OM.2024.005 and OM.2024.006 - Jonathan Stangroom
correspondence art
I had mentioned to Jonathan in a mail art correspondence that I was going to be in Brooklyn and if he wanted to get together. The above is a response to the question from me. I was so happy to get this really great piece of mail art from him.
Jonathan did end up being in New York to see the Howard Hodgkin Show and was staying with the Other Jonathan who lives in Brooklyn. Les and I had dinner and drinks with the Two Jonathans. In conversation they were telling us the story that they each refer to each other as the Other Jonathan. I mentioned to Jonathan that I really loved the above Xerox that he sent me and asked how he did it and if it was a digital print of a real Xerox and he told me that it was the original Xerox from the 1970’s that he had made by putting his actual typewriter on the printer bed of the copy machine. Very cool. I used to do that kind of stuff back in college in the 70’s. I probably still have an envelope of some of that stuff somewhere around here unless it got lost or thrown out. I haven’t seen that stuff for a while.
I am not sure how long Jonathan and I have been sending stuff back and forth to each other or when we first met. Jonathan lives in Boston and we first met in New York years ago at some Fluxus event. Jonathan and I would have to sit down and triangulate that history.
This is a typical postcard I occasionally get from Jonathan by mail. As I understand it (and Jonathan correct me if I am wrong) when Jonathan goes out for walks he picks up any coins he finds on the street and that same day makes a rubbing of the coins found onto a postcard. It looks like this is postcard number #3866 and that he has found a total of $21.71 during this Fluxus project. But at one penny a card that would be at least $38.66 so maybe I am wrong in my theory. Or maybe that is how many postcards he has made all together and only some of them have coin rubbings on them? I don’t know, but I am thinking he keeps all of these coins in a series of jars or something possibly for some future exhibit? I don’t know that, I am just making it up. I’ll have to investigate this mystery! But that does seem like an ongoing Fluxus performance.
If this were a Fluxus score it might be:
Go for a walk
pick up any coins found along the way
make a rubbing of found coins onto a postcard
Record date
record each postcard with an inventory number
Keep a running record of the total amount found
Send postcards to other mail artists.
See what else has been registered into the Archives this year here: