felt really good about this you know, having something behind glass and thus important. Other than a few people here and there saying they liked what I’ve created, I’ve heard nothing about these things I’ve spent hours making. (Part of my motto is strictly based in the punk world-since no one cares what you’re doing, you might as well do it the way you want to. No one cares so I continue). Having someone actually notice was a strange feeling. The “official” validation that something I made was indicative of this thing called mail-art, felt great even if it went against my whole reason for creating. It was a nice thing, a fulfilling thing, a conflicting thing.
It took me a while to build up the courage to buy the catalog. One side of me was saying “Don’t do it, just keep moving forward” and the other side of me wanted a trophy, some physical remnants of my mild greatness. I called the SF Center of the Book and ordered with shipping, my forty-eight dollar copy. “Who knows, this could be the last thing like this that I’m ever in,” I kept telling myself.
In two days the book was at my house. It’s a thin volume, much thinner than I thought it would be. Some heft for the cost would have been nice. Of course I went directly to the index to see my name. There on page twenty was what Carmela and I had created. Thankfully the main piece was one I liked, a collage of a bunch of Japanese characters. Hopefully there isn’t anything too untoward in there. I would hate if I unintentionally created a racist screed or formula for a hydrogen bomb. Hell, it could be Shakespeare…no, that was with monkeys. The rest of the collages that made up the book aren’t represented, but I can see the address portion of the card in the book. I wish I would have spent more time decorating this section but I didn’t know it would be included in such a thing. At this point I was still using cut in half blank, cardboard cards from the craft store. In the top left corner was a simple black and white address label and a red honey bee stamp directly beneath. It looked uninteresting to me. I should have used more stickers. I should have used more stamps. At least the main image is one I adore.
I often wonder what types of things people focus on with these silly things I make. This goes for it all, whether it’s Nostrils, the zines, or more often the mail-art. Almost every time I get positive feedback it’s for something I never even thought about, some minute detail about a postcard I never thought about. They’ll comment about some small thing in the corner of the card that was put there just to cover up the backing. They’ll comment about a certain color of strip next to a different stripped piece of paper that wasn’t calculated. Honestly, it all just comes together without much planning, but in the interpretation these things get deep. I love this aspect of the process, making something, sending it out there and seeing what people have to say about it. Don’t care if that interpretation is well past my intention or just plain wrong, I love it. It is, after all about who’s honoring me now.
This collection of images was posted on the IUOMA site by the lovely Katerina in Greece. I can name only two other people that have received more mail art from me, than Katerina. It’s always a pleasure to exchange things with her, and even better to have small conversations here and there.
And here it is…what she saw as interesting in this postcard. Her images show the haphazard mess of the whole thing, the absurdity. I hate the white space in between the different colors. Normally I try and cover this up to keep the thing bouncing along and painfully splashed with as much as I can. The whole minimal, a couple pieces of material thing, doesn’t work for me. I need to cover up those spaces, have to cover up those in between colors. I’m so thankful that Katerina took the time to post these images.
