Mail Art Statements by Ruud Janssen

Creating the Flux Us Rubberstamp

2011-09-25T00:06:00.001-07:00

A new statement ; FLUX US

Social Networks

2011-03-31T10:58:00.000-07:00

The current social network cause the mail-art network to grow once again. A new generation (the 6th) learns online about mail-art and joins in.

QUESTION

2011-03-26T10:38:00.001-07:00

Which generation of Mail-Artists do you belong to? (see definition at: http://tampublications.blogspot.com/)customer surveys

6th Generation of Mail-Artists

2011-03-26T10:04:00.001-07:00

New Generation of Mail-Artists

2011-02-05T10:32:00.000-08:00

After writing the article on 5 generations of mail-artists I wondered what the 6th generation would be like. Now I know.

Online, in social networks, people discover the mail-art movement where ther speak of snail-mail used as a medium for art. They join online and start to send out their first mail-art piece after being online for such a long time.

So the 6th generation are the artists that move from the digital communication-world into the oldfashioned snail-mail world.

The new mail-Art Projects

2011-01-06T10:18:00.000-08:00

A lot of new mail-art projects I see lately are simple of construction. The mail-artists thinks of a theme. Want the network to send him/her mailing (postal system only). What is the reward for the senders? Their artwork will be documented on a blog, and that is all the documentation that will ever be made.
For me it seems like a trade that isn't in balance. The artwork and sending costs a lot of money. The digitizing and making of a blog entry only takes a few minutes. I can understand that a lot of old-time mail-artists don't send in things to projects like these. Are these the modern times where the digital information is all we can afford for documentation?

Scattering of Information

2010-12-03T23:14:00.000-08:00

The communication tools artists can play with have been widdened a lot. After the websites, the groups, the blogs and social networks, all these Internet Tools are now connected. The ones who can use all tools build their own social networks and arrange the processes to let the information flow easily. Not all have the technical skills to understand these tools completely, and the digital systems start to dictate what people can do or can't do.

So, in a few years people will start to go back to basics. don't want to be in social networks that cause side-effect in cominication.

You don't get many 'normal e-mails' anymore. The networks generate e-mails just to attract your attention to join in again. But the real communication from one person to another is what Mail-Art was all about. We will have to discover that again.

The future of Mail

2010-12-03T23:10:00.000-08:00

When I see in several countries that the postal systems are reducing their services because the amount of mail being brought to be processed is decreasing I get worried on the future of Mail. In Mail-Art things will go on as long as mail is sent. The die-hards will test the system to the last possible ways of sending out mail

Digital Mail-Art

2010-10-01T22:07:00.001-07:00

Mail-Art has to do with the process. With digital Mail-Art there are no artifacts left other then bits and bytes. I prefer the hardcopy Mail-Art where the artifacts are objects and paper and other materials one can hold and treasure.

Definition

2010-09-26T10:06:00.001-07:00

Any definition written by a mail-artist to explain MAIL ART is not what it is about. An outsider is the only one who can give a good and clear definition

IUOMA TV-Channel

2010-06-13T04:44:00.001-07:00

Yes, it is there. IUOMA's own TV-Channel, available at:

http://ruudjanssen.blip.tv/

For you to see some of the videos that were made.

11-04-2010

2010-04-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

Fluxus and a good definition do not mix.

28-03-2010

2010-03-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

Reading to much about history of Mail-Art makes you wonder what will come next in all the developements in communicationtools we have available nowedays.

1-1-2010

2010-01-01T07:23:00.000-08:00

When you take part in Mail-Art for some decades, you discover that there are only few new things to be done in Mail-Art. So what you do is focus on that, or repeat just what you enjoy the most. The cyclus for a mail-artists is like that.

22-12-2009

2009-12-22T09:57:00.000-08:00

A rubberstamp tells more because it is in fact a reproduction-machine that -if used in the right network- can have quite an impact.

21-12-2009

2009-12-22T09:53:00.000-08:00

After working with the mail-art network for so many years it becomes more and more difficult to give a good definition of what Mail-Art is about.

19-12-2009

2009-12-18T22:28:00.000-08:00

Discovering Mail-Art is a happening on its own. If you accept it in your life, it will change your life and your circle of friends is a very short time.

Ruud Janssen - Breda, 19-12-2009

Overview of all Statements in BOOK-form

2008-12-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

Paperback book €19.99 Printed: 280 pages, 20.99 cm x 29.7 cm, perfect binding, white interior paper (55# weight), black and white interior ink, white exterior paper (90# weight), full-colour exterior ink

Description:

B&W Version of Statements Collection on Mail-Art by Ruud Janssen. Reprint of statements written in period 1993-2008 on the subject of mail-art. These statements were first published as pamphlets. Later on the Internet, and now as a collection in one book. Some statements and texts were also published on the Internet first and later as print-out sent into the network. The last part of this book contains visual statements made when the Millennium came about and most recent is an overview of the slides used at a lecture at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam explaining the concept of mail-art. In the past 28 years Ruud Janssen has intensively written about how E-mail and Internet would change mail-art, and it has.

A colour-version of the book is also available. See an overview of all publications at:

http://stores.lulu.com/iuoma

Enjoy reading this book!

Thoughts on Mail-Art

2008-06-29T00:24:00.001-07:00

A hard-copy version of the first 10 thoughts I wrote for the Internet. The online version is still available at: http://www.iuoma.org/overview.html and a direct access to all the texts you can find though: http://www.iuoma.org/secret_9.html. All the texts are hyperlinked, so you can jump from one text to another. Realize that the texts are old ones. They are my views from back then.

Just one Sticker

2008-06-28T10:27:00.001-07:00

Internet and Mail-Art

2008-06-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

Newcomers to Mail-Art discover this artform on the Internet and only then learn about the wonders of Snail-Mail

Mail-Interviews - PART 4

2008-04-13T00:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, a next book with Mail-Interviews got published. This time a combination of complete mail-interviews and a collection of unfinished interviews. 21 mail-artists in total.

Printed: 343 pages, 6" x 9", perfect binding, cream interior paper (60# weight), black and white interior ink, white exterior paper (100# weight), full-colour exterior ink. Print: €16.96
Download: €2.50

Description:
A selection of 21 more Mail-Interviews conducted by Ruud Janssen with International Mail-Artists and Fluxus-Artists in the years 1994 till 2002. This time also unfinished interviews! Includes interviews with H.R. Fricker, Julia Tant, Raphael Nadolny, John Evans, Bern Porter, Birger Jesch, Patricia Collins, Daniel Plunkett, Patricia tavenner, Judith A. Hoffberg, Peter Küstermann, Robert Rocola, Rod Summers, Marie Stillkind, Roy Arenalla, Rudi Rubberoid, Stephen Perkins, Klaus Groh, Ruggero Maggi, Vittore Baroni, Svjetlana Mimica and a reprint of the mail-interview Newsletter that explains the Mail-Interview Project.

Orderdetails: http://www.lulu.com/content/2354626

All books: http://stores.lulu.com/iuoma

Because I know some people don't want to order online I will see how I can help there. When I order the books myself and send them out, postage is paid twice. Cheapest way is to order straight from LuLu. But when I have stock here in Breda I can determine how heavy a package is and what the extra postage is. Next month I will give the details.

Cover of the Mail-Interview Books

2008-04-11T10:22:00.001-07:00

You can order at : http://stores.lulu.com/iuoma

Center of the Network

2007-10-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

Every mail-artist is the center of his/her own network. The people he/she meets and doesn't like, he/she ignores them. Only the persons who play the way he/she likes stay part of the network. That is why eveybody has his/her own personalized network.

Millenium Statements

2007-10-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

These statements I made in the form of a banner. booklet is also available in .PDF format on www.iuoma.org/ot_pub.html

Onvious

2007-09-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

31

2007-06-22T12:00:00.002-07:00

After writing seven articles and experimenting with E-mail on the INTERNET I still don't know precisely what to do with it. It is fast and has lots of potential, but even with the snail mail I am not able to answer only half the mail I get in. With E-mail the amount of mail you get increases just too much because of the easiness of duplicating the digital information. So for the time being I still focus on all beautiful analog mail........

30

2007-06-22T12:00:00.001-07:00

Oops, I made the mistake to number these statements, so now I got mail from someone who is collecting all of them. But I only send out a few at a time. So I advised him to visite all my contacts and to look for all the numbers. This statement is especially for him. I won't send this one to him, I won't tell him to whom I sent it, and so he must become a real TOURISM-addict just in search for this statement.....

(corrected the numbering on this BLOG though)

29

2007-06-22T11:59:00.002-07:00

The large ART-institutes are discovering the Mail-Art movement. It starts with the Postal Musea which want to show that mail and 'real' art go together. But they don't follow the unwritten mail-art rules, they select works and look for works in mail-art of people who now are (a bit more) famous. But the most famous mail-artist for me is the one that makes my morning so many times beautiful with his/her wonderful mail- art in my post-box.

28

2007-06-22T11:59:00.001-07:00

The new GLOBAL MAIL from Ashley Parker Owens in USA contains approximately 500 entries (addresses, contacts, projects). The impact of the magazine is large. Once you get such a magazine as a newcomer you can go any direction you choose. The network is no longer a closed circuit or an underground art-movement. Global Mail is a correct title, but it is strange too. The intimate contacts I built up in mail-art are very important for me, and this can only be with a small group of people. Now that this GLOBAL MAIL is on Internet too, all kind of networks are mixed together. They will influence eachother and build a new network of networks somewhere in the future. But I've learned that I don't need more and more contacts, I only need a limited amount of good contacts with old or new friends because my time and life are limited.

27

2007-06-22T11:58:00.002-07:00

More and more I realize that my private life and my mail-art work are mixed together. My work is my life and my life is filled with things I want to do. I guess I am lucky to be able to communicate with so many friends I would never had met if I hadn't stumbled on the network. The mail I get from all directions inspires me so much to continue with this life and to fill it with creations that come and go.

26

2007-06-22T11:58:00.001-07:00

Why do so many people write about mail-art and not practice it that often. There is a lot of exchange of data but I sure sometimes miss the Dada. Lets play with the mail before we get too old to play.

25

2007-06-22T11:57:00.004-07:00

Sometimes I wonder if what I read about the mail-art history is all true. The things I read are mostly written by mail-artists themselves who claim to know a lot about mail-art. But since everybody has his own network of friends all those stories are rather subjective (probably my writings too).

24

2007-06-22T11:57:00.003-07:00

I still get those letters: "Please add me to your mailing-list". But I don't have a "mailing-list", a limited list with addresses I send certain things too. I am a real random mailer. I just answer the mail I'm able to answer. I just write to someone when I feel like it. I rather enjoy this freedom in writing my mail. The only reason I make address-list is to document all the things I receive and send out. But I must admit I sometimes wonder why I do that at all...

23

2007-06-22T11:57:00.001-07:00

Maybe it is stupid to write about the things you have to experience and can't understand by reading about it. But I know I am not the only one who has the problem of trying to explain still what mail-art is all about.

22

2007-06-22T11:56:00.002-07:00

For every mail-artist there is the first time to hear about this network of friends. Then the learning-proces starts and you will find out your own definitions of mail-art. Slowly but for sure you will transfer from a learner to a teacher and you will start to tell others about what you think mail-art is all about. And the nice thing about mail-art is that everybody with a view is right. The unwritten rules in mail-art have been written down so often, but always in different words to describe the same crazy network.

21

2007-06-22T11:56:00.001-07:00

........mail-art and luxury.......>

You need a lot of time for it.
You need a lot of money for the postage stamps.
You rarely get back the art you send out.
You are never sure that you will get an answer.......
And if you do so, you will like the answer.
It is a luxury when you are able to be involved in mail-art.
It is a luxury to be able to share your views with others
without having the feeling of limitations.

20

2007-06-22T11:55:00.002-07:00

The mail-art network is a playing ground for the creative people who are looking for more than they can find in their own surroundings.

19

2007-06-22T11:55:00.001-07:00

When you reach the point that you are sending out a xeroxed open letter to all your mail-art friends that you aren't able to answer all their mail you are doing something wrong. You should not scatter your energy over all those xeroxes but rather start to write more selectively. Your mail-art friends surely aren't waiting for a xerox from you telling them you want to stay in touch but can't answer their mail with a personal letter. Better take some more time and then start to write selective but personally.........

The other choice is to start a magazine in which you answer all your mail.

18

2007-06-22T11:54:00.002-07:00

There will always be a balance between the mail-art you recieve and the mail-art you send out. So if you choose for sending out NONE-personal mail like chain-letters and xeroxes without even a personal touch to them. The result will be that your mailbox will be filled with none-personal mail-art too.

17

2007-06-22T11:54:00.001-07:00

The word 'MAIL-ART' is used by mail-artists to give a name to the things we do. Defining what it is all about is more difficult. Some use other words like "Networking", "Postal Art", "Netland", but this doesn't make it easier to explain what it is all about. The fact that there are no limits to this art-form other than the materials we can use for communicating over large distances makes it that difficult. Mail-Art, Fax-Art, Email-Art, Telephone-Art, Computer-Art, Congressing, Tourism, just choose a name but the essence is that it has to do with COMMUNICATION. I could call it "Communication-Art", but I rather call it "Life". It is quite a form of art to live your life in a creative way....

16

2007-06-22T11:53:00.006-07:00

The new forms in mail-art,like using the FAX and E-mail, have also to do with the factor time. You can get the message almost instantly at the senders address. But the sender chooses the time for getting the message over. The receiver will determine if he or she has the time to answer or even if there will be an answer at all.

15

2007-06-22T11:53:00.005-07:00

It is strange to find out that mail-art is addictive to you.

14

2007-06-22T11:53:00.001-07:00

When someone writes me and wants to know more about mail-art it is always from someone new to mail-art. Because he or she still has to find out that you have to discover yourself what mail-art is by doing it. By exploring the mail-art network you will find out that mail-art has a different meaning to everybody. To explain mail-art is a personal view of what you have found out so far. And it changes all the time.

13

2007-06-22T11:52:00.004-07:00

When you are lucky, you are able to answer all the mail-art you get. Lucky means you have the time, the energy and the money, to answer the mail. This is always the problem. If you answer everything you receive the amount of mail you receive will only grow until it is out of control. But then the time-, energy- and money-balance always gets it in orderagain. (It works for me that way, and I surely hope it also works for others too....)

12

2007-06-22T11:52:00.003-07:00

Mail-art is a kind of energy that is passed on to the receiver. The sender can put his energy in a transmittable form, a mail-piece, and send it to the receiver. If the energy is on the same 'wave-length' for sender and receiver it will surely cause a reaction. Energy is transmitted back.

11

2007-06-22T11:52:00.001-07:00

When two mail-artists meet, and talk about this 'mail-art' they will always discover that it is something different for both of them. It is the way you have experienced mail-art, and how much it has affected your life.

10

2007-06-22T11:51:00.001-07:00

Lucky enough it is quite easy to practice mail-art. Once you call yourself a mail-artist -in fact- you are one. There are no fixed rules, there is no quality-demand, there is no-one who will judge your work (besides saying it is good or bad mail-art, it is always mail-art).

9

2007-06-22T11:50:00.002-07:00

The nice thing about mail-art is that every mail-artist has his or her own views about this strange art-form.

8

2007-06-22T11:50:00.001-07:00

The only people who really know what mail-art is all about are the ones that practice it. I tried several times to explain to others what mail-art is all about but they never really understood it. Sure, they know that it has to do with mail and art, but there is more to mail-art than just out a decorated envelope to somebody else.......

7

2007-06-22T11:49:00.004-07:00

If you take mail-art seriously you are wrong!

6

2007-06-22T11:49:00.003-07:00

If you want to receive a lot of mail-art you just have to send out a lot. If you don't want to receive anything anymore just don't send anything out yourself. These are the simple rules of mail-art. Start with one address and end with an endless list.

5

2007-06-22T11:49:00.001-07:00

The only thing that is more fun than receiving mail-art is meeting the mail-artist.

4

2007-06-22T11:48:00.001-07:00

Mail-Artists all over the world must realize that the future of the mail-art network depends on the search towards new things in mail. The regular mail-art letter or postcard might vanish because of the new techniques

3

2007-06-22T11:47:00.002-07:00

Mail-art proves that all people -wherever they live- can communicate with each other in a peaceful way.

2

2007-06-22T11:47:00.001-07:00

The mail-art you receive every day inspires you to create new mail-art which inspires the one you send yours to.

1

2007-06-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

Once you know about mail-art, your life changes. Well, anyway, it did mine. Mail-art is more than art ; it is a way of living your life.

Mail Art Statements Blog

2007-06-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

There are so many statements about mail-art that have been published. I have published my share as well. This blog will be a listing of old and new statements. You can leave your comments and tell me if you agree or not.