Editing Mail art (section)

==Media and artistic practices in the creation of mail artworks==
{{See also|Postage stamp}}
Because the democratic ethos of mail art is one of inclusion, both in terms of participants ('anyone who can afford the postage') and in the scope of art forms, a broad range of media are employed in creation of mail artworks. Certain materials and techniques are commonly used and frequently favored by mail artists due to their availability, convenience, and ability to produce copies.

===Rubberstamps and artistamps===
[[File:Post 1211- The End Issue 2024.jpg|right|thumb|"The End" Issue Sheet by Post 1211 (2024) that was featured in issue 40 of the Artistamp Review<ref>{{cite journal	| last1 =Roussopoulos| first1 =Adam| date = May 2024| title =The End| journal =The Artistamp Review| volume = One| issue = 40}}</ref>]]
[[File:Rubberstamps Klafki Pawson(1980s).jpg|right|thumb|Mail art rubber stamps by Jo Klafki (left) and Mark Pawson (right), 1980s]]
Mail art has adopted and appropriated several of graphic forms already associated with the postal system. The rubber stamp officially used for franking mail, already utilized by [[Dada]] and Fluxus artists, has been embraced by mail artists who, in addition to reusing ready-made rubber stamps, have them professionally made to their own designs. They also carve into erasers with linocut tools to create handmade ones. 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.<ref name=WelchAnthology />

[[File:CarvedEraser ArtNahpro(c.1990).jpg|right|thumb|Carved eraser print by Paul Jackson, a.k.a. Art Nahpro, c. 1990]]
Mail art has also appropriated the postage stamp as a format for individual expression. Inspired by the example of Cinderella stamps and Fluxus faux-stamps, the [[artistamp]] has spawned a vibrant sub-network of artists dedicated to creating and exchanging their own stamps and stamp sheets.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bpost.be/site/fr/particuliers/timbres-poste/philat%C3%A9lie/timbres/2003/emission-sp%C3%A9ciale-09-du-19-mai |title=Emission spéciale 09 du 19 mai 2003Epuisée &#124; bpost |access-date=2015-05-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526171811/http://www.bpost.be/site/fr/particuliers/timbres-poste/philat%C3%A9lie/timbres/2003/emission-sp%C3%A9ciale-09-du-19-mai |archive-date=2015-05-26 }} Belgian Postal Service, Guy Bleus & Jean Spiroux, ''Journée du Timbre: Mail-Art'', 2003.</ref> Artist [[Jerry Dreva]] of the conceptual art group Les Petits Bonbons created a set of stamps and sent them to [[David Bowie]] who then used them as the inspiration for the cover of the single "[[Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie song)|Ashes to Ashes]]" released in 1980.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Griffin|first1=Roger|title=Scary Monsters|url=http://www.bowiegoldenyears.com/scarymonsters.html|website=Bowie Golden Years}}</ref> Artistamps and rubber stamps, have become important staples of mail artworks, particularly in the enhancement of postcards and envelopes.<ref name=":0">Frank, Peter, E.F. Higgins III, Rudolf Ungváry. "[http://www.artpool.hu/Artistamp/PFranke.html Postal Modernism: Artists' Stamps and Stamp Images]." ''World Art Post'', Artpool Archive, Museum of Fine Arts Budapest, April 1982 (pp.&nbsp;1–4)</ref> The most important anthology of rubberstamp art was published by the artist Hervé Fischer in his book ''Art and Marginal Communication'', Balland, Paris, 1974 – in French, English and German, to note also the catalog of the exhibition "Timbres d'artistes", Published of Musée de la Poste, Paris, 1993, organized by the French artist Jean-Noël Laszlo – in French, English. Recently, an extensive compilation of artistamp artists was featured in 40 issues of the Artistamp Review. It was published by artist Adam Roussopoulos from 2019 through May 2024.<ref>{{cite journal	| last1 =Roussopoulos| first1 =Adam| date = May 2024| title =The End| journal =The Artistamp Review| volume = One| issue = 40}}</ref> Many notable artists were featured in the review including Jas Felter, E.F. Higgins III, John Held Jr., Michael Leigh, Chuck Welch, Vittore Baroni, and H.R. Fricker.

===Envelopes===
Some mail artists lavish more attention on the envelopes than the contents within. Painted envelopes are one-of-a-kind artworks with the handwritten address becoming part of the work. Stitching, embossing and an array of drawing materials can all be found on postcards, envelopes and on the contents inside.<ref name="WaPo" />

===Printing and copying===
Printing is suited to mail artists who distribute their work widely. Various printmaking techniques, in addition to rubber stamping, are used to create multiples. Copy art (xerography, photocopy) is a common practice, with both mono and color copying being extensively used within the network.<ref name="UB" /> Ubiquitous 'add & pass' sheets that are designed to be circulated through the network with each artist adding and copying, chain-letter fashion, have also received some unfavorable criticism.{{according to whom|date=January 2013}} 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. Inkjet and laserprint computer printouts are also used, both to disseminate artwork and for reproducing zines and documentation, and PDF copies of paperless periodicals and unprinted documentation are circulated by email. Photography is widely used as an art form, to provide images for artistamps and rubber stamps, and within printed and digital magazines and documentation,<ref name="WelchAnthology" /> while some projects have focused on the intersection of mail art with the medium itself.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jacob|first=John|author-link=John P. Jacob|title=The International Portfolio of Artists Photography|year=1984|publisher=Riding Beggar Press|location=New York}}</ref>

===Lettering and language===
Lettering, whether handwritten or printed, is integral to mail 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.<ref name="UB" /> 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.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}

===Other media===
[[File:Kairan MAZine(2007).jpg|thumb|Cover of ''Kairan'' mail art zine, edited by Gianni Simone, a.k.a. Johnnyboy, 2007]]
In addition to appropriating the postage stamp model, mail artists have assimilated other design formats for printed artworks. Artists' books, decobooks and [[friendship book]]s, banknotes, stickers, tickets, artist trading cards (ATCs), badges, food packaging, diagrams, and maps have all been used.

Mail artists routinely mix media; [[collage]] and [[photomontage]] are popular, affording some mail art the stylistic qualities of [[pop art]] or Dada. 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.

[[Printed matter]] and [[ephemera]] are often circulated among mail artists, and after artistic treatment, these common items enter into the mail art network.<ref name="UB" /> Small assemblages, sculptural forms, or found objects of irregular shapes and sizes are parceled up or sent unwrapped to deliberately tease and test the efficiency of the postal service. Mailable fake fur ("Hairmail") and [[Astroturf]] postcards were circulated in the late 1990s.<ref name="WaPo">{{cite news | url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/29107129.html?dids=29107129:29107129&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:FT&type=current&date=Apr+30%2C+1998&author=Belle+Elving&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=PUSHING+THE+ENVELOPE&pqatl=google | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131162124/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/29107129.html?dids=29107129:29107129&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:FT&type=current&date=Apr+30,+1998&author=Belle+Elving&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=PUSHING+THE+ENVELOPE&pqatl=google | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 31, 2013 |
title=Pushing The Envelope |
author=Elving, Bell |
newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|
date=April 30, 1998}}</ref>

Having borrowed the notion of [[intermedia]] from Fluxus, mail artists are often active simultaneously in several different fields of expression. Music and [[sound art]] have long been celebrated aspects of mail art, at first using cassette tape, then on CD and as sound files sent via the Internet.<ref name="CoxWarner2004">{{cite book|author1=Christoph Cox|author2=Daniel Warner|title=Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FgDgCOSHPysC&pg=PA60|date=1 September 2004|publisher=Continuum|isbn=978-0-8264-1615-5|pages=60–}}</ref>

[[Performance art]] has also been a prominent facet, particularly since the advent of mail art meetings and congresses. Performances recorded on film or video are communicated via DVD and movie files over the internet. Video is also increasingly being employed to document mail art shows of all kinds.<ref name=mailartforum>{{cite web|title=The Techniques|url=http://www.mail-art.de/frame.php?dir=about:about_techniques&doc=start.htm|work=Mail-Art: The Forum|access-date=23 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235904/http://www.mail-art.de/frame.php?dir=about:about_techniques&doc=start.htm|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>