Let's Make Correspondence Art

Also known as mail art, also known as corresponDANCE art.

Mail Art: Creative ways to say what you want to say.

A few weeks ago, I led a class called “Let’s Make Mail Art.” In the days leading up to the class, someone asked me if we would be writing letters during the class. They were concerned because writing long letters by hand was physically painful for them. I realized that people had various reservations around what they thought mail art was, and that I hadn’t done a great job explaining what it was. What I know for sure is that art isn’t writing. Writing can be an art form, but art isn’t writing. Writing is finding the right combination and order of words to say what you want to say, while art is finding creative ways of saying what you want to say. Or saying what you don’t yet know that you want to say. Or saying nothing at all.

There are so many things I love about mail art, and most of them have nothing to do with the “mail” aspect. I love that:

1. Mail art is an accessible entry point into conceptual art, which is essentially the practice of finding the effective and creative ways to communicate concepts.

2. Mail art is part of the Fluxus art movement, which emphasizes creative process over finished product. The mail art movement was started and popularized by artist Ray Johnson in the 60’s. Looking at his work, it is clear to me why he is such an important figure in the art world. I can see his influence rippling through the playful work of contemporary artists such as David Shrigley, Tucker Nichols, Nathaniel Russell, and Sky Fusco.

3. Johnson was influenced by Zen Buddhism and chance in his process, and even leaned into absurdist events and happenings, hosting meetings for the New York Correspondance [sic] School that weren’t really hosted at all and had no obvious structure or goal.

4. In a correspondence, you are typically saying something. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you know what you want to say or why you want to say it. Surrealist techniques like collage and exquisite-corpse-esque back and forth allow for ambiguity and exploration of the subconscious.

5. Johnson changed the “dence” of correspondence to “dance” to signify the playfulness at the center of the movement. What I love most about mail art, which is also true of the other art forms of Fluxus (like event scores!), is that it is centered around playfulness, participation, and exchange between individuals.

How to make correspondence art:

1. Start with a few fundamental supplies: paper, collage elements, images, tape, glue, and writing utensils. Additional supplies like bits of nature, fabric, needle and thread, and typewriters are also great to play with but not totally necessary.

2. You could set an intention of what you want to communicate with your card OR you could embrace a more surrealist process, just start making, and see what comes of it. When making anything, it helps to treat the making as a warmup to release pressure. At some point you’ll forget you were warming up, and all of a sudden a thing has been made.

3. The beauty of Fluxus art lies in its participatory nature. Send or hand your card to someone else, bring the postal service into the process, or collaborate back and forth.

Amanda blew everyone away with a card she’d be sending to her friend in Morocco, whom she was about to go visit. The card says “WHO WILL ARRIVE FIRST,” referencing herself and the piece of mail art en route to Morocco, and features an interactive element that allows the recipient to slide the elements back and forth.

Radhika made this beautiful replica of her former New York City apartment with little collaged illustrations of people doing various things in the windows. We workshopped how she’d keep the 3D form of the card in tact if she sent it in the mail to her friends who still live in the building.

Rowena used a bunch of different techniques and materials to make this beautiful card- found images, paint, recycled objects, sequins, etc. The finished card was delightful. Rowena and her friend Susie have a years long correspondence art project going, where they pass artwork back and forth on a regular basis.

And below are various correspondence art samples by myself, friends, family, and artists. Green letter is from

Hope C Lundblad

, “You’re Fired” card is by Tucker Nichols, red card with stickers is by my mom, and ALLIE! card is by artist Ava Selbach.

I’m curious, do you have a correspondence art practice? Do you have a pen pal? Have you made any mail art lately (share pics please!)?