Signed, Sealed and Delivered Art In The Mail!
Signed, Sealed and Delivered
Art In The Mail!
By Cesare A.X. Syjuco
Published in: The Manila Times, September 02, 1987
IN the past month alone, we have received invitations to participate in a number of "mail-order" exhibitions, including those being organized for the Pusan Biennial in South Korea, the "Western Front" alliance in British Columbia, Canada, and the outbacks Australian group "ARX". These three, in particular, represent some of the more imaginative ways in which the international postal system is being enlisted by artists to facilitate the lively exchange of creative ideas worldwide.
The Pusan organizers — undoubtedly motivated by the forthcoming Olympic Games in 1988 — have envisioned a way by which foreign artists can participate in their Biennial without great effort and expense. Writing directly to artists from all over the world, they are encouraging potential participants to "mail in" their entries for a special category ultimately destined for conventional wall display.
The artists of the "Western Front" alliance, on the other hand, are organizing the latest in a series of postal activities focusing on two-dimensional "disposable" art — particularly that which makes use of conventional office equipment like typewriters, photocopy machines, adding machines, mimeo equipment, personal computers and the like. "Western Front" stalwarts like Phil Goldstein and Ian Wallace hope to encourage the development of an artform specifically intended for long-distance correspondence and easy dissemination. Both my wife and I have collaborated closely in the past with this progressive North American group, and have found their liberational attitude refreshing.
But by far the most imaginative and generous invitation is from "ARX", an art organization based in Fremantle, West Australia. Along with a collapsible cardboard box and $30 for stamps, each participant is provided with the freedom to work in any medium within and around the box. Thus, even three-dimensional pieces are possible, and with all postal charges paid at that!
We have likewise received invitations to postal exhibitions in West Germany, the USA, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Japan, and several countries in South America, among others. And local artists like Fernando Modesto — who delight in lengthening their respective lists of recent international exhibitions — have managed to chalk-up a good number of overseas appearances for the price of a few stamps.
Since 1983, I have personally pursued an ongoing "art in your mail" project called "GAGAMBANG GOMA", which now has an audience of more than 200 paid subscribers in four continents. I have sent periodic "editions" in brown envelopes which have contained virtually anything and taperecordings, to computer print-outs, pressed flowers and birdseed. Encouraging interaction with my subscribers, I have received small mountain of objectified "reactions" from artists I might never come to know otherwise.
Those interested in forthcoming postal exhibitions may write to me c/o this section. I will be more than happy to inform you about invitations to participate that come our way in the future. The gateway to audiences abroad may be just as far away as your neighborhood post office.
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Cesare A.X. Syjuco, “Signed, Sealed and Delivered Art In The Mail!” (page 1 of 1), The Manila Times, September 02, 1987
