Difficult (or impossible?) to Define Mail Art.

Mail Art, much like art itself, resists precise or rigid definitions. Yet, some background can certainly help you better understand what you’re stepping into. 

Mail Art traces its origins to 1963, though that year marked the birth of the New York Correspondance School of Art. It wasn’t until 1971 that Marc Poinsot coined the term “Mail Art,” giving the movement its international and “official” name. The practice flourished during the 1970s and 1980s. Today, the international Mail Art community recognizes Ray Johnson as the founding father of this artistic practice. Over time, the transition from NYCS to Mail Art has become seamless, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. Still, it’s important to know that one grew out of the other.

Mail Art is a genuine artistic phenomenon. It’s not entirely accurate to call it a movement—although in some ways, it closely resembles one. The term “movement” usually refers to a defined period in art history, often involving a specific group of artists united by common themes, techniques, or geographic locations. Movements have clear beginnings and endings. Mail Art, on the other hand, is much more fluid—its roots lie in the Fluxus spirit. Artists may participate for a while, then step away. Its themes are diverse and often unconstrained, and contributors come from all over the world. The timeline is long and ever-evolving, and over the years, it has given rise to various subgroups, styles, and networks that continually reshape themselves.

Mail Art involves an ever-growing number of participants. As its protagonists change, so do its themes, forms, and even its artistic premises.

This practice is often referred to as the Eternal Network—an ongoing global web of correspondents that transcends geographical borders, expanding into a kind of higher, imagined space. It's called “eternal” because it (hopefully) will never stop growing. In response to increasing difficulties with physical mail, digital branches of the practice—like e-Mail Art—are already taking hold. In this regard, Mail Art shares something with the 15th-century Republic of Letters: an imagined republic overseeing the world of culture, allowing the circulation of ideas and creative exchange. These exchanges may emerge publicly or remain more private and intimate.

When we talk about Mail Art, it’s important to understand the Italian translation arte postale (postal art), rather than arte spedita (sent art), which is not always clearly distinguished in other languages. This subtlety matters: Mail Art isn’t just about sending something artistic. It’s about a fusion between the postal system and the artistic process—creating something entirely new and hybrid. Mail Art lives in a twilight zone between art and mail, building a deep relationship with both. It creatively navigates the boundaries of postal regulations and engages everyone in its process: senders, recipients, postal workers, even mail carriers.

Its primary “materials” include envelopes and postcards—but really, anything that can be sent through the post and has artistic value can become Mail Art. Since the 1960s, countless artist’s postcards have been produced. Many artists not directly involved in Mail Art have also explored the postal world in their conceptual, Pop, or Arte Povera practices. However, not all artists who use postal media are mailartists. And not all mailartists define themselves as artists at all—an idea that connects to Dadaist roots. What defines a mailartist is often their participation in shared projects and their willingness to collaborate. In many ways, the Mail Art system thrives on collective contribution.

Above all else, the mailartist is a human being. Sender and receiver constantly switch roles, revealing a “new” way of making art—not through passive viewing, but through active (postal) exchange. In museums, we often passively observe completed artworks. We look, reflect, and maybe study them further, but they remain unchanged. Mail Art, by contrast, is communicative and dialogic. Works travel, move forward and back, evolve through contact and arrival. They generate new ideas, new dimensions—suggestions and influences are part of the everyday process.

Because of this, the line between the public and private aspects of Mail Art is not clearly defined. It often begins in private as a personal reflection, but once sent, it becomes a collective asset—shared through exhibitions, catalogs, books, or any means that make it publicly accessible. And yet, it often remains hidden. If you’re not looking for it, you might never stumble upon it.

But if you’ve read this far, now you know something—and you can help spread the word. You can help more people discover and practice it.

This is my dream in the mailbox: to historicize this powerful communicative art form—with your help.