Monday, September 9, 2013

Expedite



A new EXPEDITE artistamp has been issued by Cascadia Artpost. The original design is a pen-and-ink drawing in a 6 3/16-inch (15.7 mm) square format reduced to fit a 1-inch by 1-inch perforation. Curved lines set against a universe of blue circles symbolize communication in the Eternal Network.


Ex Postal Facto - February 2014


The Ex Postal Facto Conference is coming to San Francisco, U.S.A. in February 2014! See the details below:


 

Friday, July 19, 2013

MAIL ART CALL !


 
MAIL ART CALL :
KEEP THE POST OFFICE PUBLIC !

Cascadia Artpost invites a correspondance (to borrow a Ray Johnson term) in the form of artistamps, postcards, or other mail art with the theme "Keep the Post Office Public." The theme relates to current attempts in the U.S. to downsize the postal workforce, discontinue Saturday delivery of mail to residences, close post offices, close distribution centers, and add at least one more day to the delivery time for domestic mail.

Cascadia Artpost will publish printed documentation in the form of a brochure with distribution to all contributors. Send your work by September 30, 2013 to:
 

POSTAL CALL

Cascadia Artpost

4609 Briggs Drive SE, #304

Olympia, WA 98501-5515 U.S.A.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

dada



During a trip to Scotland and the United Kingdom in September 2012, one evening we were walking down a street in the Borders city of Carlisle in search of an Italian restaurant that we had spotted earlier that day. Imagine our surprise to happen upon a nearby business (a hair salon as it turned out) identified by its prominent sign, "dada." The photo we took becomes the subject of an artistamp created by Cascadia Artpost. In the world of mail art, "dada" has one meaning, but if you find yourself one day in the city of Carlisle and need your hair cut, here is an alternative.

Music Bar


A revised MP3 music bar has been added to this blog for your listening pleasure. You can find it across the top of the blog page.

The initial selections include "Across the Divide" and "Ballad for Trayvon Martin," jazz compositions by Anthony Branker and the group "Word Play" (Ralph Bowen on tenor saxophone, Andy Hunter on trombone, Eli Asher on trumpel and flugelhorn, Jim Ridl on piano, Kenny Davis on bass, and Donald Edwards on drums) from the CD Uppity (Origin Records, recorded in Brooklyn, New York, USA in June 2012). Also on the list: "Notas" and "Queremos Paz" from the Argentine/French group Gotan Project, and "One More Mile" by Cascadian saxophonist Brent Jensen.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Sixty Six Memories

A sheet of sixty-six artistamps titled "Sixty Six Memories" recalls memories from a month-long trip to Latvia, Ireland, and Denmark in June-July 2005. Selected original photos from the journey comprise the small-format sheet, designed to be separated into four minisheets for use on postcards mailed in connection with the release of the stamps. The sheet and postcards became a submittal to Eberhard Janke's 2013 mail-art call Ray of Light.

Provided below is a key to the subject of each artistamp, reading from top left across eleven stamps in six rows:

1. Section of wall in the Christiania district, Copenhagen, Denmark

2. "Mind the Clouds" political graffiti on metal container, Christiania district, Copenhagen, Denmark

3. Looking toward the Burren region of County Clare from waterfront beach, Galway, Ireland

4. Sign over the entrance to a store, Riga, Latvia

5. Garden view through wall, Skjoldenaesholm estate, near Jystrup, Denmark

6. The man on the street, Old Town, Riga, Latvia

7. Map of rapid transit plan for Copenhagen, Danish Tram Museum (Sporvejsmuseet Skjoldenaesholm), near Jystrup, Denmark

8. Detail, display at Danish Tram Museum (Sporvejsmuseet Skjoldenaesholm), near Jystrup, Denmark

9. Seaweed-covered coastal rocks on beach east of Giant's Causeway National Park, Northern Ireland

10. Narrow-gauge track, Giant's Causeway & Bushmills tourist railway, Northern Ireland

11. Traffic signs at road end, Christiania waterfront, Copenhagen, Denmark

12. Gates to city tram depot, Liepaja, Latvia

13. Bark of tree trunk observed during a walk in Liepaja, Latvia

14. Wall graffiti in Old Town, Riga, Latvia

15. Stormy sky over Skjoldenaesholm estate, near Jystrup, Denmark

16. Friendly cow in pasture along Coast Trail east of Giant's Causeway National Park, Northern Ireland

17. Hillside flowers, Coast Trail east of Giant's Causeway National Park, Northern Ireland

18. Red-haired lass and drummer on pedestrian street in town center, Galway, Ireland

19. A friend (Elizabeth) wandering the corn maze at Skjoldenaesholm estate, near Jystrup, Denmark

20. Paving stones near the Royal Palace, Copenhagen, Denmark

21. Exterior decoration over doorway, Riga, Latvia

22. "Stop Bush!" posters near the Arbejermuseet, Copenhagen, Denmark

23. Friends Elizabeth and Ted in the dungeon,  Skjoldenaesholm estate, near Jystrup, Denmark

24. Mural along canal, Copenhagen, Denmark

25. Bus stop art, Riga, Latvia

26. Rollercoaster at Tivoli Garden, Copenhagen, Denmark

27. Colorful cottage and shed along alley, Kenmare, Ireland

28. Trail markers, Coast Trail east of Giant's Causeway National Park, Northern Ireland

29. Abandoned apartment block at the former Soviet naval station of Karosta, north of Liepaja, Latvia

30. Boats in harbor, Portrush, Northern Ireland

31. Abandoned building, former Soviet naval station of Karosta, north of Liepaja, Latvia

32. Post box at the Zasulauka train station, neighborhood west of the Daugava River, Riga, Latvia

33. Detail of windmills from miniature village outside the municipal museum, Copenhagen, Denmark

34. Behind a recreation vehicle on a narrow highway on the way to Kenmare, Ireland

35. Street sign on dwelling along Rozu Iela, Liepaja, Latvia

36. Thistles along country walk outside Galway, Ireland

37. Wedding couple posing on a Saturday afternoon, beach east of Portrush, Northern Ireland

38. Flower box at apartment building window, Liepaja, Latvia

39. Stile crossing along Coast Trail east of Giant's Causeway National Park, Northern Ireland

40. Warning sign about rockfalls and bus traffic, Giant's Causeway National Park, Northern Ireland

41. Orange cottage door, Galway, Ireland

42. Sheep seeking shade next to rental car, parking area near Mamean gate, Maumturk Mountains, Connemerra, County Galway, Ireland

43. "Khrushchev apartment" block, Liepaja, Latvia

44. Poster detail next to bicycle parking at train station, Jystrup, Denmark

45. Volcanic stone formation, Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland

46. Waterfall reflection along canal, Galway, Ireland

47. Afternoon street crowd in town center, Galway, Ireland

48. Exterior building ornamentation detail of screaming face, Riga, Latvia

49. Abandoned cottage, southern coast west of Kenmare, Ireland

50. Nasturtium flower garden along wall, Ennis, Ireland

51. Transit street supervisor on a busy Saturday at the bus stop outside Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

52. Rural mountain pass highway, Dingle Peninsula, Ireland

53. Tower of the Riga Cathedral built in 1211, Riga, Latvia

54. Flags on apartment window sill near the Royal Palace, Co
 
penhagen, Denmark

55. Stormy sky above Humlebaek railway station, northern Zealand, Denmark

56. Residential structure ruin, Riga, Latvia

57. Beach path to the Baltic Sea, Liepaja, Latvia

58. Couple lying in the sun next to canal, Galway, Ireland

59. Trail gate, Mamean ("The Pass of the Birds"), Maumturk Mountains, Connemerra, County Galway, Ireland

60. Sand dollar on beach near Dunseverick Harbour, Coast Trail east of Giant's Causeway National Park, Northern Ireland

61. Overhead rail catenary and electrical insulators outside Humlebaek railway station, northern Zealand, Denmark

62. Friend Ted allocating strawberry pastries at sidewalk bakery, Roskilde, Denmark

63. Flower display near railway station, Roskilde, Denmark

64. Ornamentation detail above doorway, Riga, Latvia

65. Post office, Kenmare, Ireland

66. Solstice sunset at 11:00 p.m. from Akmens Tilts (bridge) over the Daugava River, Riga, Latvia





 

A New Logo for Cascadia Artpost

Cascadia Artpost has introduced a new logo for use where typography of full lettering would be too distracting or intrusive to the artistamp design. The logo consists of the letter "C" surrounded by a half-size "A" and "P" in the font Chantal.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Mayworks Exhibition: The Artist at Work / Self Portrait


The Mayworks 2013 Mail Art Exhibition curated by Ed Varney (May 1-26, 2013 at the Nanaimo Art Gallery in Nanaimo, Canada) invited mail artists to submit a postcard on the theme "The Artist At Work / Self Portrait." Cascadia Artpost has created an artistamp to accompany its submittal to the exhibition. The photo used for the stamp shows the artist at a hotel desk in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, preparing a mailing to correspondents while on European vacation in September 2012.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Spring 2013



Cascadia Artpost heralds the coming of spring in the Northern Hemisphere with an artistamp illustrating the flowering plant Dianthus chinensis, commonly known as "China Pink." Dianthus chinensis is a flowering herbaceous perennial native to China, Korea, Mongolia, and southeastern Russia. Attractive bicolored white, pink, and red flowers that are 3-4 cm. in diameter bloom primarily from April to June, but blooming can be extended through the summer into the fall by regular pruning of wilted flowers. Favoring dry to medium soil, the plant grows in a clump between 15 and 30 cm. in diameter and attracts hummingbirds.


The Yes Men

 

The Yes Men are jammers of corporate culture. Cultural jamming is a set of tactics used to expose assumptions behind commercial and political culture, and can take the form of refigured logos, fake websites, and image manipulation to make ironic or satirical statements. The object is to disrupt unconscious thought processes and promote alternatives to global corporate capitalism.

Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos, working under the aliases of Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno respectively,  have created a network of supporters to impersonate entities they dislike, a practice they call "identity correction." By catching these powerful entities off-guard, the Yes Men and their supporters expose corporations and organizations to public scrutiny with the intent of showing how they work and figuring out how to control them. The Yes Men strategize what would cause their target to lose control and act stupidly, capitalize on their target's reaction, and write news releases.

The Yes Men have produced two documentary films about their exploits. The Yes Men (2003) records their invitation to speak at a conference in Austria sponsored by the World Trade Organization. In The Yes Men Save The World (2009), they target neoliberal think tanks, the creators of Captain Euro, climate-threatening corporations, and Dow Chemical for the environmental and human disaster it caused in Bhopal, India. Currently The Yes Men are working on a new film project.


Cascadia Artpost has saluted The Yes Men with a set of five artistamps and a popup brochure. The designs of the artistamps modify scenes from publicity photos. Modifications included scanning the photos through thin tissue paper, colorizing selected portions of the scenes and adding facial details (Cascadia Artpost's own identity correction!), rescanning, and editing in Photoshop Elements.

For the latest activities of The Yes Men, see their website: http://theyesmen.org/