Art project, on the wing

I rarely participate in traveling/mail art projects however, every once in a while, I jump in.

While traveling in February, I had a chance to visit with artist Bonnie Ruttan who had received a passport-sized book to create artwork in and then pass along. It was so compact and interesting. It had originated in Austria, then traveled to Ireland, and now was being passed around in the US. Eventually it will (hopefully) make its way back to Kevin Geronimo Brandtner who started the project.

Inside cover of the mail art project book.

Intrigued, I decided to participate. The pages were small and had some stamps already in place as a background. Most artists were giving a nod to the passport/travel theme in their collaged responses. One of the fun things about the package was that it included a small packet of business cards and paper ephemera from artists who had participated before me, along with earlier mailing envelopes with scars and stamps.

The starting spread…

Here’s an image of what I started with and another of what my page spread looked like when completed.

My finished contribution to the project.

I included a ticket from Denver’s light rail A-Train to the airport that features a squiggle of reflective holographic security foil, plus other imagery that related to the colors and design already on the page. A nice departure from my usual work in the studio and the book is now off to its next stop in New Mexico.

Fun!

Postcards from places yet to be seen

I recently received a call to participate in a mail art exhibition in Stockholm during August, the requirement simply being submission of an altered tourist postcard in any medium. I've always loved postcards and have my own collection (including both scenic and tacky categories) so this seemed like a fun project to contribute to — with collage elements added. Above is one of the three cards I sent last week, with an image of Old Faithful superimposed on a postcard of the St. Francis Cathedral that I'd picked up recently in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The postcards will be exhibited at Gallery KG52 in Stockholm from August 14-29, 2010. An exhibition of the submitted postcards from around the world can also be seen online. Inspiration behind the exhibition included the Picadillys of Dieter Roth and the Chop Art of Ray Johnson.

Below are the other altered postcards I contributed, at left, a Route 66 gas station and, at right, Santa Fe's oldest house.