Return to Sender- Mail Art Project

“Return to Sender-Mail Art Project” is part of the 2010 London Biennale and was facilitated by visiting artist Kathleen Bitetti* and Dartington College of Art postgraduate student, Lisa Evans. The project was open for participation by Dartington College of Art postgraduate students and art faculty.

The title of the piece is based on the 1962 song by Elvis Presley which was a number one hit in U.K. and a number two in the U.S. The choice of the title humorously references the relationship artists often have with contemporary cultural institutions and the gatekeepers of those institutions.

Each participating artist was given at least two blank pieces of postcard size paper (3 inches by 5 inches) to create at least two pieces of art with. Participants could request more blank postcards, but in sets of two. All finished works had to be flat and not be larger than 3x 5 inches as they needed to fit into closely fitting envelopes. In June 2010 postcards will be randomly mailed to individuals living in London and to London based contemporary cultural spaces or to London-based key person/business involved with contemporary arts/culture. The envelope contains an explanatory text for the project, its connection with the 2010 London Biennale, and the url to the project's webpage.

Almost all of the “Return to Sender” artists will be participating in ULTIMATE dART (July -20-22nd) at the Dartington College of Arts Campus. ULTIMATE dART will feature work/projects from performance and creative arts disciplines within the areas of arts & cultural management, choreography, music, theatre, visual arts and writing. This will be the last postgraduate show at this campus due to the merger with Falmouth University and the moving of operations to the Cornwall campus.

For more information on the project or to let the artists known you received one of the works: Leave.Return (at) gmail.com

Participating Artists (in alphabetical order):

Kathleen Bitetti (Visual Art), Christine Cooper (Musician & Storyteller), Cara Daves (Performance Artist & Digital Archivist), Lisa Evans (Performance Writing), Saffron Governor (Cross Disciplinary Arts Practice), Ria Hartley (Visual Performance), Emma Hogan (Visual Art), Camilla A. Nelson (Performance Writing), Samuel Rodgers (Sound Artist), and Diana Sabri (Choreography).

About the 2010 London Biennale:

The London Biennale was founded in 1998 by David Medalla. It has evolved into an artist community loosely based around London and the biennale events that take place there. The London Biennale is a do-it-yourself free arts festival. The Biennale organization is not restricted to London. The 2010 dates are May 1st to August 31st. Special thanks to Mark Leahy, Simmon Bertram, and Dartington College of the Arts.

* U.S. artist Kathleen Bitetti was a visiting artist at Dartington College of Art May 5 -May 12th, 2010 and she is the only artist not participating in ULTIMATE dART.