THE MAIL-INTERVIEW WITH Guy Bleus.
Started on: 3-11-1994
RJ : Welcome to this mail-interview. First let me ask you the traditional question. When did you get involved in the mail-art network?
Reply on: 8-4-95 (internet)
GB : //GUY BLEUS‑42.292: DEAR RUUD, IN YOUR INTRODUCTION OF THIS
PROJECT YOU WROTE ABOUT THE MAIL‑ART INTERVIEW PROJECT: "THIS PROJECT I
MAINLY START FOR MY RESEARCH ABOUT THE HISTORY OF MAIL‑ART"// //MEANWHILE
YOU MUST KNOW MY SHAMELESS & SICK OPINION ABOUT HISTORY & ABOUT THE
HISTORY OF MAIL‑ART// //IF NOT, YOU (+ "FUTURE" READERS OF THIS
INTERVIEW) CAN FIND IT IN THE FOREWORD "ART AS A COLLECTIVE MYTHOLOGY:
MAIL ART" OF THE BOOK OF JOHN HELD JR. "MAIL ART: AN ANNOTATED
BIBLIOGRAPHY " (1991)// //YOU CAN ALSO FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS
ISSUE IN MY PUBLICATION "EEN DIALOOG TUSSEN DE POSTBODE EN ZIJN
ELECTRONISCHE SCHADUW, ALSMEDE EEN
ALGEMENE DISCOURS OVER MAIL‑ART, MEER BEPAALD EEN ONDERZOEK NAAR DE GRONDSLAGEN
VAN EEN COMMUNICATIEF KUNSTFENOMEEN" (1994)// //THE LATTER IS AN ANTHOLOGY
OF SOME OF MY TEXTS// //IT'S A COMPILATION OF 1991 FOR THE "KONINKLIJKE
ACADEMIE VOOR WETENSCHAPPEN, LETTEREN EN SCHONE KUNSTEN VAN
BELGIE"////ANYWAY, HISTORY _IS_ A LIE// //(YOU CAN READ MY ARGUMENTATION
ELSEWHERE)//
//SO, I NEVER GOT INVOLVED
IN THE MAIL‑ART NETWORK// //_WE_ (YOU + I + ALL THE OTHER NETLANDERS) _"ARE"_ THE MAIL‑ART
NETWORK// //EVERY NETLANDER HAS HIS OR HER OWN WEB OF BORING AND/OR INTERESTING
STORIES// //MAIL‑ART IS COMMUNICATION‑ART AND AS SUCH THE _"NOW"_ IS
THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT// //AND THIS SUBJECT WILL INCREASE IN THE
_ELECTRONIC_ AND _DIGITAL_ FUTURE// //AT LEAST, IF THERE IS ANY FUTURE AT ALL//
//AT LEAST, IF THERE IS ANY FUTURE AT ALL// //AND IF SO, LET'S BARK TOGETHER//
//WAF‑@‑WAF// //WHOOF‑@‑WHOOF//
//BUT OF COURSE, I COULD
MENTION YOU THE _"HISTORIC"_
EVENTS I DID SUCH AS MY FIRST CORRESPONDENCE ART PROJECT IN 1968 WHICH RESULTED IN THE PUBLICATION
"SUBTERRANEAN II" (EDITED BY
THE ACADEMY OF ART IN GHENT) OR THAT A LOT OF MY MAILINGS WERE CENSORED WHEN I
WAS A PUPIL OF 12 YEARS OLD IN THE BOARDING‑SCHOOL OF THE "KONINKLIJKE
ATHENEUM OF TONGEREN" OR THAT I FIRST SAW THE ARTISTAMPS OF E.F. HIGGINS
III IN THE MID‑SEVENTIES IN "HET PANDJE" IN HASSELT// //IT ARE JUST
FACTS AND MEMORIES AND ANECDOTES// //THEY'RE ALL READY TO BECOME NEW MYTHS IN
THE HISTORIC WORLD OF NETLANDING// //&/OR: _RAY JOHNSON IS GOD_// //LET'S
PRAY// //LET'S RAY// //IT'S HIGH NOON BY NOW, I THINK I MUST BE HUNGRY// //DEAR
RUUD, KEEP IN TOUCH//
//HAVE A NICE AND WARM
SPRINGTIME// //WITH LUCK & LOVE & ENERGY// //GB‑42.292//
RJ : The nice thing about the interview with you is that you have
written down so many views, thoughts, etc... Most of the things I would like to
know about you I can look up in your books, catalogs, etc. If history is a lie,
you are giving lots of stuff to historians to write the history. Why do you
publish that much? (I hope you did eat well before answering this second
question!)
(because
of the long silence I wrote several times to Guy Bleus if this was the only
answer he was going to give, or that the interview would continue. As usual,
Guy is quite busy, and only months ago I received the CD-ROM that documented
his artistamps exhibition. The first CD-ROM catalogue in mail art. On July 24th
I received a letter from Guy in which he wrote that the interview will continue
in the autumn of 1996).
On
August 23rd I received a postcard from Guy Bleus from Copenhagen. I guess it is
no coincidence that just this summer there is the large exhibition at the
Postal Museum there in Copenhagen, and I am sure Guy Bleus visited that too.
Reply on 28-05-1997 (via
e-mail)
(The
e-mail was sent twice. The answer was an attachment, and the first time the
attachment wasn't found by me. The second e-mail contained an attachment I
couldn't decode, so I forewarded the e-mail to my e-mail at the college where I
work. There I could decode it and e-mailed Guy that I succeeded in reading his
second answer. At home in Tilburg again I fitted the text into the interview so
far and e-mailed Guy the next answer. Prints on paper were sent as well).
GB : B. //From (x) To Ruud Janssen (interview via internet)//
//I// //Dear Ruud, today (05.29.1997) i well
received the interviews of carol stetser and e.f. higgins III// //thanks a lot// //as you know i keep everything in the
archives of the @dministration centre-42.292//
//Answering your question// //yes
ruud// //you're right, i make it easy
for h/i/s/t/o/r/i/a/n/s// //but i really
don’t know why// //i just make use of the opportunities when
they arrive (from the unknown X)// //i
take the chance to give the other mail-artists a publication// //networkers have the right to a publication
when they send something for a mail-art project// //let's fight for it// //it's not that i want to publish that much// //it's always a series of coincidences// //it just happens// //@/f/a/t/e//
//& i follow my intuition//
//II// //1// //from april 1995 until ... two years
later. blue mail came out of the
blue////x-ray johnson is dead. jo
42.langenaken (one of my best friends) is dead. sören kierkegaard is dead (again)////2// //in the meantime there
was (is) @dministration: the 3 cd-roms,
the psychedelic show, the e-pêle-mêles, the scents, the private art
detective, the postal museum of brussels and the e-mail-art archives in
hasselt//
//3// //in may 1997 the
smiling network experience is remastered & digitalized. but i’m still in love with black vinyl. the savage resurrection (of history), the
seeds (of internet) & the 13th floor elevators (of the mail-art
building)// //electronic thunder
simulation is not new, it’s but
the logical consequence of an old tradition.
art and philosophy dancing in yellow footsteps of science and
technology. the mystic owl of sister
minerva. always-too-late-mail-art, never
in time for the golden deadline//
//III// //Waiting for the PELL-MELL network//
//With Luck & Energy//
//(x)// //Guy Bleus - 42.292//
//THE @DMINISTRATION
CENTRE//
//p.o.box 43-B-3830
Wellen//
//gb@pophost.eunet.be//
RJ : How do you experience the Internet and the e-mail after some
years of practice. I know that you wrote texts about this subject as well
(which I could use as appendixes to this interview if you like), but I am also
interested in how far the electronic communication is integrated in your daily
life.......
next answer on 3-3-1997
(e-mail with attachments)
GB : //dear Question Number 3//
//Dear Ruud//
//It would be nice if
you could @ttach (as an appendix of this interview)//
//the following
texts: "A Dialogue between the Postman and His//
//Electronic
Shadow" (1994)//
//As well as//
//"Telecopying
in the electronic Netland" (1991/3)//
//YES ‑and/Or‑ NO ‑and/Or‑
always//
//The ultimate
spinach of the Internetland doesn't "determinate" my ultimate snake‑dances//
//Electronic,
telecopying or postal communication aren't the issue @t stake//
//Loving the
wonderful things one does (and/Or does not ‑‑‑ tomorrow)//
//Following the
changing concepts of art ‑ in my blue Velvet veins//
//Experiencing the
echO of the white ‑ e‑mailed ‑ rabbit//
//Constructing,
deconstructing and recOnstructing//
//The non‑electronic
@dministrative Scents//
//Eating the flowers
of the Net‑O‑land//
//Coming home Again//
//e/v/e/r/y/ night //
//Every night//
//every day//
//Again//
//waiting for the
remembrance of the Electronic address//
//the silver rope
behind the P.O. Box//
//the silent
resonance and suspense//
//W‑ithout the
ancient platonic//
//W‑hite shadow of a
stamp//
//W‑aiting for the
sweet//
//the pleasure//
//Of repetition//
//(((thepleasureofrepetition)))//
//Dancing in the
ssswamping Inter‑net‑land//
//While Johnson's
Nothings are @t stake//
//& ‑ Nothing is
crYptic anymore//
//There is no need
for A//
//Young
Wittgenstein//
//Anyway//
//With 42.292‑Luck
and Energy//
//Guy Bleus//
//gb@pophost.eunet.be//
RJ : Can we still find the spirit of the sixties in the mail-art
networking? Or is mail-art already absorbed by the big Administrative
Monster....?
(this
question Guy formulated himself in one of his in-between e-mails he sent to me)
next answer on 31-7-1997
(e-mail)
GB : //A4 TO Q4// //AN
_INTER‑NET‑VIEW_//
//DEAR FRIEND RUUD//
//YOU USE AN OLD
INTERVIEW‑TRICK: ASKING ME MY OWN
QUESTIONS// //IT REMINDS ME TO AN INTERVIEW ABOUT MAIL‑ART I DID COMPLETELY
ALONE WITH MYSELF (IN 1979) FOR "SPACE Z" IN ANTWERP// //AS FOR ME, THE FREE SPIRIT OF THE
QUICKSILVER SIXTIES IS STILL EXISTING IN MAIL‑ART// //THE NETLAND ISN'T (YET) ABSORBED BY THE BIG
ADMINISTRATIVE MONSTER// //MAIL‑ART IS A
BELIEF IN COMMUNICATIVE AND POETIC VALUES//
//THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM US//
//IT ISN'T A SOCIAL OR ECONOMICAL PROBLEM, BUT AN ISSUE CONCERNING THE
PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PSYCHEDELIC ATTITUDES OF THE INDIVIDUAL NETWORKER// //AS LONG AS SHE OR HE REFUSES TO SELL HER OR
HIS OWN DANCING SOUL// //THE ARTISTIC
TRIP WILL CONTINUE// //BUT OF COURSE
THERE IS THE HUGE PROBLEM OF SUCCESSION//
//WILL THE NEXT INTERNET‑GENERATIONS STILL BE INTERESTED TO BURN DOWN
THE NEW COMMUNICATION MEDIA// //OR WILL
THEY SWALLOW THE FUTURE MTV/CNN/NBC NONSENSE//
//SOME WEEKS AGO I RECEIVED THE NEWS ABOUT JO KLAFFKI// //IT'S ALL SO WEIRD// //I SAW JOKI A FEW MONTHS AGO ON TV// //AND NOW//
//WITHOUT YOUTHFUL DESIRES THE PELL‑MELL NETWORK OF THE ADMINISTRATION
CENTRE LOOKS LIKE A POETIC CEMETERY//
//FINALLY, IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT MUCH//
//BUT SOMETIMES I ASK MYSELF: "WHO'S NEXT"// //AND THEN I HOPE IT'S NOT ME// //NOT BECAUSE I'M SO AFRAID OF DYING// //BUT THERE ARE STILL SO MANY PROJECTS I HAVE
TO REALIZE// //I'M NOT READY FOR THE
FINAL DEADLINE// //YET//
//FROM WELLEN//
//WITH LUCK AND
ENERGY//
//GUY BLEUS ‑
42.292//
//THE @DMINISTRATION
CENTRE//
//POBOX 43‑B‑3830
WELLEN//
//gb@pophost.eunet.be//
ENERGY//
RJ : (lost question!) - did send participation to Guy's new
project.
next answer on
26-10-1997(via e-mail)
GB :> //QUESTION NUMBER
05 / VIA E‑FAX//
//DEAR
RUUD//
//1//
//THANKS FOR YOUR "WORKING IN A COAL‑MINE" FAX‑ AND E‑MAIL‑WORK// //AT THE MOMENT I'M DOING THE LAY‑OUT FOR THE
CATALOGUE// //VERY SOON YOU'LL RECEIVE A
COPY OF IT// //THERE WERE 50
PARTICIPANTS, INCLUDING A LOT MAIL‑ART FRIENDS SUCH AS BARONI, ALTEMUS, CIANI,
FELTER, COLE, GAGLIONE, HELD, HUBERT, GROH, MAGGI, NIELSEN, PADIN, PERNECZKY,
...//
//2//
//DURING THIS HOT SUMMER I HAD A LOT OF WORK TO DO IN THE OLD CINEMA TO CREATE
A BIGGER SPACE FOR MY NETWORKING ARCHIVE//
//SOME ARTISTS ARE SENDING ME (OFTEN WHEN THEY STOP DOING MAIL‑ART)
THEIR COMPLETE MAIL‑ART COLLECTION AND THAT CREATES A LOT OF EXTRA WORK// //IT'S MY GOAL TO DO A BIG OPENING OF THE
CINEMA‑SPACE "THE SCENTS & ADMINISTRATION CENTRE ‑ 42.292" AT
JANUARY THE 1ST 2000//
//3//
//MEANWHILE I'M BUSY WITH 2 NEW MAIL‑ART PROJECTS: ONE IS CALLED "1001 DESKS/1001 BUREAUS:
FOR AN OPEN ADMINISTRATION" IN GRONINGEN (NORTHERN HOLLAND)// //DEADLINE: 31.01.1998// //THE EXHIBITION WILL BE NEXT YEAR IN
AUTUMN// //WITH A CD‑ROM CATALOGUE//
//ONE HAS TO TRANSFORM AND SEND BACK A POSTCARD WITH THE DESK OF THE
MAYOR OF GRONINGEN//
//4// //THE OTHER BIG MAIL‑ART PROJECT IS
CALLED "AMBIORIX ‑ KING OF THE EBURONS / AGAINST CULTURAL OPPRESSION//
.//IT WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE CULTURAL CENTRE OF TONGEREN (BELGIUM)//
//DEADLINE: 30.06.1999// //THERE WILL BE A PRINTED CATALOGUE// //THE EXHIBITION
IS IN "DE VELINX" IN TONGEREN WITH ALL THE ENTRIES FROM JUNE 11TH,
2000 UNTIL SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2000// //ALSO
A NUMBER OF MAIL‑ART CATALOGUES & OTHER ARTEFACTS FROM THE T.A.C‑42.292
ARCHIVES WILL BE SHOWED// //DURING THE
"VERNISSAGE", THE OPENING OF THE EXHIBITION THERE WILL BE A CLONING‑FESTIVAL
INCLUDING "THE RESURRECTION OF AMBIORIX" AND AN AMBIORIX‑MAIL‑ART
PARADE// //SOON YOU'LL RECEIVE THE INVITATIONS OF BOTH THE PROJECTS//
//5// //THE NEXT EXHIBITIONS IN THE E‑MAIL‑ART
SPACE IN HASSELT ARE: CLEMENTE PADIN (10/97), PASCAL LENOIR (11/97), RUUD
JANSSEN (12/97), BEN VAUTIER (01/98), GIANNI BROI (02/98) AND FERNANDO AGUIAR
(03/98)//
//6//
//THIS ARE SOME OF MY PLANS FOR THE NEAR FUTURE// //BUT THERE ARE HAPPENING SO MANY POST‑SURREALISTIC
AND MAYBE DANGEROUS THINGS IN MY LIFE AT THE MOMENT// //I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK OR
BELIEVE ABOUT THESE "PRIVATE ART DETECTIVE" EXPERIENCES// //I'LL MENION IN A NEXT QUESTION, CALLED
NUMBER SIX, THE WHO'S AND WHY'S//
//7// //HAVE A WARM AUTUMN////FROM WELLEN WITH
LUCK & ENERGY// //GUY BLEUS ‑ 42.292// //THE @DMINISTRATION CENTRE//
//P.O.BOX 43‑B‑3830 WELLEN// //TEL & FAX: +32 12 741415//
//gb@pophost.eunet.be//
RJ :
(I
didn't ask a question! However I did send a contribution to a project that Guy
Bleus is undertaking, where he selects single short statements. Also he is
working on several other things about which he wrote in answer # 5 and again in
#6)
next answer on 2-12-1997
GB : To: tam@dds.nl
Subject: Internet Mail‑Art
Interview
//Interview//Answer/Question/Number
06//
//Dear Ruud//
//6// //The 1400
invitations of the mail‑art project in Groningen "1001 Desks/1001 Bureaus:
For an OPEN ADMINISTRATION" are sent out.
Please participate to this new anti‑bureaucratic project. It was not easy to have a photograph of the
desk of the mayor from Groningen. In the
past I made a lot of installations with desks (since 1978). For instance, in Antwerp, in Amsterdam,
Groningen, Hasselt, Gent, Heusden‑Zolder, Leopoldsburg, Brussels, Leuven,
Munster, Köln, Aachen, etc. I hope that in the meantime you already
received the Fax‑ and Internet catalogue "Working in A Coalmine / Mail Art
Networkers are Miners", distributing last thursday. There are 50 participants.
Tomorrow I'm going to set
up your individual exhibition in the E‑mail‑Art Space in Hasselt. I hope you like it a little bit, because it
is always a lot of work. Sometimes their
are a lot of visitors (students, artists and art critics). Many people ask me to show their work, but
it's only possible to do 12 shows in one year.
I trust that you accept my
answer number 5 (and also 6 = this one) for your interview. Of course I also include Statements about e‑mail‑art
for my Manifestos project, even if they are sent by snail mail. I don't care at all. I don't work for an Administrative
Institute. I'm completely free. All my
work is a parody of the neurotic bureaucracy.
Very few artists understand this Irony.
Probably they are much too Serious.
Your Statement is the only one not transmitted (and received) via the
net. There are already 16 participanting
networkers such as, H.R.Fricker, Jas W Felter, Vittore Baroni, John M.Bennett ,
Sarah Jackson, Anna Banana, Artoposto, Reed Altemus, Andrej Tisma, K.Frank Jensen etc. (And in
order of date and hour, you are number 8).
I always accept all the
entries (without rejections). If someone
participates in my fax projects and sends it by another medium, it doesn't
matter. I never rejected fax‑art without
fax‑transmissions (ask José
vdBroucke).
Maybe a little more fair‑play,
mutual respect and real friendship is needed in Mail‑Art. Very few mail‑artists
can understand how much work it is to organize a project with hundreds of
participants and sending "every" participant every time a real FREE
catalogue or a cd‑rom. This means
working day and night, without being paid for it. And sometimes: not even a single word of
appreciation for it. But I still continue because I love the Mail‑Art‑Stress,
the Deadlines, the Irony and of course I'm not a quitter before I die.
(Here we can close the
Internet Mail‑Art Interview)
//With Luck & Energy//
//Guy Bleus ‑ 42.292//
//THE @DMINISTRATION
CENTRE//
//P.O.BOX 43‑B‑3830
WELLEN//
//TEL & FAX: +32 12
741415//
//gb@pophost.eunet.be//
Address mail-artist:
Guy Bleus - 42.292
Administration Center
P.O.Box 43
Wellen
BELGIUM
e-mail : gb@pophost.eunet.be
APPENDIX-1
by Guy Bleus‑42.292
A DIALOGUE BETWEEN
THE POSTMAN
AND HIS ELECTRONIC
SHADOW
The position of the
mailman as the ultimate man in the (pre‑)electronic
communication process.
01. The history of
communication is a lie. Because the story is only a story and therefore
incomplete, selective and interpreted.
Blatantly absent in the recollection is the anonymous, that which
doesn't have the power to make itself known, but that equally can make sense
and be sublime. The conversations
between past, present and future are always fragmentary and/or prophetic; a
mishmash of truth, semi‑truth and fiction, the tension between reality and
illusion.
02. It is not actual
or postmodernistic (rather postexistentialistic) to move on the historical
currents of the social problem of communication. For the mailman is not a son of Laszlo Moholy‑Nagy,
but he is the inevitable sun for Mail‑Art.
The mailman is no artist, but the moon of communication. The mailman is unkown, yet not without
significance within the story of postal arts, day and night.
03. The eclectic
novel of the new communicative space threatens to strangle the romantic
narrative lines of man in communication.
Technology dehumanizes the games between sender and receiver. But who is going to bother with the
urbanization of cyberspace? Is there enough space for an ethic of the
"social" superhighway?
04. The mailman is a
communicative anachronism. But on the
other hand he makes that same transfer of information visible. He is an essential trace within communicative
reality. The letter carrier is not the
owner of the information. But he is more
than a symbol or an icon, moving on the level of language, in the language play
between word and meaning. The mailman is
a referent on the level of reality, a human of flesh and blood. It is of course nostalgic to presume that the
21st century will cherish the same totem animals as the 20th. Electronics are the guillotine of the mail
(as a system of information). Postcards,
post marks and stamps are the memorabilia of administrative rituals from a
recent past.
05. "The end of
a workers era is the beginning of..."
Even Mercury, the mailman of the Gods, is impotent to complete the
previous sentence. Ten years after 1984
we see an Orwellian hurricane approaching and no one knows where and when it
will hit. Or are all sceptics wrong and
is there an interactive and electronic nirvana lying ahead of us?
06. The spring of
communication is over. The
installation's artifacts look back and take different positions: where is the
(symbolic) center of communication? Which strategies do exist to save the
frivolous adultery of democracy in a so‑called "decentralized"
cyberspace?
07. The earth loses
its cosmic position as a center to the advantage of heliocentrism. Theocentrism is defeated by anthropocentrism
and humanism. After God, the (ultimate)
man dies, too. One grumbles and talks
about eco‑facism. Only on the
materialistic level egocentrism is alive and kicking. The subject has been buried. Some are waiting for a resurrection.
08. The
epistemological question of present communication is (still) possible, is
socially and historically irrelevant.
The vulture of power relations circles especially around the correlation
between the quality and the quantity of communication. Not the values, but the numbers rule the
planet. The merchandizing of information
is a fact.
09. The distance
between people gets increasingly smaller as the speed of communication
increases. In theory this implies that
the world will end in one point that is situated between nowhere and
everywhere.
10. The social
function of the mailman (the effective contact with man) disappears because of
the increase of telecommunication. The notion of "social" gets a new
dimension. One can be alone yet be
very social within the myth of
cyberspace. The psychology of personal
space needs to be reconsidered urgently.
Can this be a matter of pathological communication? Indisputably there is an increase of
alienation regarding the "really" fellow human being. But what is still real? What is virtual?
11. The contradiction
between man and machine is getting smaller.
The machine that increases alienation among human beings within the
social system, brings people closer
together. The paradox of the
cyberspace traveller or netizen.
12. A tribute to man
seems unsuitable. The letter carrier who
contributes to the realization of Mail‑Art, who is the carrier of postal art,
is invisible. Man has become but a
dilapidated metaphor.
13. An individual
"pro‑mailman" position is not an a‑political theme in a time when man
is subjected to the machine. De la
Mettrie becomes the spiritual father of McLuhan and Gibson. Where is the information‑proletariat situated
in this process of communicative "progress"?
14. A human approach
of the post and communication commits itself on the level of the labor and
labor‑intensity. The notion of
"unemployment" threatens to loose its meaning in a new social
reality, and thus get a new dimension.
To be unemployed doesn't apply anymore to man only, but to the lack of
electronic communication equipment as well.
On the other hand, the same electronics create a wave of unemployment.
15. A political
subject would be: to recognize the superhighway as a culture of Power. It is being whispered: Internet is an
"anarchist" way, without hierarchical structure, without leaders. Gossip or truth?
16. The attention to
the role of "man" in the communication system is reduced to a
linguistic or semiologic matter. The
ethical consequences of hunger, of stress, of feelings, of shortages or of
friendship in communication seem to be lost in the wrong millennium. Human activities disappear in the postal
process "apparently" by an increase of electronic communication. The monitor estheticizes.
17. Yet one forgets
one thing in this interactive story: the sedentary, electronic human being who
is enclosing himself in order to do "home shopping" by means of his
monitor and his keyboard, will have to appeal to "people" who deliver
the parcels home. Hence the post's
function to distribute products will increase.
Unless everything gets in the hands of privatized courier services. A political option with relation to
"cocooning".
18. In the
installation the labour of the postal workers is visualized by a series of 60
mail bags, filled with information; also shown are portraits of unknown
mailmen. The tools (stamps, ink and
paper) used by postal employees are intended to focus on the human being behind
the object.
19. The proper
functioning of the postal services is accentuated by the individual project
"indirect correspondence", this means correspondence via a
detour. For instance references to
ficticious persons and/or addresses. On
the schemes of the itinerary and also on the very same circulating letters
appear traces on the post, in the snow of time and space. These traces indicate the respect for pieces
of mail and the accuracy with which the postal system operates.
20. Opposing this
are electronic appliances (such as
telex, fax, modem) that alienate and/or eliminate man and reduce communication
mere efficiency. The long strips of fax
paper posted on walls emphasize the shortcomings of electronic
communication. Smells or perfumes for
instance can't be transmitted.
21. In the
construction of the Cathedral of Communication the anonymity of the mailman is
an essential fact. His ephemeral
contacts with correspondence, the content of which he will never know. An intuitive retrospective of the evolution
of (electronic) communication shows a system of objects and traces, in which
the letter carrier as a concept accentuates the democratic aspect of the postal
services. An extracting sculpture about
postal and post‑postal thinking, feeling and wanting.
22. The present is
always the past to the future.
23. Fall 994.
Guy Bleus ‑ 42.292
The Administration
Centre / Networking Archives
P.O. Box 43 / 3830
Wellen / Tel. & Fax: (+)32‑12‑741 415
E‑Mail:
gb@pophost.eunet.be
APPENDIX-2
by Guy Bleus‑42.292
TELECOPYING IN THE
ELECTRONIC NETLAND
GUY BLEUS ‑ 42.292
//1// //THE WORLD IS A FAX‑VILLAGE// //AFTER A.
THE AEROGRAM, TELEGRAM AND MAIL‑GRAM, B. THE TELEPHONE AND TELEX; THERE IS C.
THE FACSIMILE OR TELEFAX// //ARTEFAX IS MORE RELATED TO TELEPHONE(‑ART) THAN TO
MAIL(‑ART)// //NETWORKING OR (TELE‑) COMMUNICATION ART IS THE LOWEST COMMON
DENOMINATOR//
//2// //THE MYTHS OF FACSIMILE// //THE FATHER OF
THE FAX IS THE SCOTTISCH PHYSICIST & CLOCKMAKER ALEXANDER BAIN (1818‑1903)//
//HIS INVENTION OF 1843 HAS BEEN IMPROVED BY FREDERICK COLLIER// //BLAKEWELL
(1847), GIOVANNI CASELLI (1865), G. LITTLE (1867), SENLECQ DE ARDRES (1877),
SHELFORD BIDWELL (1881), N.S. AMSTUTZ (1892), BUSS (1902), AR‑THUR KORN (1904),
EDOUARD BELIN (1907), DIEKMANN (1917), AMERICAN TELEPHONE & TELE‑GRAPH
COMPANY (1924/1925), WESTERN UNION (1924), NEC (1927), WISE (1938), XEROX CORPO‑RATION
(& RCA) (1950/1961), THE FIRM OF RUDOLF HELL (1965), MAGNAFAX‑XEROX (1966),
RI‑COH (1970), ETC.// //CIRCA 1970 APPEARS THE FIRST PROTOTYPE OF A LASERFAX//
//DURING THE EIGHTIES THE FACSIMILE APPARATUS SPREADS WORLDWIDE// //IN 1990 THE
FIRMS OF SHARP AND STARSIGNAL PRESENT THE FIRST PROTOTYPES OF COLORTELEFAX//
//MEANWHI‑LE FAX HAS BECOME AN ART MEDIUM//
//3// //FACSIMILE// //N. (< L. FAC, IMPERATIVE
OF FACERE, TO MAKE + SIMILE, LIKE), 1. AN EXACT LIKENESS, REPRODUCTION, OR
COPY: ABBREV. FAC.; 2. THE TRANSMISSION AND RE‑PRODUCTION OF PRINTED MATTER BY
A PROCESS INVOLVING THE USE OF RADIO BROAD‑CAST, MICROWAVE RELAY OR REGULAR
TELPHONE LINES.; ADJ. OF OR HAVING THE NATURE OF, A FACSIMILE; V; T; (‑LED, ‑LEING),
TO MAKE A FACSIMILE OF. ‑ IN FACSIMILE, AS AN EXACT LIKENESS//
//4// //COPY// //(< O. FR. < ML. COPIA,
COPIOUS TRANSCRIPT < L. COPIA, ABUNDANCE)// //A CO‑PY HAS TO BE TRUTHFULLY
BY DEFINITION// //"10.‑ 22.‑ 38 ASTORIA" IS MOSTLY ACCEPTED AS THE
FIRST TEXT IN THE HISTORY OF THE XEROGRAPHY// //IT WAS REALIZED IN NEW YORK BY
THE AMERICAN PHYSICIST CHESTER F. CARLSON (1906‑1968) AND HIS ASSISTENT OTTO
KOR‑NEI// //YET THE TRUE FATHER OF THE PHOTOCOPY SHOULD BE THE GERMAN PROFESSOR
JO‑HANN HEINRICH SCHULZE WHO REALIZED THE VERY FIRST PHOTOCOPY IN
"1727" IN ALTDORF (NURNBERG)// //THE FACT IS THAT MANY PRAISEWORTHY
INVENTORS NEVER WILL SHINE IN THE CRUEL SPOTLIGHTS OF THE PHOTOCOPY‑HISTORY//
//ANYWAY, TODAY ANYONE CAN MAKE A PHOTOCOPY AND BECOME AN ARTIST AT THE PUSH OF
A BUTTON// //ALTHOUGH CO‑PY ART & TELECOPY ART HAVE SEPERATE TECHNOLOGICAL
ROOTS THEY CERTAINLY ARE ARTISTIC NETWORKING NEPHEWS//
//5// //FAX‑ART (ALSO CALLED
"ART(E)FAX" OR TELECOPY‑ART) IS A LOGICAL CONSEQUENCE OF THE
ECONOMICAL EVOLUTION OF THE TELEFAX MACHINE// //THERE ARE NO FAX TRANS‑MISSIONS
IF NOBODY CAN BUY A FAX APPARATUS// //TELECOPY ART DOESN'T RESPECT THE SAME
STANDARDS AS XEROGRAPHY OR COPY‑ART// //THE LATTER IS AN EVENT// //IT IS THE
ARTIST WHO INDICATES AT A PARTICULAR MOMENT WHICH PHOTOCOPIES ARE ARTISTIC
WORKS AND WHICH ARE NOT// //FAX‑ART NEEDS AN ELECTRONIC PROCESS// //IT IS TELE‑COMMUNICATION
ART// //THE ARTIST CAN TRANSMIT HIS OR HER IMAGE OR WORK, BUT HE OR SHE HAS NOT
THE FULL CONTROL OVER THE FACSIMILE EQUIPMENT OF THE RECEIVER// //SO THE
AESTHETIC ASPECTS OF THE FAXWORK BECOME OF SECONDARY IMPORTACE IN COMPARISON
WITH THE COMMUNICATIVE ASPECTS// //IN OTHER WORDS A WORK CAN ONLY BECOME FAX
ART IF IT IS TRANSMITTED//
//6// //THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL FAX ART PROJECTS
GO BACK TO THE EARLY EIGHTIES WITH IMPORTANT PROJECTS AS "THE WORLD IN 24
HOURS" (SEPTEMBER 27 & 28, 1982) AS A PART OF THE "ARS
ELECTRONICA 1982" ORGANIZED BY ROBERT (BOB) ADRIAN// //OR "pARTiciFAX"
(ELECTRONIC MAIL) (JUNE, 1984) CO‑ORDINATED BY PEETER SEPP, LISA SEL‑LYEH, MARY
MISNER, MICHAEL BIDNER, A.O. WITH PARTICIPANTS FROM AFRICA, AMERICA, ASIA,
AUSTRALIA, AND EUROPE// //IN THE LATE EIGHTIES FAX BECOMES AN INTEGRATED PART
OF THE MAIL‑ART NETWORK// //IN THIS RESPECT WE CAN PERCEIVE MORE AND MORE MAIL‑ART
PROJECTS ALSO MENTIONING A TELEFAX NUMBER, SO THE ARTISTS CAN CHOOSE THEMSELVES
IF THEY WANT TO SEND THEIR WORK VIA POST OR FAX// //MANY NETWORKERS HAVE
ALREADY CURATED OR ORGANIZED SPECIFIC TELEFAX OR ARTEFAX PROJECTS, E.G. ARTPOOL/GALANTAI,
GUY BLEUS, PETER BRANDT, PAOLO BRUSCKY, PIERMARIO CIANI, NA‑TALE CUCINIELLO, KO
DE JONGE, CHARLES FRANÃOIS, MAURICIO GUERRERO, JOHN HELD JR., GIUSEPPE
IANNICELLI, LORA JOST, CHRISTIAN PFAFF, ETC.// //A GOOD ADVICE FOR FAX PER‑FORMANCES
OR FAX PROJECTS IS TO HAVE PERMANENTLY MORE THAN ONE FAX LINE OPEN//
//"WAITING" TO HAVE CONTACT SEEMS TO BE AN ESSENTIAL ASPECT OF
TELEFAX COMMUNICATION// //BECAUSE THE LINES ARE ALWAYS BUSY//
//7// //THE TRANSMITTED OR RECEIVED TELECOPY IS
ALWAYS AN ORIGINAL// //THE CONTEXT OR INTENSION OF THE TRANSMISSION CAN BE
FALSE// //BUT A FAX DOES NEVER LIE// //IT IS THE INTERACTION AND RESULT OF A
SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL PROCESS//
//8// //SINCE FAX ART IS ELECTRONIC MAIL‑ART ONE
CAN ALSO TRANSMIT "INDIRECT" FAX WORKS// //X SENDS A FACSIMILE TO Y
WITH THE REQUEST TO TRANSMIT IT TO Z (NOW Y CAN ADD OR ERASE SOME ASPECTS OF
THE FAX BEFORE SENDING IT TO Z)// //THIS IS A GOOD AND FAST METHOD TO REALIZE
CO‑ARTWORKS IN NO TIME//
//9// //FAXING CAN TRANSFORM THE NOTION OF TIME//
//BY OBSTRUCTING THE "ORIGINAL" (NOT TRANSMITTED) TEXT OR IMAGE ONE
CAN INFLUENCE THE DURATION OF THE FAX TRANSMISSION// //FOR INSTANCE, ONE CAN
MANIPULATE THE TELEFAX MACHINE BY WITH‑DRAWING, STRETCHING, PULLING UP, PULLING
FURTHER OUT (A PART OF) THE TRANSMIT‑TING PAGES// //BESIDES THESE VERTICAL
MANOEUVRES ALSO HORIZONTAL (ZIG‑ZAG, SHA‑KING OR WAVING) ACTIONS ARE POSSIBLE//
//MOREOVER THE MISUSE OF THE ELECTRONIC APPARATUS CAN BE REPEATED// //ALL THESE
OPERATIONS WILL AFFECT BOTH THE PROCESS OF THE FAXTRANSMISSION AND THE
TRANSMITTED IMAGE OR WORK// //THE LATTER CAN ALSO BE INFLUENCED BY
INTERVENTIONS ON THE FAXPAPER: HEATING, CRUMPLING UP, THE USE OF CORROSIVE
LIQUIDS, ETC.// //THESE OPERATIONS CAN GIVE WONDERFUL AND UNEX‑PECTED RESULTS
AND CHANGE THE FAX PROCESS// //BUT OF COURSE ALL THESE ARTISTIC INTERVENTIONS
ARE NOT HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR THE WELL‑BEING OF YOUR TELEFAX MACHINE//
//10// //OPPONENTS OF TELEFAX AS AN ARTISTIC MEDIUM
CORRECTLY EMPHASIZE ITS SHORTCOMINGS// //FAX "IS" MORE EXPENSIVE THAN
POSTAL NETWORKING// //ONE CAN'T TRANSMIT SCENTS OR 3‑D OBJECTS// //FACSIMILE
MEANS "SELECTION"// //ONE CAN NOT RE‑CEIVE SEVERAL FAXES AT THE SAME
TIME (WITH ONLY ONE TELEFAX LINE)// //ETC.// //ALL THESE REMARKS AIN'T WITHOUT
THRUTH// //BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT "EVERY" ARTISTIC MEDIUM HAS ITS
OWN LIMITATIONS// //FOR INSTANCE, MAIL‑ART IS NOT THE PROPER OR ADEQUATE MEDIUM
FOR A SCULPTOR// //SO, SCULPTURE IS HIGHLY SELECTIVE BECAUSE A BLOCK OF MARBLE
OR BLUE‑STONE IS MORE EXPENSIVE THAN A FAX TRANSMISSION// //BUT THESE ARTFORMS
ARE BEYOND COMPARISON AND DOING SO MEANS CONFUSING CONCEPTS// //SCULPTURE,
FILM, MAIL‑ART, PHOTOGRAPHY, COMPUTER ART, FAX ART, ETC. ARE DIFFE‑RENT WAYS OF
ARTISTIC EXPRESSION// //POSSIBILITY, FEASIBILITY, MONEY, IDIOSYNCRACY AND
PREFERENCE ARE SOME OF THE APPLICABLE NOTIONS IN THIS TASTY RHUBARB//
//11// //FROM AN IDEOLOGICAL OR ETHICAL POINT OF
VIEW ALL ART MEDIA MEAN "SELEC‑TION", EVEN THE DEMOCRATIC MAIL‑ART
NETWORKING// //HOW MANY MAIL ARTISTS ARE THERE IN NORTH KOREA, CAMBODIA,
VIETNAM, TIBET, LIBANON, IRAN, SUDAN OR SOMA‑LIA?// //ART IS FREEDOM AND
LUXURY// //FAX IS FUN// //IT HAS NO "ETHICAL" OR "IDEOLO‑GICAL"
IMPLICATIONS// //EXCEPT THIS ONE: THE (ELECTRONIC) (MAIL‑ART) WORLD HAS BE‑COME
A GLOBAL VILLAGE WITH MANY "BLIND SPOTS"//
//12// //TO FAX OR NOT TO FAX IS NOT THE QUESTION//
//FAXING OR TELECOPYING JUST ADDS NEW ELECTRONIC PERSPECTIVES TO THE EXISTING
MAIL‑ART ACTIVITIES// //THE CONSE‑QUENCES WON'T CAUSE AN INFLATION OF THE
NETWORKING COMMUNICATION OR REPLACE THE PREVIOUS MAIL‑ART RITUALS// //BUT
EXPLORING ALL THE ADDITIONAL ELECTRONIC POSSIBILITIES MEANS A NEW STIMULUS FOR
THE ETERNAL NETLAND//
//GUY BLEUS / THE
ADMINISTRATION CENTRE‑42.292 / P.O.BOX 43 / 3830 WELLEN / BELGIUM//
//TEL/FAX: (+)32 12
74 14 15// //E‑MAIL:
gb@pophost.eunet.be//
ELECTRONIC
POSSIBILITIES
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