But then mail art was seen as one of the new “communication arts”, a form of media aesthetics that evolved alongside video art as well as the new questioning of distribution and public access that informed much of the new performative and conceptual art practices: A collage-like work by Ray Johnson even claims to present a “history of video art”, however idiosyncratic. 9 - From Ray Johnson - Mail Art & Ephemera - Art - 9 - From Ray Johnson - Mail Art & Ephemera - Art - Ray Johnson Estate. Mailable fake fur ("Hairmail") and Astroturf postcards were circulated in the late 1990s. The official website of The Ray Johnson Estate. Posted by Mick at 9:28 AM 3 comments: The Coo Coo, Poo Poo & Pee Pee Novelty Company - Sept. 2, 1977. Mail artists value the process of exchanging ideas and the sense of belonging to a global community that is able to maintain a peaceful collaboration beyond differences of language, religion and ideology; this is one aspect that differentiates the mail art network from the world of commercial picture postcards and of simply "mailed art."[31]. At every level – from the semantic techniques deployed in his writings, to his organization of visual material, to the idiosyncratic pragmatics of his mailing practice – Johnson evokes the same reality of associations promised and associations unmade, ruptured, dispersed. Mail art has also appropriated the postage stamp as a format for individual expression. Photography is widely used as an art form, to provide images for artistamps and rubber stamps, and within printed and digital magazines and documentation,[31] while some projects have focused on the intersection of mail art with the medium itself. But then concept of nothing informed his artistic project in so many ways, from his mailings to performance-like activities to his rare exhibitions: it organized his very thinking on art and on the role of art and aesthetics in relation to that entity called the social. Mail Art Shameless second plug of the Raven Row exhibition of Ray Johnson's collages and mail art work. 0:05. Mail art and can take a variety of forms including postcards, packages, faxes, emails and blogs. Like so many other avant-garde artists (who left painting and behind) Johnson was eager to cut through the historicist temporality that informed modern art history and art production, with its logic of continual succession and supersession of artistic tradition. "[7], The mail art philosophy of openness and inclusion is exemplified by the "rules" included in invitations (calls) to postal projects: a mail art show has no jury, no entry fee, there is no censorship, and all works are exhibited. A sub-group of envelope art has its genesis in the Grateful Dead Ticket Service. [1][2], Mail artists appreciate interconnection with other artists. [1][8], The term "mail art" was coined in the 1960s. Nov 29, 2019. Mail-Art is an international network of hundreds of artists who apply communicationmedia as artmedia. Collagist, painter, poet, and the originator of mail art, Johnson took up the appropriative strategies of Marcel Duchamp and Jasper Johns, infused them with John Cage’s ideas about Zen and chance, and energized the mix with his own brand of deadpan Conceptualism. He wanted to encourage participation amongst as many artists as possible and disseminate the auteurship of the works created. Mail artists rely on their alternative "outsider" network as the primary way of sharing their work, rather than being dependent on the ability to locate and secure exhibition space. Mail art (also known as postal art and correspondence art) is a populist artistic movement centered on sending small-scale works through the postal service. The initial network was named The New York Correspondance School (sic) – a spin or pun on the idea of artistic schools and the concomitant idea of art history as a succession of such schools. [3][4], Mail art can be seen as anticipating the cyber communities founded on the Internet. The exhibition traveled to the Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel (April 2-18 May, 2003), Museum Het Domein Sittard (31 May-17 August, 2003). It was particularly widespread where state censorship prevented a free circulation of alternative ideas, as in certain countries behind the Iron Curtain or in South America. In addition to appropriating the postage stamp model, mail artists have assimilated other design formats for printed artworks. Once called "New York's most famous unknown artist", Johnson also staged and participated in early performance art events as the founder of a far-ranging mail art network – the New York Correspondence School. Ray Johnson En Rapport Three things happened that year, recalled Ray … At some point fans started decorating their envelopes with art. The written word is used as a literary art form, as well as for personal letters and notes sent with artwork and recordings of the spoken word, both of poetry and prose, are also a part of the network. And the emphatic return to these artistic concerns in contemporary art is among the things that accounts for the actuality of Ray Johnson’s lifelong artwork. ... Well known for his involvement in the mail art movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Johnson created the "New York Correspondance School" artist club in 1962 and distributed his postcards, … However, Xerography has been a key technology in the creation of many short-run periodicals and zines about mail art, and for the printed documentation that has been the traditional project culmination sent to participants. While the vast majority of correspondence art or mail art activities take place in the mail, today's new forms of electronic communication blur the edges of that forum. [7] The original contributions are not to be returned and remain the property of the organizers, but a catalogue or documentation is sent free to all the participants in exchange for their works. But it was the New York artist Ray Johnson who, in the mid 1950s, posted small collages, prints of abstract drawings and poems to art world notables giving rise to what eventually became known as the New York Correspondence School. Where a painting always involves paint and a support surface, correspondence art can appear as any one of dozens of media transmitted through the mail. [2] Although English has been the de facto language, because of the movement's inception in America, an increasing number of mail artists, and mail artist groups on the Internet, now communicate in Breton, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Russian. Known primarily as a collagist and correspondence artist, he was a seminal figure in the history of Neo-Dada and early Pop art and was described as "New York's most famous unknown artist". It has a positive dimension as well. 5) This energy is best used when it is exchanged for energy from another person with the same intentions. Some mail artists lavish more attention on the envelopes than the contents within. [34] Furthermore, attempts have been made to document and define the history of a complex and underestimated phenomenon that has spanned five decades. We invited Dr. Gosse as special guest lecturer on mail art and the work of mail art pioneer artist Ray Johnson. It can create paradigms for the reverential sharing and preservation of the earth's water, soil, forests, plants and animals. [29][30], Mail art has been exhibited in alternative spaces such as private apartments, municipal buildings, and shop windows, as well as in galleries and museums worldwide. January 5. Looking to help their fans avoid the high fees that are generated by national ticket services the Grateful Dead started their own service, commonly referred to as mail order. collagiste américain & artiste du mailart. MS 310. [39], Performance art has also been a prominent facet, particularly since the advent of mail art meetings and congresses. Through this means continually opened up of the question of sociality itself, the very meaning of notion of “the social”. Get this from a library! Facebook is showing information to help you better understand the purpose of a Page. ), Johnson at every twist and turn seems to undercut the social ties seemingly established by his practice of gift giving, in fact to continually question the very concepts of communication, communion and community that are associated with it. [16], The growth of a sizable mail art community, with friendships born out of personal correspondence and, increasingly, mutual visits,[17] led in the 1980s to the organization of several festivals, meetings and conventions where networkers could meet, socialize, perform, exhibit and plan further collaborations. [23], The rise of mail art meetings and congresses during the late 80s, and the articulation of various "isms" proclaimed by their founders as movements within mail art, were in part a response to fractures made visible by the events surrounding the Franklin Furnace exhibition. Ray Johnson. No longer available: To Purchase the Videos. Includes Biography, Selected Works, and Exhibitions. 30 x 13 1/2" (76.2 x 34.3 cm). [6], The American artist Ray Johnson is considered to be the first mail artist. Performances recorded on film or video are communicated via DVD and movie files over the internet. But then the quip about the history of Mail Art was itself a pun, of the most serious kind. ;] -- This collection includes 10 letters and 26 pieces of mail art (decorated letters, postcards) from Ray Johnson. Saul Steinberg. [33] Semi-fictional organizations have been set up and virtual lands invented, imaginary countries for which artistamps are issued. [40], "Correspondence art is an elusive art form, far more variegated by its very nature than, say, painting. In a way, it was a performance of art to an audience of one. Ray Johnson was a seminal Pop Art figure in the 1950s, an early conceptualist, and a pioneer of mail art. [1][7] Johnson's experiments with art in the mail began in 1943, while the posting of instructions and soliciting of activity from his recipients began in the mid-1950s with the mailing of his "moticos", and thus provided mail art with a blueprint for the free exchange of art via post. Stitching, embossing and an array of drawing materials can all be found on postcards, envelopes and on the contents inside. Various printmaking techniques, in addition to rubber stamping, are used to create multiples. She has written extensively on modern and contemporary art and is also active as an art critic. These unofficial rubber stamps, whether disseminating mail artists' messages or simply announcing the identity of the sender, help to transform regular postcards into artworks and make envelopes an important part of the mail art experience.[31]. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz. Excellent gallery (amazing building in itself), excellent and extensive exhibition featuring previously unseen collages and mail art of his. Integrating texts and images drawn from a multiplicity of sources — from … Video is also increasingly being employed to document mail art shows of all kinds. It initially developed out of what eventually became Ray Johnson's New York Correspondence School and the Fluxus movements of the 1960s, though it has since developed into a global movement that continues to the present. Mail artists often use collage techniques to produce original postcards, envelopes and work that may be transformed using copy art techniques or computer software, then photocopied or printed out in limited editions. This American halfgod is the pet and totem animal of the whole Mail-Art Netland. Known for his innovative multimedia collages, multifaceted Neo-Dada and Pop artist Ray Johnson merged appropriated mass media content with his own painted forms, creating larger silhouetted images both surreal and yet recognizable for their component parts. [32] Parody art movements like neoism and plagiarism have challenged notions of originality, as have the shared pseudonymous names Monty Cantsin and Karen Eliot, which were proposed for serial use by anyone. Bloch, Mark and Fricker, Hans Ruedi. [according to whom?] In time others joined in this activity, and in the course of the 1960’s and 1970’s the network grew way beyond the immediate reach and touch of Johnson’s own mailing activities. … [28] The Internet facilitated faster dissemination of mail art calls (invitations) and precipitated the involvement of a large number of newcomers. Ray, Hofstra, Video, photos, John Cale, The Correspondance School, Ina Blom, Links, Bruce Nauman, Heckscher Museum, Joseph Cornell, Stanley Twardowicz , Andy Warhol, Death, Film, Nassau County Museum of Art, Walt Whitman, Jasper Johns, The Cranbrook Academy of Art, Picasso, Interview, Fluxus, William Wilson. A painter associated with the New York School of painting, Johnson had started it all the mid-1950’s, slowly building up a network of correspondents who would exchange objects and messages through the postal system. [5] Or, the works may be 'worked into' and recycled back to the sender or to another networker. Ray Johnson mail art. 1958-1994.. [Ray Johnson; Online Archive of California. RAY JOHNSON. Ray Johnson began sending his mail art to circumvent the insular gatekeeping of the New York gallery scene. Painted envelopes are one-of-a-kind artworks with the handwritten address becoming part of the work. Cutting through this logic meant placing the production and thinking of art within the immanence of an eternal present, an uncontrollable present of events, not unlike the eternally present liveness of television – a technology and a communication medium which was just at that moment appropriated for artistic purposes. If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA’s collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations). Ray Johnson was an American artist known for his innovative practice of Correspondence Art. He organized meetings and assemblies (of the NYCS members), but these meetings were without content or purpose, as if mere gatherings of names on a mailing list. [22] In a letter to panelist Mark Bloch, Ray Johnson (who was not a panelist) commented on the reverse-censorship and sexism of the event. Mail art had no history, since – unlike a modernist art that seems to reside in an independent realm of ever-evolving formal development – it could be seen to place itself squarely in the realm of social exchanges, that is the realm whose entire principle of circulation and reciprocity is kept in check by the system of gifts. Always on the fringes but wildly popular amongst its practitioners, mail art continues to populate mailboxes globally. His presents are, in other words, full of nothing, and his non-historical present fundamentally undercut by absence: with Johnson there is never any guarantee of community, of the perfect social immanence of togetherness and understanding. Acquisition Information Collected by Rita Bottoms. [27], By the 1990s, mail art's peak in terms of global postal activities had been reached, and mail artists, aware of increasing postal rates, were beginning the gradual migration of collective art projects towards the web and new, cheaper forms of digital communication. The official website of The Ray Johnson Estate. The art of Ray Johnson was rooted in his constant practice of correspondence. [citation needed] In addition to being kept by the recipient, mail art archives have attracted the interest of libraries, archives, museums, and private collectors. [36] Artistamps and rubber stamps, have become important staples of mail artworks, particularly in the enhancement of postcards and envelopes. Ray Johnson / Mick Boyle Mail Art Mail Art sent from Ray Johnson to Mick Boyle. Photo: Courtesy the Ray Johnson Estate. - Ken Friedman[41], "Cultural exchange is a radical act. Johnson's experiments with art in the mail began in 1943, while the posting of instructions and soliciting of activity from his recipients began in the mid-1950s with the mailing of his "moticos", and thus provided mail art with a blueprint for the free exchange of art via post. Ina Blom curated the following exhibition: 2003 The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design Oslo Ray Johnson’s mail art. Artists' books, decobooks and friendship books, banknotes, stickers, tickets, artist trading cards (ATCs), badges, food packaging, diagrams and maps have all been used. Biography "The most famous unknown artist in New York" - this is how Grace Glueck, a New York Times reporter, characterized Ray Johnson after his collage exhibition in 1965. Mail Art & Ephemera - Art - Mail Art & Ephemera - Art - Ray Johnson Estate Ray Johnson suggested (with a pun) that "mail art has no history, only a present", and mail artists have followed his playful attitude in creating their own mythologies. [9], Most of the Correspondance School members are fairly obscure, and the letters they sent, often featuring simple drawings or stickers, often instructed the recipient to perform some fairly simple action. Body measurements (Mick send your measurements) September 6, 1977. "Phantastische Gebete Revisited" in Panmag International Magazine 6, ISSN 0738-4777, February 1984. pg. Among these events were the Inter Dada Festivals organized in California in the early 1980s[18] and the Decentralized Mail Art Congress of 1986.[19]. Instead of remaining, Cohen chose to leave the event. ), The Name of the Game. 39 likes. In fact, during lockdown, new mail art … Certain materials and techniques are commonly used and frequently favored by mail artists due to their availability, convenience, and ability to produce copies. Ray Johnson mail art, ca. The intent to edit, interpreted as censorship, resulted in a two-part panel discussion sponsored by Artists Talk on Art (organized by mail artist Carlo Pittore and moderated by art critic Robert C. Morgan) in February of that year, where Cohen and the mail artists were to debate the issues. He is a Myth, an enigma. 1972. Donna De Salvo & Catherine Gugis (editors). [3] Mail art shows, periodicals, and projects represent the "public" side of postal networking, a practice that has at its core the direct and private interaction between the individual participants. Interviews with Christo, Chuck Close, Roy Lichtenstein, Judith Malina, James Rosenquist and others help illuminate the life and work of Warhol contemporary Ray Johnson. Raymond Edward "Ray" Johnson was an American artist. [6] In 1962, Plunkett coined the term "New York Correspondence School" to refer to Johnson's activities; Johnson adopted this moniker but sometimes intentionally misspelled it as "correspondance. The Museum … Psychedelic stamp call slideshow, see the full global collection of stamps in the comments... Mail Art. Johnson was also a pioneer in the now worldwide “Mail Art” or “Correspondence Art” movement where works are literally sent through the … Posted by Mick at … "[13], In his 1973 diagram showing the development and scope of Fluxus, George Maciunas included mail art among the activities pursued by the Fluxus artist Robert Filliou. [21], The excluded works were ultimately added to the exhibition by the staff of the Franklin Furnace, but the events surrounding it and the panels revealed ideological rifts within the mail art community. 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