What About Politics? Gonzopost: Anarchy, Pornography, Homosexuality
Dublin Core
Title
What About Politics? Gonzopost: Anarchy, Pornography, Homosexuality
Subject
mail art
Description
John C. “Jack” Palmer, aka Rudi Rubberoid, was a mail artist who became involved with the international mail art community in the early 1980’s. Palmer owned and operated a postcard and stationary store in Bellingham, Washington called Postcard Palace. His first contacts with mail art came from his friend Bob Urso, who ran a rubber stamp company (BOBZ). Palmer was very active in the mail art community and his works were shown in several exhibits including those at the Seattle Art Museum and the Denver Art Museum. He went by many aliases, such as Edward R. Gonzo, Ace The Postcard Pal (which was an accidental play on the name of his shop), Billy Joe Ziploc and Grizelda Guthonk, among others. He was most well known as Rudi Rubberoid, a named conceived for the editor of his fanzine, The Rubber Fanzine, and most remembered for his sense of humor.
What About Politics? Gonzopost: Anarchy, Pornography, Homosexuality is a mail art object that demonstrates how mail artists were using the postal system to circulate materials, and increase communication, about topics that were banned from distribution through the post. What About Politics? etc. looks like a standard sheet of postage stamps. There are eight center squares, uniform in size and printed with identical rubber stamps featuring a dark-haired man with a quote bubble above that reads, “WHAT ABOUT POLITICS?” In the middle of the stamp are three charts that read, “ANARCHY,” “PORNOGRAPHY,” & “HOMOSEXUALITY,” all with graph lines moving upward and indicating growth. Underneath the charts is a rectangle is printed with “GONZOPOST.” The stamp was printed using all red ink which offers a striking contrast between the figure in the foreground, the bold text and the background.
While the red printed stamps are the focus of the work, it’s also personalized with a circular decoration in bottom left corner, a stamp of the artist’s signature in green and purple ink. The artist’s stamp includes a small image of a rubber stamper which is a charming example of the artist’s aforementioned humor… a nod to his being a stamp-maker and his interest in Artistamps.
What About Politics?, etc. indicates to the viewer that mail art is a form where no topic is censored and that in fact, materials related to traditionally marginalized topics such as homosexuality and anarchy are circulated by the movement. It shows that the growth in communication about outsider topics and art are perpetuated by mail art.
What About Politics? Gonzopost: Anarchy, Pornography, Homosexuality is a mail art object that demonstrates how mail artists were using the postal system to circulate materials, and increase communication, about topics that were banned from distribution through the post. What About Politics? etc. looks like a standard sheet of postage stamps. There are eight center squares, uniform in size and printed with identical rubber stamps featuring a dark-haired man with a quote bubble above that reads, “WHAT ABOUT POLITICS?” In the middle of the stamp are three charts that read, “ANARCHY,” “PORNOGRAPHY,” & “HOMOSEXUALITY,” all with graph lines moving upward and indicating growth. Underneath the charts is a rectangle is printed with “GONZOPOST.” The stamp was printed using all red ink which offers a striking contrast between the figure in the foreground, the bold text and the background.
While the red printed stamps are the focus of the work, it’s also personalized with a circular decoration in bottom left corner, a stamp of the artist’s signature in green and purple ink. The artist’s stamp includes a small image of a rubber stamper which is a charming example of the artist’s aforementioned humor… a nod to his being a stamp-maker and his interest in Artistamps.
What About Politics?, etc. indicates to the viewer that mail art is a form where no topic is censored and that in fact, materials related to traditionally marginalized topics such as homosexuality and anarchy are circulated by the movement. It shows that the growth in communication about outsider topics and art are perpetuated by mail art.
Creator
Jack C. Palmer (a.k.a. Rudi Rubberoid)
Source
https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/items/detail/sheet-artistamps-710
Publisher
Archives of American Art
Date
1990
Contributor
Jessica Perry
Rights
Artist Rights Society
Relation
[no text]
Format
Artistamps, 15 x 20 cm
Language
English
Type
Mail Art
Identifier
[no text]
Coverage
[no text]
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
[no text]
Original Format
[no text]
Files
Collection
Citation
Jack C. Palmer (a.k.a. Rudi Rubberoid), “What About Politics? Gonzopost: Anarchy, Pornography, Homosexuality,” Collaborative Correspondence: Mail Art from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art, accessed May 9, 2024, https://collaborativecorrespondence.omeka.net/items/show/10.