We’ve just acquired a few dozen issues of some classic zines by mail art groups including but not limited to Animalia, China Ink, Elefanzine, Panic, Panmag, Personal Nets, Spanish Mail-Art Association Bulletin, and SMILE magazine.

Most of these zines come covered in postage markings. The stamps and stickers are indicative of their well-traveled pasts, and serve as reminders of the pre-internet networks developed by mail artists intent on sharing their work outside of institutional exhibition spaces.

Many of the projects are collaborative and focus on community building. Elefanzine amalgamates the work of dozens of unidentified artists in each issue, and was “Sent free to all contributors” as indicated on the cover of each issue. SMILE magazine’s original founder, Neoist Stewart Home, proposed that all magazines call themselves SMILE and developed the identities Karen Elliot and Monty Cantsin to be freely adopted by any potential publisher. The Spanish Mail-Art Association Bulletin functioned as a newsletter and directory for mail artists, publishing listings of mail art related events, regional mail artists’ contact information and messages from other mail art journals.

These publications build on the anarchic foundations established by the Situationist International, Fluxus, Samizdat, and Neo-Dada movements. Their shared sentiment is strongly anti-authorship, anti-institutional and anti-curatorial. The publications challenge values tied to singularity and individuality in their aesthetic as well as their mode of production and distribution. It is inclusivity, flexibility, and development of community that is paramount.