A.1.

Michael Leigh's A.1.Mail Art Archive has been blogged here before. But I think it deserves some more attention. Here follows a short interview with the man himself (A.1.) about mailart and his blogging efforts:

Z - Why are you doing this?

A.1. - Well, it seemed obvious to me that once we had the new scanner and the ability to blog the result would be an online selection from the 25 year archive! I was surprised that nobody had thought of doing it before really. Also the archive is gathering dust and cobwebs in a damp coal shed at the back of the house and I decided that I must rescue it and put it all in sealed plastic boxes before it got eaten by mice! So while i sort through the archive and check it all I find little gems that I put to one side for scanning. It's quite a thrill to re-discover some of these wonderful envelopes, postcards and objects again after many years.

Z - Could you tell us a little about the mail art movement (in terms of history and ideology).

A.1. - Everyone has their own view point on the mailart network, so as I see it Ray Johnson was generally considered the founder of the thing we know as mailart today (some people would quibble about this and the name used to describe it) when he founded the New York Correspondance (sic) School of Art which grew from his circle of friends to an ever wider circle until it was a global thing (this was in the early tomid sixties). Other people came along to shape it into the network we know today adding their own ideologies and rules and non-rules etc. but generally mail art is democratic artform that is outside the commercial gallery system and no money is involved, the work is exchanged between artists or practitioners who organise their own projects and exhibitions through the postal system.

Z - I've heard that you possess one of the biggest rubber stamps in the world. Has this item been used in your art?

A.1. - I have printed with it and it has been the subject of artworks like a hand carved rubber stamp of me holding it and postcards of it being used etc. but it's rather cumbersome to use on a daily basis and takes a while to ink up being 18 inches high and weighing over 6 kilos!

Z - Is there something inside of these fancy envelopes?

A.1. - Ofcourse. All the fancy envelopes contain letters or prints of photo-copies or magazines or casettes etc. Anything that can be sent through the mail infact!

And now there is another blog managed by Michael: Obscure.
http://a1mailart.blogspot.com/

/Z