bonniegrrl (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bonniegrrl) wrote2007-03-20 10:16 am
bonniegrrl) wrote2007-03-20 10:16 am
Entry tags:
My Mail Art Adventures and the 1000 Journals Project
Ever since I was a kid I have been addicted to getting mail. I blame it all on the book High Weirdness by Mail by Rev. Ivan Stang -- the Subgenius fellow. I remember when I first got that book, all I wanted to do was write a letter to every single address and ask for the free stuff. I didn't care what it was. Sometimes I'd end up with bizarre Christian comics or Coca-Cola stickers in all different languages. I was in postal heaven.
Then in high school I started decorating envelopes and postcards with rubberstamps and sent them off to folks who did the same stuff I did. I didn't realize I was doing mail art, I just wanted loads of envelopes waiting for me in the mailbox when I got home from school.
Not long ago, I was knee-deep in mail art projects I was really into a site called Nervousness.org -- a messageboard site entirely dedicated to people who wanted to swap mail art or start altered book projects. You could sign up to receive journals, minibooks called decos, altered books, craft projects and more. Or create your own project and watch people sign up to participate in a flash. Some projects I've signed up for in the past included a John Waters Tribute book, a hairstyles zine, a 3 am journal and a condiments tribute book!
But I actually had a lot more fun creating the projects and then seeing what people added to them. My favorite LMAOs (land mail art objects) that I started included a scary clown memories journal, white trash cookbook, guerilla gardening project, Bettie Page tribute, roadside attractions book, craft ideas book, Alice in Wonderland altered book and the absurd collections journal.
Unfortunately, as cool as it sounds, some people (I assumed they were bitchy 13-year-old girls or unstable soccer moms from their emails to me) would take my projects and never send them on to the next person on the list. This is one of the reasons I stopped being such an active member on the site. I got tired of people hijacking my art projects.
But then I saw a new project I couldn't resist -- 1000 Journals Project. Working very much like Nervousness.org -- you signed up for a blank journal, or one that was already started and you'd get it in the mail ready to add your artistic impression to it whether it be original art, mixed media, rubber stamps or words. I signed up for 2 -- the journals #666 (about youknowwho) and #646.
If I recall correctly, got #646 first when I was living in Boulder Creek, CA and I proceeded to write about the day in the life of me living in the woods, complete with retro girl graphics as you can see here. And then I sent it on its merrry way.
The second journal #666 arrived on March 1, 2002 from its previous artist -- Heidi from Finland and I was so excited to do something different. So in my entry, I wrote in a couple of protection spells from evil, as well as rubberstamp art, and info on how some folks are convinced the number of the beast (666) is encoded in all UPC symbols and everything you buy! You can check out my entry here.
And on March 4 I sent it on to a previously skipped person on the list named Ally in Oregon, WI. Sadly either Ally snagged it, or the mailman lost it, or Satan grabbed it himself. Either way, it never made it's way back to the 1000 Journals Project creator, which is truly sad.
After that, I'm not sure if I got on the "whatever you do don't send another journal to Bonnie" list, or what. But I never received another journal after that. And I gave up trying and forgot about the site.
Fastforward years later and it looks like entries from the project are now available in a handy book from Chronicle -- The 1000 Journals Project Book. It's described as "212 pages of the best journal entries from around the world, all packed into a hard-bound book that strangely resembles... a journal."
I have no idea if my entries are in there, but I'm adding it to my Amazon wishlist as a fun book for my collection of mail art books. So if you're into that sorta thing, check it out here.
Then in high school I started decorating envelopes and postcards with rubberstamps and sent them off to folks who did the same stuff I did. I didn't realize I was doing mail art, I just wanted loads of envelopes waiting for me in the mailbox when I got home from school.
Not long ago, I was knee-deep in mail art projects I was really into a site called Nervousness.org -- a messageboard site entirely dedicated to people who wanted to swap mail art or start altered book projects. You could sign up to receive journals, minibooks called decos, altered books, craft projects and more. Or create your own project and watch people sign up to participate in a flash. Some projects I've signed up for in the past included a John Waters Tribute book, a hairstyles zine, a 3 am journal and a condiments tribute book!
But I actually had a lot more fun creating the projects and then seeing what people added to them. My favorite LMAOs (land mail art objects) that I started included a scary clown memories journal, white trash cookbook, guerilla gardening project, Bettie Page tribute, roadside attractions book, craft ideas book, Alice in Wonderland altered book and the absurd collections journal.
Unfortunately, as cool as it sounds, some people (I assumed they were bitchy 13-year-old girls or unstable soccer moms from their emails to me) would take my projects and never send them on to the next person on the list. This is one of the reasons I stopped being such an active member on the site. I got tired of people hijacking my art projects.
But then I saw a new project I couldn't resist -- 1000 Journals Project. Working very much like Nervousness.org -- you signed up for a blank journal, or one that was already started and you'd get it in the mail ready to add your artistic impression to it whether it be original art, mixed media, rubber stamps or words. I signed up for 2 -- the journals #666 (about youknowwho) and #646.
If I recall correctly, got #646 first when I was living in Boulder Creek, CA and I proceeded to write about the day in the life of me living in the woods, complete with retro girl graphics as you can see here. And then I sent it on its merrry way.
The second journal #666 arrived on March 1, 2002 from its previous artist -- Heidi from Finland and I was so excited to do something different. So in my entry, I wrote in a couple of protection spells from evil, as well as rubberstamp art, and info on how some folks are convinced the number of the beast (666) is encoded in all UPC symbols and everything you buy! You can check out my entry here.
And on March 4 I sent it on to a previously skipped person on the list named Ally in Oregon, WI. Sadly either Ally snagged it, or the mailman lost it, or Satan grabbed it himself. Either way, it never made it's way back to the 1000 Journals Project creator, which is truly sad.
After that, I'm not sure if I got on the "whatever you do don't send another journal to Bonnie" list, or what. But I never received another journal after that. And I gave up trying and forgot about the site.
Fastforward years later and it looks like entries from the project are now available in a handy book from Chronicle -- The 1000 Journals Project Book. It's described as "212 pages of the best journal entries from around the world, all packed into a hard-bound book that strangely resembles... a journal."
I have no idea if my entries are in there, but I'm adding it to my Amazon wishlist as a fun book for my collection of mail art books. So if you're into that sorta thing, check it out here.