playing with paper

Monday, January 23, 2012

Year of the Dragon

I mailed out my Lunar New Year mail art projects today with the new dragon stamps. I don't want to give too much away, but I packaged most of my mysterious bundles in my favorite PaperSource envelopes, made from "Slow Boat to China" paper. Luckily, I completed most of these packets before all my postal activities last week commenced.

The project itself was inspired by and a homage to Nick Bantock, perhaps my favorite contemporary mixed media artist. His famous Griffin and Sabine books were my first exposure to mail-as-art. My favorite book of his is "The Museum at Purgatory." His juxtaposition of fact and fiction, the actual and the altered, always intrigues me. He creates worlds with such detail, you fall under their spell, and you can no longer separate real from imagined, nor do you want to. That is true artistry.

7 comments:

  1. Oh, how I absolutely love Nick Bantock's "mail art" !!! I'm a wanna be for sure :> Do you have his book Urgent, Second Class? You sound like someone I would enjoy exchanging mail art with...drop me a line if you are interested.
    Happy Day Mail
    1442 Lodge Road, Callao, VA 22435

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    1. I do have "Urgent, Second Class," and I wish I had more of his cool rubber stamps (or the talent to make my own!) I would love to send something your way, though I'm still catching up from last week, so it may take a little while. Thanks!

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  2. Hi Marguerite! I got mine yesterday and it is awesome! I can't find dragon stamps for sale around here! What's up with that? My local post office said they won't sell dragons until they get rid of their rabbits. Really? Thank you so much you wonderful woman you!!!

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    1. I recently learned that most post offices don't receive automatic shipments of stamps anymore, so they can pick and choose what they order. Because the stamps are now Forever value, it may be harder to get the new stamps until the old ones are gone. If you can, check with another PO in your area, as they may have a completely different selection.

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  3. I received a great envelope from you and a postcard too. I replied via US Mail but in case it doesn't arrive or hasn't yet and you wonder about my manners I will tell you thank you here too. Thank you! :)

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    1. Your peeking dino card arrived yesterday, so thank you!

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