Mail Art Periodicals - MoMA

Workarea Art Ambient. Ponte Romano, Editor. Work Area
Ambient, Cairo Montenotte, Italy. 1989.
(July 1989). Photocopy. 8 1/4"x5 3/4". (4 pages). "From the Statute," of
Work Area Ambient. Contribution by Guy Bleus (Belgium).
Works, The: The Block Island Art Magazine. Brian Salzberg,
Editor. The New Leaf Arts Foundation, Bloch Island, Rhode
Island. 1988-1989.
Vol. 2, No. 4 (July 24, 1988). Newsprint. 14"x10 3/4". 19 pages. "Art
Books/Bookworks/Artworks," by George Myers, Jr. (USA), discusses the work of
Dick Higgins (USA). "Mail Art," by the editor. "Mail Art is a way of thinking and
communicating. It is an international network of artists who share expressions in
an uncensored medium-the mail. It's existence alone challenges mainstream
ideas of commercialism and it it's role in the art world...On this page we feature
the artist SHOZO SHIMAMOTO who is an active mail artist from Japan."
Contributions by Shozo Shimamoto (Japan).
Vol. 2, No. 6 (August 21, 1988). Newsprint. 14"x10 3/4". 19 pages.
"Art Books/bookworks/Artworks," by George Myers, Jr. (USA), discusses "three
artist-produced magazines publishing collage and graphic arts, poetry and prose
of a type for which I know only one characterization: radical texts." Include in the
discussion are "Velocity" and "Generator." "Mail Art," by the editor, focuses on
the work of Frank Anderson (USA). Contributions by Frank Anderson. Envelope
bearing the periodical also contains tearsheets from previous articles on Mail Art
printed over the course of Summer 1988, including articles featuring Crackerjack
Kid (aka Chuck Welch, USA).
Vol. 2, No. 7 (September 4, 1988). Newsprint. 14"x10 3/4". 14
pages. "Mail Art 'Tourism': International Mail Art Show at Hiroshima," by John
Held, Jr. (USA). "Mail art is the exchange of artistic materials through the
international postal system, but in recent years correspondents have met with
each other as well as written. In 1986, two Swiss artists, Günther Ruch and H. R.
Fricker, conceptualized the Decentralized Worldwide Mail Art congress, which
brought together of 500 participants in 10 congresses held in over 25 countries.
but well before this, mail art 'founder,' Ray Johnson, was holding 'Buddah
university Meetings' and 'Bunny Clubs' to introduce his correspondents to one
another. Within this framework of mail art meetings (or tourism, as H. R. Fricker
has named it). the International symposium of Mail Art at Hiroshima occurred on
August 2, 1988, followed by a series of performance artworks on August 6th.
Mail artists from Italy, France, japan and the united States were present. mail Art
has become networking art and is occurring either through the post or in person."