Real Correspondence
a mail art bulletin of the ethereal open network
october 2007 – thirtieth anniversary edition
Whew, this is a rather
busy “mail art year” for me! I have just finished mailing out three
issues of my Arte Postale! magazine (# 90, 92 and 93, while # 91 was
delivered at the end of June to coincide with one year after the loss
of my friend Piermario Ciani), for a total of over two hundred
envelopes. And to round off my thirtieth year in the mail art network,
a sixth and final project is in the wings (see ULTIMATUM! invite
below). It was indeed a rather extravagant investment of time and money
even for my own intense correspondence standards, but I really wanted
to test the state of health of the “ethereal” postal network and my own
limits within the medium.
The results have been very encouraging,
with a large participation and successful public presentations of the
“art hats” and Ciao, Paolina! projects, plus the children workshop at
the MACHmit! Museum in Berlin was very well received by organizers and
audience alike. Mail Art may be an “old horse”, but for me this form of
expression still represents an enlightening anticipation of a wider
“paradigm shift” in culture, that social commentators are just starting
to acknowledge (see for example the essay Convergence Culture by MIT
Professor Henry Jenkins, New York University Press, 2006): a collective
participation in the production and fruition of “transmedial” works,
the merging and sublimation of individual visions in a open networking
perspective (giving life to what William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin
called a “third mind”). Thanks if you participated in any of the
projects, and do keep in touch, much more is yet to happen!
Vittore
Baroni @ E.O.N.
ARTE POSTALE! (1979- ...)
The magazine AP! is mailed
out free to all contributors and also to selected archives and
libraries, trades with similar publications are always welcomed. Few
copies of each issue are also made available for sale, to recover at
least in part the costs of printing and distribution.
Issues currently
available:
AP! 88 - Stickin Glue... , special sticker art, over 50
international stickers, 32 pp. - Euro 25.00 - $ 30.00
AP! 89 - 30th
Anniversary edition, 30 international networkers, 40 pp. & inserts -
Euro 25.00 - $ 30.00
AP! 90 - Hats off to George Maciunas, BAU/Fluxus
mail hat art project catalogue - Euro 12.00 - $ 14.00
AP! 91 -
Piermario Ciani, one year later, unpublished works and tributes, with
cd-r - Euro 25.00 - $ 30.00
AP! 92 - Ciao, Paolina! - international
mail art project dedicated to Paolina Bonaparte, all the works in a cd-
r plus colour booklet - Euro 12,00 - $ 14,00
AP! 93 - POSTmit! -
documentation of a mail art workshop at the MACHmit! Museum for
children in Berlin, part of the HACKmit! exhibition, with the
participation of 30 international networkers - Euro 12,00 - $ 14,00
AP! 94 - Ultimatum! will appear in December 2007 or January 2008. Stay
tuned for more issues in 2008, with the first installments of the
monographic series The League of Serious Mail Artists...
Other mail
art related publications also available:
Sentieri Interrotti / Vanished
Paths (2000) - 388 pages large size catalogue, sections on mail art,
Fluxus, Lettrism, Visual Poetry, etc. - Euro 40.00 - $ 60.00
Phosgenia
collection (2004) - all 4 issues of the “Bulletin of Obscure Actions”
(OA04) in plastic portfolio + original relics, collected edition of 15
copies only - Euro 60.00 - $ 70.00
Whatever Happened to Luther
Blissett? (2005) - collective DVD on the multiple name mystery, limited
edition version in 100 copies with 30 pages booklet, stickers set and
relics - Euro 25.00 - $ 30.00
HOW TO ORDER
Europe: apply prices in
Euro. Outside Europe: apply prices in U.S. dollars. All the prices
listed include packing and postage (sent by air mail outside of
Europe). Previous lists and prices are no more effective. Send payment
as International Postal Money Order or cash hidden in registered
envelope (if you send a cheque add Euro 10,00 / $ 10,00 for bank costs)
to:
Vittore Baroni
Via C. Battisti 339
55049 Viareggio
Italy
…but
wait, my 30th Anniversary in mail art (1977-2007) is not over yet!
There is still time for one final project, fittingly titled:
ULTIMATUM!
Wars, terrorism, climate
changes, pollution, over-population, epidemics... With the complicity
of the mass media, we are kept in a constant state of alarm, living
every day of our life under the sword of Damocles of a never-ending
series of ultimatums.
What I request is simply the design for a
rubberstamp in black and white inspired by the theme “Ultimatum!”. I
need an original or good print on paper, any size, no half-tones or
grey areas, no computer files only and please stick to the theme. The
deadline is Halloween, November 2nd 2007. All the participants will
receive a free catalogue (Arte Postale! 94).
Mail to my usual address:
Vittore Baroni, Via C. Battisti 339, 55049 Viareggio, Italy
