A bright and beautiful thing

Thank you to artist-wonder-friend Kate Wiggs for this postcard. Received, in an envelope, last week.

More on Mathilde ter Heijne's 'Woman To Go' can be found here.

For the record

When the Horsemen of the Apocalypse arrive I, like many others, will be anxious at what lies ahead. 

But I'm hoping to take some solace in knowing how little time I've spent filing stuff. 

Ordering postcards: lots of time wasted. Filing important papers: not so much.

(Facing annihilation, I'm also hoping the unironed shirts in my wardrobe will be a source of light relief...)

Other people's filing, on the other hand, I find fascinating. And, very useful.

Take the British Postal Museum & Archive. An astoundingly interesting place. Located at the back of the Royal Mail's HQ in London, it keeps in order the administrative records of the British (sadly, no longer publicly-owned) postal service. 

In the above video, one of the Archive's curators, Emma Harper, explains the significance of some curious postcards she found recently. They're from a largely forgotten period in the history of the postcard  - and demonstrate how change often happens from below. Many thanks to Emma for sparing the time to show me them.

On sorting

A postcard collection is never stable, never entirely complete. 

Ten years ago, artist Mary Anne Francis played with the challenge of ordering her collection of postcards in her work 'Unsorted'. 

Rather than showing an ordered collection, she exhibited her postcards in the process of being classified. 

According to Mary Anne, the installation showed someone “attempting to arrange – sort out – a collection of sorts… but: how to sort a type or type a sort?” 

I’ve come to realise that just as a collection reaches some kind of order, it seems to call out for more of a type and then, inevitably, more of a sort.


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Image of artwork in video courtesy of the artist: installation view of 'Unsorted' at e1 gallery, London, 2002

Artwork sourced from Jeremy Cooper's 'Artists' Postcards', Reaktion Books.

Market tour - 8 June

This Saturday (8 June) I'm giving a tour of the collectors' market by Charing Cross railway station in London.

Starts at 10am, outside the northern entrance to Embankment Tube station.

It'll be like going to a museum - only you can touch (and buy) stuff.

So what's it going to be? Suffragette cards?

Snaps of Edwardian London?

Messages from WW1?

Nothing is too specific. There are collectors out there who only collect postcards of fireplaces.

A collection on display

So, the History Today magazine came out last week. Very exciting. Great to have the chance to tell a bit of the story of Edwardian postcard culture. There's a link here to the first section of the article.

I admit, though, amidst the high of getting the piece published, it's been disconcerting seeing my collection of cards on display and in print. Perhaps it's something to do with what Jean Baudrillard observed: that ultimately you collect yourself.

The thought I've been most struck by, however, is how seeing any ordered collection makes it appear inevitable - in this case, as if the cards were bound to end up together. I realise this reaction could be just my own, only too aware of the legwork the collection has required.

But heck, back to enjoying the publication! There is a quick slideshow, above. The voice is me (albeit a little more serious than normal) but all the editing was done by HT's web editor, Dean Nicholas. Thanks Dean.

PS In the article I mention I'm giving a tour of the Charing Cross Collectors' Market in London on 8 June. It's a small fair specialising in postcards, coins, and other ephemera. We're meeting at 10am at the northern entrance of Embankment Tube Station. It's free, so if you're in London that day, come along.

A spot of news

It's a video blog this week. Too much going on to type!

In the video I mention a new project 'In Between Postcards' where I'm sending a postcard a day from my mobile phone, and asking if this is the future of the postcard.

Here are further details of the project. Please let me know what you think. Have you sent a postcard via an app on a mobile yet? If so, how did you get on?

Finally, a pic of June's History Today. My article on Edwardian postcard culture will be inside. Really looking forward to seeing what people make of it.

The card on the front is of actor Lewis Waller. The HT editors chose it because it's such a good example of the 'undivided back': the message is scribbled in the margin around the picture of Waller, as the other side had to be kept free for the address. Although, I'm guessing the fact he's carrying an iPad also came into the reckoning.

Six-second postcards (from hell?)

Just when I thought I'd a handle on what a postcard is, Twitter call their new video-sharing-app Vine the "six-second postcard".

Here's a postcard/vine of a Hong Kong market stall by travel journalist Daisann McLane. To get the sound, click on the top left hand corner of the video.

McLane's video is one of the best travel vines I've seen - the abrupt cuts suit a market scene. But when the repeating begins, like other vines, it makes you a bit  horribly dizzy.

And that's a good one. Via Google, and away from traveling, there are some terrifying vines, their stars trapped in neverending loops of insanity. 

Below is a link to vine videos by US-model Tyra Banks: videos which are too bewildering to embed on a blog.

Friends, take care ;). Only click on the link when someone else is in the room. Tell them what you're doing, and that you want to be rescued in three minutes, or so.

Deep breath. Here's the link.

LINK

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You're back! I know, I'm sorry, I will never do that to you again. You'll stop seeing the talking copy of Vanity Fair in three days' time. I promise.

Elsewhere, there are actually lots of good vines about. Paul McCartney's created a few vine puzzles, which make you want to see the videos again and again. AND he doesn't sing Hey Jude in any of them.

Plus, here are some vines lauded at this year's TriBeCa Film Festival. The better ones play on the fact that seeing something over and over is hell-like. Jordan Burt's "Dennis" series is especially sinister.

But you're still thinking about Tyra, aren't you? It's ok. You never have to see the videos again.

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Of course, it would be churlish to criticise others and not to have a go.

So here we are - a six-second Edwardian postcard - complete with wobbling camera phone...