MAIL ART as networking

Mail Art is a cultural movement originated in 1960's and gained its peak popularity in the late 80's & 90's. This movement involves sending visual art (music, poetry etc) through international postal system. This is one of the ''crude'' forms of ''networking'' as it is based on the principles of peer-to-peer communication or one-to-one collaboration.


''Mail Art becomes art when anyone who sends or receive it in the mail decides to call it art''- Thomas Cassidy. The Mail art network is an open empowering world. It thrives not to become part of the mainstream art scene, it has been acknowledged by museums & galleries.


An out-an-out post modern art, mail art encompasses intertextuality (portrayal of feminism, historical importance, festivity), subjects drawing from various genres like religion, art, architecture, travel, festivity, bondage etc with the subtle use of irony (well behaved woman fighting) & parody (Female practicing male-art) but not in the grand narrative form but rather in a bri-collage form.



The disappearance of real, is evident at times, which Baudrillard describes as ''simulacrum''. Today, we live in the media-centric world of social networking, a world deluded by virtual reality. The existence of Irony( Even when our media appear to exponentially increase communication, this is predicated, as Baudrillard suggests, on a separation from one's proximate environment and finds fulfillment only in so far as it simulates or promises that symbolic relationship they claim to promote but which their use actually replaces. Phone calls, for example, act not just as a means of communication but also as a means to avoid communication.’’ (Steven Conway, ppt slides, class lecture), the use of simulcra (chats, messengering ), the use of accumulating various inputs at one place (IM, Chat, video conferencing, comments) are just the upgraded technological versions of ''growth of technology''.




Started as rudimentary forms of networking Mail-art is still prevalent today as pure form of art, however Networking rather the concept & progress of it has evolved in leaps & bounds.


Bibliography:-

1) Steven Conway lectures
2) http://www.dragonflydream.com/MailArt.html
3) http://saikatmandal.blogspot.com/2010/10/cyber-space.html