Marrying text and image.

So I decided that the things I have been sending out are getting a bit too serious and not very personal. So I decided to add a little more of myself to the envelopes. Both of these pieces are photocopies of my hand...in what I hope is a handshake position - not an easy position to get your arm into in a photocopier believe me!

With the above piece I decided to include a letter, which you can see below. I decided to keep it anonymous the same as all the other pieces, perhaps just to make the recipient curious.

Now before any of you start thinking I've stopped making each piece an individual original (that's a mouthfull), think again, although this looks similar to the above one it is different, that is even a seperate (and slightly different) photocopy of my hand. 

I reckoned this one needed something more so I put a message on the back to but no message inside. I think sometimes less is more. 

However both of course were sent with a self addressed envelope inside...*fingers crossed* someone's curious enough to reply!

Statements to make you think..

As I have previously said all the works here come from my own personal thoughts or beliefs. This is especially true in the piece below. I have always had and I hope will always have a strange faith in complete strangers. I believe in people I have never met. I am well aware that this is both a quality and a flaw but I would rather see it as a quality. Wouldn't you like to meet someone, who you have never previously met, who has faith in you even though they know nothing about you?! Perhaps your answer is no but I think in this day and age we need more faith in the world.

Before anyone gets mixed up...when I talk about faith here I do not mean in a religious way.

I had fun with these two pieces escaping from the original uniformity the letters had in previous mail art. I cut around the letters themselves and even cut out whole words.

If I am honest although I like the message of the above piece I am now sure about the composition. I am usually a lot more comfortable with where the letters sit on the envelope before I send them. I may not in fact send this particular piece...but then it would be a shame to waste that beautiful yellow 'The'!

The other thing about this piece is it's double edged meaning, that I did not properly think about until I had finished it. You see, a smile can be powerful in many ways, it can bring someone up from a bad time but it can also be used to manipulate people. Why do you think sales assistants are always smiling? If someone is smiling at you, you are far more likely to have positive feelings toward that person...and what they are selling...

However by the same token, don't you love it when strangers smile at you? It is far better to pass someone in the street who smiles then someone who looks grumpy. Why bring everyone else down eh. 

The Line Between 2D and 3D...

I loved making the project 3D...however after considering that if people are not in they may have to pick up their own 'parcels', I decided although it looked great, 3D could be a little harsh on the recipients.

So I compromised between the two...

 It is a little difficult to see in these images but the latest piece of work is a folded up piece of cardboard that resembles an envelope and is slim enough to fit through your letterbox. It unfolds to reveal a message similar to all the other pieces I have sent thus far. It was also (of course) sent with a stamped self addressed envelope inside.

The above is what the piece would look like from the back once folded up...

...and unfolded...

...and finally the inside.

I really enjoy this middle ground between 2D and 3D, I like physical presence that the cardboard brings to the work and how sturdy it feels. The way the piece unfolds is similar to a children's book...revealing the surprise...haha! 

PS: I must apologise about the state of the images...I was having issues with photoshop today...I will hopefully be able to edit them in the future. 

David's Reply

David kindly commented on the Letters post after receiving the 'I Believe In You' letter. Although I did leave him a short comment back, I decided it would be more appropriate to send him something more fun in the post...it's just a bit more personal.

And seeing as the projects now gone 3D...

(The address has been blurred for the privacy of my neighbour) As you can see the box can be opened at only one end...

...that's because it has a pop out speech-bubble that reads: "Hello David! Nice to meet you. I'm Amy."

I thought i had photographed the back but I can't seem to find the images...but the back of the speech-bubble says: "Have you met any of your other neighbours? Have a lovely day."

My original idea for this reply was to have a hand pop out...as in a hand shake. But I thought that would not come across very well and not be quite as effective or prompt a response in the same way. As I am working with text anyway I though continuing with the use of text was the better option.

Reply

I received a reply to the letter 'In the morning I...' which can be seen in the Letters and Envelopes post. The neighbour who received it kindly sent me a letter back telling me what they do in the morning and of course asking why on earth I sent out the letter. Although I would love to post the reply here I don't want to without the permission of the author. So for now just watch this space, you never know it might be published.

I replied to the reply (bit of a tongue twister there) in the below envelope. Unfortunately this one didn't scan in too well because of the shiny material but it has the letters of 'Hello' stitched onto pieces of material and then stuck on the envelope. You can just about see it in the below image.

I have a copy of my reply and may post it up in the future...

My neighbour was very considerate and returned the reply by hand so that I could reuse the stamped envelope, which was very kind, especially as stamps aren't cheap these days. Therefore I returned my reply by hand also. *fingers crossed* I got the right address and i'm not about to baffle another neighbour!

I have now been given permission by my neighbour to publish the reply! I am delighted :)


Here it is:

As you can see a lovely letter to receive.

The project goes 3D!

So MakeMyNeighbourSmile has gone 3D and a wee bit conceptual...but in miniature today. 

Unfortunately the 3D objects are much harder to document, so here's a look at my efforts.

I'm aware these images don't look very professional, however this is not a super professional project. It's more about the people and making contact and making people smile than anything else. So yes in the background you can see my kitchen...there's a slice of my world. :)

This box is actually very tiny, only just bigger than the size of my hand.

You can see here I placed an even smaller box inside my box. This box is empty and also prepaid at the Post Office. I think I may have completely confused the poor woman behind the desk with that one this morning, oops! 

The idea behind this one is that someone can send me a 'Hello' back in the other wee box, or perhaps more, or you never know I might even get something small in it! 

I'll keep you updated if I receive a reply.

Sewing.

Perhaps I got bored of cutting and sticking or perhaps all my new ideas were just coming too fast but for the next, wave shall we say, of letters I have sewed on the word 'Hello' in one form of another.

These two are sewn into material that I have then glued onto the envelopes. 

You can't really tell from this picture but this is actually a tiny envelope. I'm considering doing a series of these tiny envelopes, so this should be the first of many.

The above envelope was sent with a note that reads:

"It's nice to meet you.

My name is Amy.

I'm one of your neighbours.

I don't know you and you don't know me

but

I think that neighbours should know each other

and 

be able to rely on each other.

I think that neighbours are important people.

If you agree.

then please feel free to write back.

I would love to hear from you.

Sincerely"

Below I have sewn into the envelope itself.  (This is also one of the tiny envelopes)

Going out in the next few days...

I'm happy to say i've had a couple of replies to the letters/pieces that i have sent out so far and I am hopeful that there are more to come.

All my pieces are personal to me, they're all statements that I believe and hope or think that other people should. They are all also (hopefully) things that other people can connect to. 

Letters and Envelopes

This idea was another transformation of previous ones. This time i decided to give the reader a little more of myself with the hope that they would return in the same fashion. All i really want to do is encourage communication and make my neighbours smile of course. However in order to encourage communication sometimes you have to offer up something of yourself, which is what i have done here.

The below letter is a continuation of what is on the envelope...it's just a wee run down of how i start my day. I'm hopeful that whoever reads this will smile or even chuckle a bit and then send me a wee note with what they do in the morning. - Again the envelope contains a self addressed and stamped envelope.

The same as the above letter this one is a continuation of what is on the envelope. A wee note about what I used to want to be when I grew up and what I am doing now. Again hopefully I'll get something similar in reply.

Envelopes

These envelopes were a culmination of the previous two ideas. I also thought that with the 'ransom note' style message on the outside the likelihood of the message being perceived as a threat was much lower. It also gives the post men something interesting to look at!

The above envelope was sent with a blank sheet of paper as well as a self addressed envelope. The idea being that if someone does have something they want to say they can write it and send it to me and as the envelope says i'll listen.

This one may seem odd but it is true. As this is all part of my honours year project it is part of my future and therefore the success or failure of this project will impact on my future. In essence leaving my future in the hands of my neighbours!

Character

I created this little tortoise character in the hope that having a welcoming image on the front of the envelope may encourage people to get in touch. The inspiration for this lot, not surprisingly, is Mail Me Art. I also own a tortoise and I wanted my character to represent myself in some ways. So a tortoise seemed like the perfect way to go. I sent these three with self addressed stamps and envelopes..if i'm lucky I'll get some decorated envelopes back.

Letters

The idea for these letters was inspired by the artist Douglas Gordon. He send letters containing quotes to people he knew. The quotes taken out of context could look quite sinister however he had written the letters as normal with his address on the top and signature on the bottom. This created an unusual juxtaposition which i enjoyed. However I decided to leave my letters anonymous to a degree because it suited the aesthetic better. All the letters were sent with a self addressed and stamped envelope with the hope that one of my neighbours will send me something back even if it is just something along the lines of: "what the hell?!" 

These three letters are now winging there way to my neighbours...so *fingers crossed* for something.

The above were all sent in a similar envelope to the one below, under the flap of each (as you can see) i have asked each recipient to put the letter in their window or on their door to show me a sign that they received it, even if they don't reply.

On the outer side of the flap is the blog address so that whoever receives one can find out why.

If your one of the lucky people to receive one of these then please get in contact, by post would be excellent or if your really keen give me a buzz i suppose!