Mail Art
About
Primarily associated with the work of Ray Johnson—though it probably originated with the larger Fluxus or Nouveau Réalism movements—Mail Art uses mailing and shipment services as channels through which to distribute art, as well as to explore systems of circulation more broadly. Johnson mailed works of art to his collaborative network, known as the New York Correspondence School. More recently, Walead Beshty has investigated the way global shipping conglomerations affect an artwork’s context with his series of glass boxes shipped via FedEx®. Beshty considers the company logo and the wear and tear accrued during transport to be part of the work.
