A Brief History of Mail Art's Engagement With Craft (c. 1950–2014). (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dunkin-Hubby, Laura
• Is Part Of: Journal of modern craft. Volume 9:Number 1(2016)
• Page Start: 35
• Page End: 54
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: mail art -- Ray Johnson -- Fluxus -- handcraft -- communication -- network; Handicraft -- Periodicals; Handicraft -- History -- Periodicals; Industrial arts -- Periodicals; Decorative arts -- Periodicals; 745.205
• DOI: 10.1080/17496772.2016.1183948
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1749-6772

Abstract

Abstract: Craft has been an important part of mail art practice throughout its relatively short history. While the theoretical underpinnings of the mail art network have been the focus of much of mail art literature due to the political context from which mail art emerged, craft remains almost entirely ignored. However, craft remains an important factor in the production of mail art works exchanged via the postal system, particularly as many contemporary mail artists have returned to a nostalgic handcrafted (i.e. objects made by hand or hand-drawn) way of working as part of a larger exploration into the ways in which communication systems frame our identity and social relationships. In comparing the work of these contemporary mail artists to some of mail art's earliest and well-known practitioners, craft emerges as a fundamental element in the development of mail art as an artistic genre. While the avant-garde aspects of mail art practice have shifted to reflect a dialog between old and new systems of communication, a hallmark of the current time period, a sustained interest in exploring how these systems frame our identity and relationships continues to unite mail artists across time.