by LARA, Mario, editor
Stamped title-page & black & white illus. throughout. Unpaginated. Oblong 4to, yellow pictorial covers, plastic spiral-bound. San Diego: October 1980.
A scarce issue of the mail art periodical Commonpress, edited by American mail artist Mario Lara (n.d.); edition of 300 copies. Pawel Petasz (1951-2019), a Polish correspondence artist, launched the magazine in December 1977. Based on a system of floating editorship, anyone could edit an issue with a theme of their choosing as long as production and distribution costs were covered. Mail artists from all over the world such as Ulises Carrión, E. F. Higgins, G. E. Marx Vigo, Vittore Baroni, Günther Ruch, Angelika Schmidt, etc., produced around 100 issues by 1989.
Petasz's vision for the magazine is re-published on page 2: "An international magazine of art, is created, produced, shared & distributed by and to its participants. As such it is one alternative art form in action. Each contributor to the magazine is encouraged to edit and publish a future edition according to his/her own theme and format. All production & distribution costs are met by each editor. Information & assignment of future issues is coordinated by the magazine's founder, Pawel Petasz."
Ca. 197 artists contributed to the present issue, each of whom is listed with their address at the end. This is a compelling publication from a vibrant period in mail art.
A fine copy. WorldCat locates two North American institutions with this issue.
❧ For information on Lara and Petasz, see Geza Perneczky's most helpful "Network Atlas" (available online). (Inventory #: 10202)
A scarce issue of the mail art periodical Commonpress, edited by American mail artist Mario Lara (n.d.); edition of 300 copies. Pawel Petasz (1951-2019), a Polish correspondence artist, launched the magazine in December 1977. Based on a system of floating editorship, anyone could edit an issue with a theme of their choosing as long as production and distribution costs were covered. Mail artists from all over the world such as Ulises Carrión, E. F. Higgins, G. E. Marx Vigo, Vittore Baroni, Günther Ruch, Angelika Schmidt, etc., produced around 100 issues by 1989.
Petasz's vision for the magazine is re-published on page 2: "An international magazine of art, is created, produced, shared & distributed by and to its participants. As such it is one alternative art form in action. Each contributor to the magazine is encouraged to edit and publish a future edition according to his/her own theme and format. All production & distribution costs are met by each editor. Information & assignment of future issues is coordinated by the magazine's founder, Pawel Petasz."
Ca. 197 artists contributed to the present issue, each of whom is listed with their address at the end. This is a compelling publication from a vibrant period in mail art.
A fine copy. WorldCat locates two North American institutions with this issue.
❧ For information on Lara and Petasz, see Geza Perneczky's most helpful "Network Atlas" (available online). (Inventory #: 10202)