MAIL ART

Most of the books in this section are available from Printed Matter, 77 Wooster St., New York, NY 10012 unless otherwise indicated.

All My Rubberstamps by Mark Pawson is the catalog of an exhibition in which the artist made impressions of his entire collection of rubberstamps. This is the saga of making this book from its original small output handstamped to this labor of love published in 1995. The over 250 stamps are in 12 categories, such as those in the possession of the artist as a child, those bought new, bought secondhand, found in the street, stolen, borrowed, custom-made commercially, etc. The book also has empty pages allowing for future updates, with the inclusion of a voucher, telling the buyer that the book could be returned once, at any time in the future, and Pawson would add any new stamps, and return it. This is a project, done by hand, for those who appreciate rubberstamps and how they are displayed on paper in red, green, blue and black, and signed, numbered and dated in rubberstamp.. Pawson also defies most of our new technology, save for a few laser prints of rubberstamp-related objects in his studio. Edition of 250, $40.00

Kunglig rastläshet (Royal restlessness) by Leif Elggren (Stockholm, Firework Edition, 1993, $22) is an endless array of rubberstamped crowns on the pages, with one small insert of a "queenly" woman's portrait on a small card with an embossed "D.O.M." under the portrait. On the verso of the title page resides the statement: "Despite the tragedy of Europe." Falling crowns and failing crowns--the history of Europe. Postmaster, vol. 1 (1995) is a sheet of artiststamps including portraits of the Unabomber, mixed drinks, sign language, a bell, lemon, orange, beachball, measuring tape, scale, hamburger, frankfurter, and so much more. $25.00 will get you a very special sheet of stamps. Start your collection, read Artistamp News begun by Anna Banana, decorate your mail, buy two and keep one intact and use the other. Enjoy.

Eyin Le'Zion: Altered Post Cards by Gary Goldstein (Jerusalem, Segev Productions, 1995, $20) is a portfolio of altered images in postcard form with "happy face" in black and white superimposed on colored tourist images of the Mount of Olives, or the Western Wall or the Menorah, but with the touch of the artist's drawings or doodles. What Goldstein has done is impose his own personal world upon the "tourist" world of Jerusalem as the city closest to Divinity. Thus, the mass-produced postcard now becomes a personal work of art with a singular identity. Seemingly iconoclastic, these postcards are the work of a "foreign presence" but one who feels at home now. Yet he violates the seemingly tranquil atmosphere of a view seen by an ordinary tourist, for Goldstein is neither a tourist nor ordinary. His belief in the works on paper which can change a culture certainly is reflected in these postcards. He superimposes internal organs cut out of ancient anatomy books onto holy sites, completely altering their original images. He breaks the boundary of sacred and profane, heavenly and down-to-earth, holy vs. human. These postcards could easily have been entitled, "My Own Personal Jerusalem." You won't forget these images. Booklet with essay by Hagai Segev in English and in Hebrew.

Art Poetry Melodrama are hand-printed broadsides, postcards, bookmarks and bumperstickers, among others, from the Grindstone pressroom of Ann and Ken Mikolowski. The latest contribution is a set of ten postcards by Ken Mikolowski called Big Enigmas, which often are large typographical statements, sometimes found imagery from the 40s or 50s, some wise sayings. These gatherings can be a part of your mail to delight your heart and enthuse your mind. $15.00 per year from The Alternative Press, 1207 Henry, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.