❧ the Night Visit, Postcards from the Edge, Limited Edition Print and Postcard Series, Naccarato, 2024

Postcards from the Edge

by naccaratoin Limited Edition Prints, Postcards from the Edgeon Posted on

Postcards from the Edge

The premise behind Postcards from the Edge is to revisit the lost art of postcards. Postcards played an important and controversial role throughout history, with the first known postcard – a hand painted card by the writer Theodore Hook in 1840. It is thought that Hook’s intent in mailing the card to himself, was to act as a practical joke on the postal service – featuring a caricature of post office workers – which would be viewed by workers and officials as the card made its way through the system.

In 1943, the American artist Ray Johnson began experimenting with the idea of postal art, sending postcards, objects, sketches, collages – any form of correspondence the postal service was willing to deliver. In turn, his recipients would forward their own creations to Johnson and to other fellow artists creating a social network, and by so doing, bypass the traditional gallery. The postal service thus became the medium of choice for the distribution and exposure of their artwork. This came to be known as Ray Johnson’s New York Correspondence School. By the early 60’s, the art movement Fluxus further popularized the idea of mail art or postal art as it had come to be known.

In a 1968 interview, Johnson explained that he found mailed correspondence interesting because of the limits it puts on the usual back and forth interaction and negotiation that comprises communication between individuals. Correspondence is “a way to convey a message or a kind of idea to someone which is not verbal; it is not a confrontation of two people. It’s an object which is opened in privacy, probably, and the message is looked at … You look at the object and, depending on your degree of interest, it very directly gets across to you what is there”. (wikipedia)

Postcards from the Edge continues this postal art tradition with the intent of exploring how art can act as a tool in critiquing the social and cultural dissemination of information in an increasingly digital and virtual driven age governed by social media and AI.

Furthermore, the digital rendering of the postcards is contrasted by the analogue elements of a physical piece of art being processed and moving through physical space with the postal service as its medium. This approach negates certain aspects of privacy – exposing its content and intent freely to multiple viewers in the process. The process also acts as an informal art exhibit, not limited by exclusivity and class as is sometimes associated with established art galleries.

❧ Birds. and other Short Stories, Postcards from the Edge, Limited Edition Print and Postcard Series, Naccarato, 2024
❧ Birds. and other Short Stories, Postcards from the Edge, Limited Edition Print Series, Naccarato, 2024
❧ Birds. and other Short Stories, Postcards from the Edge, Limited Edition Print Series, Naccarato, 2024
❧ Birds. and other Short Stories (Front and Back), Postcards from the Edge, Limited Edition Print Series, Naccarato, 2024

100 postcards of each unique image (25 in total for Series A) has been printed – each numbered and signed by the artist on the back. Each card is printed on premium paper (380gsm), coated with a silk finish and measure 5 x 7 inches.

You can support this project and receive your own limited edition postcard by contributing 8 (eight) euros. This covers the cost of printing, support, and mailing costs. Cards are mailed by the artist from his present location which varies between Canada and Europe.

An online map also features where each of the Postcards from the Edge were sold and/or sent to.

For further details on selecting the postcard you’d like to receive CLICK HERE

25 images from the Postcards from the Edge are shown below…

Further details on selecting the postcard you’d like to receive CLICK HERE

naccarato

John Naccarato is an Interdisciplinary Visual Media Artist, based out of Montreal, QC and Catania, Sicily, who creates conceptually driven visceral works incorporating varied media, such as performance, digital print, media art, and site-specific installations. He uses daily life as subject matter to create a critical commentary of technology’s intervention on social, cultural and personal identity.

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