anna boschi-mail Art 50 2012 - Boek 861

Social Mail-Art: 1962 – 2012
History wants milestones. ‘Fifty years of Mail-Art’ is such a milestone, but it is also a one-dimensional vision on it.
People mostly recall simple facts; they focus on dates and places, the names and nicknames of persons. Sometimes
they only remember scents. The context of ‘all true facts’ is something arid for scientific researchers and enthusiast
historians.
Actually, the history of fifty years of Mail-Art is the chronicle of fifty years of ‘The New York Correspondence School
of Art’. It is a coloured interpretation and a simplified representation of the complete Mail Art history. The cultural,
social and chronologic past of ‘Mail-Art’ is depending on the definition, meaning and context of the word. The
origin of this global art movement is a complex issue. More than one point of view is possible.
Anyway, the story goes that Ed M. Plunkett, who himself did send artworks via mail, denominates in 1962 the postal
actions of Ray Johnson as ‘The New York Correspondence School’. It is an allusion on the abstract expressionistic
"New York School" on the one hand and the existing commercial art schools, who teach lessons via correspondence,
on the other. Later on Johnson replaced the second letter "e" by an "a" in the word "correspondence" to stress the
playful character of his actions.
Mail-Art, as a planetary network, did not arise out of the blue in 1962, but took shape slowly during the seventies;
it did develop faster during the eighties and nineties, and today it still evolves into a combination of a postal and
an electronic network. Mail-Art is the matrix and result of many webs of art-exchanging and cooperative artists.
At first, Mail-Art was the consequence of the merging of personal networks, experimental artistic movements and
art styles, such as Nouveau réalisme, visual poetry, Neo-Dada, Gutai, Fluxus, intermedia, concept art, the early
mailing-list book ‘Art Diary’, stamp art, book art… into a big worldwide network. Later on, via fax, email, Internet
& social media, an electronic Mail-Art spin-off network arose. I mentioned most aspects of these matters in my texts
“Exploring Mail-Art” (1984) and “The Postman and His Electronic Shadow” (1994).
Rituals, jubilations and celebrations are significant for the coherency of a social network. Fifty years of networking
art creates solidarity and stimulates connectedness in Mail-Art Netland. So, hurray for Ray, let’s celebrate Ray
Johnson! This exceptional artist is a mysterious giant in the collective mythology of Mail-Art. His collages and
‘Moticos’ are inspiring poems for hundreds of new artists. Without doubt, Ray Johnson is a milestone, he is the first
milepost of one of the biggest art movements ever: networked art.
Through the last fifty years hundreds and hundreds of poets, writers and plastic artists joined Mail-Art. Unfortunately,
some deceased artists are, in despite of their wonderful work in the eternal Netland, almost completely forgotten.
‘Fifty years of Mail-Art’ is also a celebration of all the deceased mail-artists.
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