Author Archives: Gerald Jatzek

Political Art

Words against system’s headaches/ Words for new utopia is the title of an exhibition in Namur. The show was curated by Laurent Wilmet and Anne Gilis for the the Belgian educational movement CEPAG. They state: “Indeed, words are not innocent. Words are not neutral, they are socially situated and criticism of their use, of theirContinue reading “Political Art”

Skurrile Geschichten

Die AG Offene Literatur gibt es seit 1996, und in der Zeit hat sie sich als zentrale literarische Vereinigung in Westösterreich etabliert. Im Gegensatz zum andernorts gepflegten Geniekult hat sie sich von Anfang an als Produktionsgemeinschaft verstanden. In einem Grundsatzpapier von 2021 heißt es: “Im Fokus unserer Publikationen stehen: Solidarität und Offenheit.” Zu den ProjektenContinue reading “Skurrile Geschichten”

Death of a Factory

Raphael Nadolny sent a triptych of photos of the old vodka factory Koneser which means connoisseur in English in the Warsaw district of Old Praga.  The industrial complex was built around 1900 and at times employed more than 400 people. After World War II the premises were acquired by the Warsaw Spirits Industry Polmos which hadContinue reading “Death of a Factory”

By Chance

Melanie Reed from Seattle loves to produce hand-crafted media that reveals the three-dimensional process of its creation. Her excellent paper collages Meeting of Minds and Ship of State II reached me, while I was reading a book about Max Ernst who developed the three-dimensonal techniques grattage (scraping the surface layers of paint) and frottage (incorporating the structuresContinue reading “By Chance”

From Ukraine to Russia

The Arnolfini Archívum’s challenge no. 58 for Mini[e]MailArt is “packages”. And although this motto leaves ample possibilities for artistic interpretations, I felt that the Russian assault on the Ukraine could not be ignored. This is why: Russia’s supreme Leader Vladimir Putin calls the war on Ukraine a “special military operation”. Thus, he continues the traditionContinue reading “From Ukraine to Russia”

Mit Leidenschaft

Den Thomas Nemec kenne ich seit, also das ist gar nicht mehr wahr, wie man in Wien sagt. Getroffen haben wir uns in einem wunderbaren, unterirdischen Etablissement namens Club Hoffnungslos. Das war ein selbstverwaltetes Refugium in der damaligen Ödnis Floridsdorfs, das auch Leute aus der Umgebung anzog, weil in der Brigittenau und der Donaustadt damalsContinue reading “Mit Leidenschaft”

Dadaistic Card

The postcard from the French mail artist Zack leaves much space fore interpretations. E.g., the text on the right side says in Italian and French: 20h combattimento. La théorie du cygne noir. In English: 20:00 fighting. The theory of the black swan. Other crumbs of text refer to a young conductor and to the storyContinue reading “Dadaistic Card”

Quotes for Art Lovers, Part 1

What is Mail Art? (2) “Mail art, also known as Postal art and Correspondence art, is an oddball in marketing terms. The whole movement values creating art, but in a sense it insists on not being taken particularly seriously by the established art world.”Xamou Art “La carte postale d’artiste est une œuvre indépendante, elle n’estContinue reading “Quotes for Art Lovers, Part 1”

Yesterday’s News

Sometimes yesterday’s news can be quite exciting. While searching for children’s songs I stumbled over the recordings of an excellent choir from Germany. I checked their playlist – and found one of my poems that has been set to music by the composer Claudia Nicolai. Of course, I knew the song. But I had neverContinue reading “Yesterday’s News”

A little History

What is Mail Art? (1) So you want to learn about the history of mail art. Here are two great places to start: Angie Kordic’s story How Did Mail Art Develop into a Global Art Movement? (Widewalls) regards the mail art movement “as the anticipator of the cyber communities founded on the Internet today becauseContinue reading “A little History”

Fascinating Coproduction

Sharon Silverman is an artist and an art instructor. She regularly combines forces with other visual artists to produce books that show art in conversation. In these volumes she responds to works of other artists, an approach that gives the reader / viewer the opportunity to understand her analysis of the works in a direct,Continue reading “Fascinating Coproduction”