Write to "The Envelope Collective"

Do you long to write a real letter to someone? Forget e-mail, IM, and text messaging for a moment — an innovative art group wants to hear from you via snail mail:

The Envelope Collective is an ongoing collaborative experiment in art that uses the transportation of mail as a medium. The website is an online gallery for those pieces that we receive.

What can you send them?

This is the fun part. Send us anything you want. Tell us a story. Tell us a secret. Don't tell us anything. Draw a picture, paint a letter. Send us a blank piece of paper. What is your dream? What is your fear? Send a postcard. What is your most favorite thing in the entire world? Who was your first crush? Who do you love? Don't be constrained by the proportions of an envelope. Send a box. Send a box with something in it. Decorate this box, make it into a piece of art...

If you need more ideas or just want to see what others have sent in, view the gallery. On the EC site, you can also chat about mail art with other "mail fine artistes" in the forums. If you have any additional questions, especially about how to send the EC your mail art, read their FAQ.

I'm having fun thinking about what the postal employees who deliver their mail see every day. Are the Envelope Collective addresses on the most desired mail routes — or the most dreaded? How do the mail-sorting machines deal with all the sculpture-like envelopes?

Comments

[moroccanmaryam]

This is so awesome. I love stuff like this.

PS I loved your Be the Mountain. That is so helpful as a concept.

[KG]

Maryam — The Envelope Collective — oddly inspiring, isn't it? Thanks for your good words on my mountain comment. I'm thinking about expanding on it...