Part 4

Without many leads, I went back to IUOMA and to the mailing address provided for George Brett posted there. The inactivity on his profile didn’t give me any confidence that I’d be able to get in touch with him. No matter, I sent a letter asking about the show.

Less than a week later I get a response, from someone named Megan Brett, George’s daughter. Unfortunately George “died in February” wrote Megan. She wanted me to let other mail-artists know about this. Although she didn’t have any direct information about the show, she was interested in the project, asking if the “stuff went to Greensboro?” Almost immediately I sent her an email giving her all I knew about the show and providing her a link to the blog I’d set up.

I hope she found comfort in people realizing and appreciating the work that her dad had done. His fingerprints, not only in the artwork he create for the show, but in the effort he put into organizing everything were present.

Two weeks later.

I figured that I would catch back up with the story in a couple weeks once folks responded to some emails and what not. None of that happened. No one could remember anything about the show or give me any context in which it was created. I was annoyed at this for a day or two.

While flipping through the notebook I keep all of my mail-art addresses in, I flipped past a lis of shows I’ve submitted things to. In no way had I represented every single show over the past six years…it wouldn’t be possible. Sometimes I just mail a thing based on a random all-call that someone posted on one of the many mail-art groups on Facebook. My responses have been so numerous that I stopped adding to the list of shows that I’d sent things to.

And there was the story; there isn’t much of a story. I imagine someone had an idea for a mail-art show; they secured a space, and then sent word through the purely analog channels off the mail-art network in 1979. That’s it, there’s nothing else to tell. People sent in things from all over the world. I imagine many people came to look at the artwork (I’d love to find pictures) when it was posted at SECCA. That artwork was then put in a couple of boxes for decades, my friend found the box, held onto it, and then that wonderful box of goodies came into my possession.

Now I have to start scanning it all.