I found the idea of postcards as a historical markers very intriguing, so I initially tried to steer my research in that direction. Searching for "historical" postcards proved to be more difficult that I believed, as I tried to narrow the search chronologically or thematically, I realized that what actually interested me were postcards not from those who are chosen to be significant members of our cultural memory, but just the vast array of people within the country. How can post-cards be an indication of culture and also in some way be archived? Postcards do a particular type of cultural work; the earliest postcards were most often displayed with significant architecture sites (popular in the late 19th century with famous Chicago buildings) and from foreign travel. With limited space for writing messages that, due to lack of envelope, are also meant to be easily seen or viewed I think lends itself (in the smallest sense) to a certain voyeuristic desire-- in simpler terms could something like twitter be thought of as the modern day postcard?
When I continued to consider postcards more contemporarily, the famed American cultural and art project "Post Secret" came to my mind. The project, which has published numerous books and currently has a traveling exhibition, certainly has the acclaim to be considered part of "popular" culture, but its message is a multi-faceted one at that. While mail art, or sending art through the postal system, is a community art endeavor dating to the mid-20th century, PostSecret-- which allows people to send whatever they want in the form of a postcard to the indicated address-- has grown to be more than an art project. The clear diversity of people sending them postcards utilize it for even more diverse reasons-- admission, confession, frustration, both love and hate, points of protest-- to name only a few. In more recent years, creator Frank Warren has been advocating suicide prevention organizations as some postcards express deep sadnesses and a need for help. What the interesting truth behind it is, is that the success of PostSecret is from its creation of this anonymous community of people who never have, and probably will never, meet. All across the country people send their messages to an address in Maryland, in hopes that their small square of commentary (which never receives an actual reply) is viewed by others. By sending a postcard, one must picture that community of people going to read it, absorb it. It is a display of archived letters in their most pure form, just as post-cards and nothing else, a subtle microcosm of American culture.
No comments:
Post a Comment