Thursday, March 13, 2008

It Begins...

I knew something new and exciting was happening when I heard the loud thump of something heavy as it fell into the trash bin as I checked my mail at work the other day. Now, given the proximity of my mail cubby to said bin, things accidentally fall in all the time. But they rarely, if ever, make so much sound! And it's even more rare for me to start rummaging in the trash, fervently, in an effort to retrieve the errant item, as if it were something unique and precious (and not just another flyer for an event I am too busy to attend). And indeed it was. For it was yet another fantastic submission to the mail art exhibit I'm curating with Jeanne Kusina, former student and mail artist:

Here's just the facts: what, when & where.

This blog is written to document and discuss the submissions received by "intimate artifacts" an exhibit that will be on display at the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women at the University of Toledo from April 3-May 2 . The opening reception will be on Thursday April 3rd, from 5-7 pm. The deadline for submissions is March 31st. Those who wish to contribute should mail items to Mail Stop #510, Department of Philosophy, University of Toledo, Toledo OH 43606. The exhibit is but a part of the 5th annual UT Philosophy Department Spring Conference, Art & Experience: Assorted Experiments in American Aesthetics, which will be held in the student union on Friday April 4th and at the Center for Visual Arts on Saturday April 5th. In the coming days leading up to the opening, I will post photos and scans of submissions we receive and reflect on what we might learn from this particular experiment. Here, for example, is a photo of a tiny journal from Daniel de Culla' of Spain, posed in an altered-muffin-tin-pincusion that my mother made:




While some might characterize me as the PI, or principal investigator, of this experiment, what with it being my idea and all, the truth is that I had never even heard of "mail art" until I met Jeanne (even though, as it turns out, I had been sending and receiving art in the mail for years!) However, since this is the first time I have ever undertaken anything like this, my first act is to disavow any expertise and to post the link to an article written by my co-curator. This way, my first introduction to the vast and varied world of mail art can be yours as well! I invite you to read her paper and check back soon. All kinds of lovely and strange things have started to show up in my mail. And while only some of them are heavy enough to go thump should they fall in a wastepaper bin, all of them are "heavy" in some sense of the word: intense, deep, powerful, indulgent, serious, sad, painful, significant, hard to digest, profound or otherwise important. Each one is unique and precious and I look forward to sharing them with you.

Sincerely,
Dr. M.
(aka Madeline Muntersbjorn, Associate Professor of Philosophy)

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