The earth and the mail art network were born on the back of a turtle

I think it a good idea to consider the title to be true.

Front side of an envelope, created to send to Ryosuke Cohen for his Brain Cell project.



Back side of the envelope, which is the address side:



And the inside:



Wishing the turtles a safe journey.

About Chess, Stork and Orion soup

Two people to whom I can send black-and-white mail art are Ryosuke Cohen, for he is turning it into a colourful Brain Cell form, and Alex Witter, who has a mail art project on the theme 'Black and White'.

As I love chess, and horses, I chose to draw them these two chess sceneries.


For Alex, I added a stork on the back side, because the stork ('ooievaar' in Dutch) is the symbol of his city.



To the envelope for Ryosuke, suddenly Orion Soup appeared.



Wishing both pieces a safe and speedy travel!

P.S. There is a third person for whom we should create black-and-white mail art: also Ti Ar Raden has a mail art project on the theme.

P.S. 2. Real chess lovers will have spotted the error in the compilation made on top: nine squares in a row instead of eight! :-)

Thumbs up

After the rain there's an after the rain.



Sent to Ryosuke Cohen in Japan.

Yes! to the Yes Men (and please stop TTIP*)

I am happy to receive and share this Brain Cell form, which Ryosuke Cohen sent to me.
In case you don't know this project: in June 1985 Ryosuke Cohen started this networked art project, to which individual artists from all over the world contribute stamps, stickers, drawings etcetera. These contributions are sent through the mail to him. He assembles and prints them using a small silkscreen system, the so-called Cyclostyle. He prints 150 copies (30 x 42 cm) and each participant is mailed a Brain Cell print along with a documentation list of contributors world wide. And this process is repeated every 8 to 10 days.
So the print you see above is Brain Cell number 924 already!

See for more information wikipedia and the IUOMA 'Brain Cell Compilation' group.

On this Brain Cell no 924, center right, you can find my contribution, a tribute to the Yes Men. Here's the (scanned) original one:



Made out of enthusiasm after seeing a documentary on this duo and movement. I admire their non-violent, intriguing, sometimes even funny way to make the earth a better place instead of the polluted, overconsuming, injust, unfair and even more threatened place our world is nowadays...
See for more info on the Yes Men wikipedia and their website.

* Meanwhile big industry is keeping on threatening our vulnerable world in order to fill their own pockets. By for instance the TTIP and CETA: sinister trade deals. 'Helped' by the also obscure ISDS we will sell our democracy, and loose our earth, to investors who have no other purpose than profit. 'Europe' and 'the USA' will soon sign a trade agreement which makes me very much worried about all fore-mentioned threats to our world.
Please help the political leaders' conscience, help them to make a healthy and wise decision instead of sell their souls and our world for unfair and dangerous commercial purposes. You can do so by getting informed, sign petitions and spread the word. Please take a look at the Stop TTIP site (and many would be grateful if you sign the petition, thank you!).

Barcode Bird

Slechtvalk oftewel Falcus Peregrinus. Of Streepjescodevogel?
Verzonden naar Ryosuke Cohen voor het Brain Cell project.

Falcus Peregrinus, or 'barcode bird' this time.
Sent to Ryosuke Cohen for his Brain Cell project.

More Birds

.. Sent to add to the Brain Cell project of Ryosuke Cohen in Japan.

Behold mankind

'Aanschouw de economische mens'.
Stempelontwerp, voor Ryosuke Cohen.

'Behold the man for whom only the economy matters'.
Stamp design, sent to Ryosuke Cohen.

Thinking of Air Mail Traffic

Verzonden naar / sent to Ryosuke Cohen, Japan.

Everyone is - YOU are! - an Artist

Ontvangen - denk ik! - uit Iowa City, USA.
Ben het helemaal eens met Picasso's visie: "Ieder kind is een kunstenaar. 't Probleem is er één te blijven als je groot wordt."
Ik hoop dat 't ieder van jullie, beste blogbezoekers, is gelukt dit probleem te overwinnen!

Received - I think - from Sandusky Drive, Iowa City.
I agree with Picasso's words: "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."
I hope that all of you, dear blog visitors, will have succeeded in deleting this problem!

Thank you, Moan Lisa and/or Superhero!

Received from Ryosuke Cohen: Brain Cell ~799

Weer een lichtbruine envelop uit Japan in de brievenbus ontvangen. Brain Cell 799! Hartelijk dank, Ryosuke Cohen!
Op onderstaande lijst weer de post-kunstenaars die aan Brain Cell 799 hebben bijgedragen. Een mooie puzzel, om te kijken wie wat heeft ingezonden. (Mijn stempel-ontwerp is voor de kenners niet moeilijk te vinden!)

Again a lightbrown envelope in my mailbox made my day. Brain Cell 799! Arigato, thank you very much, Ryosuke Cohen!
On the list below the mail artists who have contributed to Brain Cell 799. It's a nice puzzle, to find out who made which work of art. (To find mine won't be difficult for the ones who know me!)

Received from Ryosuke Cohen: Brain Cell ~794

En hier is-tie dan compleet, Brain Cell 794!
Here you can see the complete Brain Cell 794!

Arigato, mr. Ryosuke Cohen!

Received from Ryosuke Cohen: Brain Cell ~784

It's an honour to receive mail from Ryosuke Cohen.
There's always a lot to see, enjoy, and much food for thought on his Brain Cell Forms.

Above you see Brain Cell form 784, made January 10th, received by a happy receiver today. My contribution is the Milton Nascimento faux postage stamp.
Below Ryosuke Cohen's Bulletin Board.
The names of the contributing mail artists you can find in the message of Febr.25 on the IUOMA network site.



Arigato, thank you very much Ryosuke! And thanks - grazie - merci - danke schön - dank - thank you - gracias - obrigado - kiitos - dzięki - dziakuju - sonas ort - arigato all contributing mail artists!

Received from Ryosuke Cohen: Brain Cell ~777

Een van de vele mooie dingen die Mail Art brengt, is de verbinding, tussen creatieve mensen van waar ook ter wereld.
Een van de grootste 'verbinders' is in mijn ogen wel Ryosuke Cohen uit Japan.
Zijn project Brain Cell startte zo'n 25 jaar geleden. Op deze website kun je er meer over lezen, ook over hoe het in z'n werk gaat.

In juli overviel hij mij met Brain Cell nr 761.
Vandaag was ik tot mijn grote verrassing de gelukkige ontvanger van maar liefst 2 Brain Cell 'life forms'.
Nummer 776 was geadresseerd aan het 'Bestaande Vreemde Dieren' project en plaats ik binnenkort op de RWA-website.
En hierboven zie je Brain Cell nr 777 (klik erop om 'm groter te zien). Met - naast uiteenlopende stempels, postzegels, fluxus-uitingen - verschillende zoogdieren. Waaronder nr 39 (uit 150) van mijn gestempelde giraffen!
Ik ben er erg blij mee, er is veel op te zien en te ontdekken. En zo'n 45 mail artists zijn dankzij Ryosuke's noeste arbeid bij deze letterlijk bij elkaar gebracht!

One of the many enchanting things Mail Art brings, is the connection, between creative people from everywhere.
One of the greatest 'connectors', to my opinion, is Ryosuke Cohen from Japan.
His Brain Cell mail art project started more than 25 years ago. On this website you can read more about this continuing project and about how it works.

In July he surprised me with Brain Cell nr 761.
Today I was surprised a lot by even two Brain Cell 'life forms'.
Number 776 was addressed to the Weird Existing Animals project and I will publish this soon on the RWA-website.
And on top you see Brain Cell nr 777 (click on the picture to enlarge). With - besides all kind of stamps, faux postage and fluxus expressions - several mammals. Among them nr 39 (out of 150) of my rubber stamped giraffes!
I am very happy with this, there is a lot to see and to discover. And by this hard work Ryosuke Cohen literally brought together about 45 mail artists!

Thank you - Arigato, Ryosuke! And of course thanks to all who contributed to this work of Mail Art!