I love these postcards from Kyle Durrie of Power and Light Press. You can see the rest of the illustrations in the pack on her tiny post offices tumblr.
Kyle gets to see tiny post offices up close as she tours the country in her Moveable Type truck, a 1982 Chevy step van, retrofitted as a letterpress printing shop. Maybe she will be driving through your town this year, or you can propose that she schedules a visit/workshop in your neck of the woods.
Um, I think I am in love with Kyle Durrie.
Last week the artist Travor Paglen sent out a “cosmic message in a bottle” with his fascinating project, The Last Pictures. An archival disc of 100 photographs representing modern human history was attached to the side of the EchoStar XVI Satellite that was launched in to space. This satellite, like all the rest of the satellites we have sent into space, will orbit around the earth indefinitely.
Talk about Snail Mail! Paglen’s message may not be received for billions of years, when and if our space garbage is discovered by… someone.
In the meantime there is an accompanying book for those who want to experience Paglen’s project in the here and now of our warming planet. I can’t help but see this project through the post Sandy lens of the very real effects of climate change. It has begun and I am freaked out!
A new book by Beatles biographer Hunter Davies called “The John Lennon Letters” is filled with the postcards, letters, and notes of an apparently prolific and sometimes cranky correspondent. NPR ran a story this weekend with Davies about the book. Worth a listen and maybe a read?
Here is the book’s foreword:
“Under a cherry tree, there’s no stranger.” a Haiku by Issa and its warmth reminds me of John. John Lennon never minced words in his letters. It quite often came with little wiggly drawings, and you knew he was sending his heart to a friend. In an age when most of us are getting more and more into arm’s length communications, it’s a nice idea to send a piece of his thoughts expressed in his own handwriting to you and the universe.
Hunter, you did good.
Yoko
Look at these unbelievably fantastic mailable slices of cake by Sandra Denneler!
You can make your own by following her tutorial on the site, She Knows Living. What a great way to celebrate an out of town loved one’s birthday- mail ‘em some cake!
Or if you just want to buy one, TangBaby over at Etsy has baked up some convincingly scrumptious looking slices. I loved this from her product description: To entertain myself and the more jolly ladies at the post office, when I need to send out my own, I bring them there on a plate.
Boston based artist EL Putnam distributed blank, stamped, self addressed postcards with the following request:
write an anonymous note to someone you have loved and lost. you can write whatever you wish, but you are required to end your note with the sentence: “i wish you no ill will.” then put this postcard in the mail so it may become part of an installation and performance series by EL Putnam taking place at Mobius (www.mobius.org) August 26-31, 2012. this project is a meditation about broken hearts, forgiveness, and letting go.
I wish I was closer to Cambridge to check this out! Maybe you can go in my place?
Here’s an interview with Putnam in today’s Boston Globe.
This May Day postcard is by Eric Drooker and can be purchased at Just Seeds Artists’ Cooperative. Or simply used as inspiration to get out and tip your cap to the May Day events happening all around the world.
From One Was Johnny by Maurice Sendak, 1962.
We subscribe to magazines that arrive in the mail right? But what about subscribing for actual mail?
This past summer I subscribed to Abe’s Penny, a literary and art micro-magazine that arrives in the form of weekly postcards. While I was at it, I bought my children a subscription to Abe’s Peanut, the same idea but for kids. The postcard magazines are consistent treats in our mailbox. We love receiving them and following the serialized content from week to week. Here is an example of an Abe’s Penny postcard front and back.
Last week my friend Randi alerted me to Rumpus’s Letters in the Mail. For five dollars a month ($10 for international subscriptions) you will receive letters from writers on topics of their choosing. I signed up immediately!
So what do you think of the mail subscription model? A great use of your mailbox as a cultural receptacle? Kind of like hiring a prostitute? A bit of both? I for one, am inspired. I’ll let you know when I get my first Letters in the Mail letter.
This past weekend we went to the Ezra Jack Keats show at the Jewish Museum in Manhattan. I have always been a fan of Keats’ collage illustrations and his unprecedented choice in the 1960′s, an era of racial segregation and oppression, to portray children of color in his stories. I got a bit emotional seeing his original work. My kids loved spotting panels on the wall from some of their favorite books. Before I was scolded by the security guard I took this snap of a panel from Keats’ book, “Letter To Amy,” which will be a Christmas gift for my daughter. Shh. Don’t tell.
There is also some original Keats related correspondence such as a letter from 1963 to a publicity person for Viking Press, the publisher of “The Snowy Day.”
Dear Miss Crittendon,
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is a perfectly charming little book. I wish I had some grandchildren to give it to. Yes I do!
Sincerely yours,
Langston Hughes
The show is up until January 29, 2012 and worth the trip.
Gutwrench, aka Hope Amico, is having her senior show at the Ephemeral Gallery this Saturday December 3rd from 7-10 pm. They’ll be drinks and snacks and beautiful things made out of paper. Wish I lived closer.
Mazol Tov Hope!
