JCM THE MUSEUM LIBRARY
"Undocumented events have no history. " - J. W. Felter

FOREWORD

Reproduced from
International Directory of Artistamp Creators

published in 1993 by
FIVE/CINQ Unlimited
West Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA


Since the first exhibition devoted to Artistamps in 1974 there have been many other public presentations of this unique form of contemporary art. Most Mail Art exhibitions have included an Artistamp or two, often affixed to envelopes. Several important collections now exist and many more artists have adopted the Artistamp format to express various aspects of themselves. I started my research into the creators of Artistamps in 1972 and have continued in an 'on-again, off-again' manner ever since. Over a number of years I have written (and continue to develop) a database management programme to store and manage information. Part of this programme has been devoted to Mail Artists with an emphasis on creators of Artistamps. From time to time requests have been received such for information from artists, writers, curators and collectors. It had become a major project to satisfy such requests and a quicker, neater method was needed to get the information out in a manner which would be both useful and presentable. Recently new software was obtained that is capable of producing a decent finished document directly from the database, without the necessity of transference to and processing by desk-top publishing software. This means that with a few simple key strokes this document can be printed in the format you see it. The database can be updated at anytime (and it seems that not a week goes by without a change being made), and whenever necessary, a print of the Directory may be produced.

The term Creator, as used in this Directory, includes two categories:

  1. Artist - an individual who produces his own artistamps.
  2. Producer - an individual, group, company, etc. that produces Artistamps for other artists.

Each artist and each producer has a data record in the computer. Each record has a status field' which indicates whether or not the data is complete. If the data is complete the status may describe the creator as active, inactive or deceased; if the data is incomplete, the status listed in the Directory is 'unknown'. The record's status will remain this way until the data is complete.

Collection inventories have been provided by several collectors, either directly to FIVE/CINQ or in published form found in the FIVE/CINQ Archives. Additional Collections will be added to the database as new inventories are received. For the purpose of this Directory, a Collection is defined as containing a minimum of 100 unique full-sheets of Artistamps.

Exhibitions included in the database are those which were devoted in large part to Artistamps. All these exhibitions were documented with a catalogue (a copy of which is in the FIVE/CINQ Archives). Additional catalogues are always appreciated and such data will be added to the database.

The Summary includes statistics from an on-going survey completed by creators who have Registered with FIVE/CINQ Unlimited. Whenever a new creator of Artistamps is discovered (with address data complete) s/he is mailed a form to complete and return. Upon receipt the completed form the creator is registered and the appropriate records are updated. Over time creators will be asked to update the information in the database.

I call this information 'living data' as it is constantly changing and growing. The Directory using this data is published on demand, one issue at a time. I hope you find it useful, and that you will keep me informed of changes that should be made. Your suggestions for improving the format will also be appreciated.

Jas. W. Felter, Editor

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Copyright ©1966-2002 Jas W Felter, all rights reserved.