postcard to Ruud Janssen

Hello again Franziska. Good to hear from you. Thank you for your good wishes. Same good wishes to you. If you are concentrating on GDR Mail Art, you need to find Dr. Klaus Groh, who is/was a German Mail Artist, who also did some Doctoral work on Mail Art. Michael Lumb I know very well; he completed a MPhil on Mail Art in, I think, 1997. His whole thesis is on-line at Ruud Janssen's site. Ruud is your best starting point. Try putting his name into Google; he calls himself TAM, also. He is still active, I think; and his site has lots and lots of information on it. He will be able to tell you lots of stuff about Mail Art. Try to obtain my PhD from British Library. There's a lot about East Germany; lots of names and addresses, but these may be out-of-date. You just have to try them! The following is all from memory, as I do not have a copy of my PhD to-hand. See how you get on with these leads... Ruud Janssen / TAM (based Netherlands) - good general source/Michael Lumb (based England) - thesis 'Mail Art as Social Sculpture', on Janssen's site/John Held Jr (based America) - Mail Artist, dubbed 'librarian of Mail Art', lots of work in 1970-1980s on cataloguing Mail Art Shows/Guy Bleus (based Belgium)/H.R. Fricker (based Switzerland)/Gunther Ruch (based Switzerland)/David Dellafiora (English, based Australia)///Old West Germany: Klaus Groh (some kind of PhD on Mail Art in 1970s)/Henning Mittendorf (prolific writer on Mail Art)/Karl-Friedrich Hacker/Peter Kustermann/Geza Perneczky (wrote book about Mail Art)/Rea Nikonova (Russian Mail Artist, based Germany). Start with Ruud Janssen is my advice. Keep in touch, and good luck!Best wishes, Anthony----- Original Message ----- From: "Franziska Block" <*@yahoo.de>To: "Anthony Donovan" <a.donovan7@ntlworld.com>Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 1:22 AMSubject: RE: Mail Art PhD> Hello Dr. Anthony Donovan,>> I am happy to have your mail so soon. I hope I can get> a copy of your book, I think it can provide me with> many informations.>> I found the information that you wrote your PhD about> Mail Art on your comment to mail art on wikipedia and> the adress of your blog and there I found your e-mail> adress.> I am searching about mail art for maybe 3 years now,> but until now I was most busy with the mail art in the> GDR from the beginning to the 1989 revolution. My> theme is: Mail Art in the GDR in the 1970s and 1980s> - comunicative, art-related and system-critical praxis> of a internedial and international subculturel genres.> ( well... I am at my friends house and cant find a> dictionary here... its just about)>> In the moment I am searching for the adresses of the> mail artists in the GDR, taking interwievs with them,> sending letters, collecting material etc. I am in> contact with many east german mail artists.>> Do you know Michael Lumb? I found some 100 pages of> him in the net about mail art, but know nothing> about him.>> Actually I thing I should start networking, I did only> 2 or 3 things under my own name. But just a few weeks> ago. Have you been first active in mail art, before> you dedided to write about it or the other way around?> I think I would like to do a project. I dont feel so> much like an artist.>> I am doing german literature at the Universität Siegen> in Germany, and my tutor wrote about germasn lyrik,> dada and other things.> I also plan to include a chapter about mail art> history in my PhD and i am very courious about what> you found out.> I alreasdy finished a 130-pages work (in 2002> too)about mail Art in the GDR 1 1/5 years ago.>> I send you many good wishes from Germany, hope to hear> of you too.>>> your Franziska Block>> PS: What are you working about now? Or what are you> doing now?>>>> -->>>>>>> ___________________________________________________________> Telefonate ohne weitere Kosten vom PC zum PC: http://messenger.yahoo.de>>> -- > No virus found in this incoming message.> Checked by AVG Free Edition.> Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.16/225 - Release Date: > 09/01/2006