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> contents / Catalog piece for Women Artistamp Exhibit - December 11, 1996 / Anna Banana / I made my first artistamps in 1976, in response to an invitation by Ed
Varney to participate in one of his early "anthology editions."
I was working on a catalogue for an orthopedic company at the time, and
used images from their earlier catalogue in these stamps, which were
printed in black and red, and pin-hole perforated. In 1980, Eleanor Kent
invited me to "come and play" on the color Xerox machine she had
leased for a year, for hands-on use in her home. Further, she was in
contact with Jeff Errick, of Ephemera, who had a pin-hole perforator one
could use in exchange for a portion of one's edition. For the most part, I
did limited editions of larger collage works on Eleanor's machine, but I
also did two sheets of collaged stamps which I perforated at Jeff's. At
that point, I hadn't really caught the "bug," so both sheets
lack any unifying theme or imagery. I used a mixture of images from old
travel folders, photographs of myself, Bill, the Bay Area Dadaists,
Fredericks of Hollywood catalogue pics and orthopedic devices . . . a real
jumble. Shortly after my return to Vancouver in 1981, Varney asked me to
contribute some art for a sheet of full-color stamps he was planning. I
did a series of four drawings around the banana theme; a self-portrait
eating a banana, a black youth with a tarantula on a bunch of bananas, a
banana being sliced, and a banana peel. I used Letraset for the type, and
made color separations using various % screens. The sheet was not actually
printed until 1984. My next "batch" of stamps also came out in
1984, when I had an artist-in-residence at the Great Mail-Art Supply Store
in Greenport, NY, at the north end of Long Island. I did several sheets
commemorating my stay there, and I began to work with my long-term love,
maps, as backgrounds for my stamps. I collaged other elements over the
maps, using paste-up techniques for both the images and type. I worked
"to size," as I hadn't realized that the color copiers could
reduce, and this affected the type of imagery I used. (Even with an
exacto, you can only cut things so small). I also did several sheets of
stamps commemorating the Inter-Dada 84 festival later that year. All these
editions were produced on the color Xerox copier, and were perforated on
Ed Varney's 1898, treadle operated, line-perforator. Because of the costs
involved and the limited numbers that I produced, I did not send these
editions out freely into the mail-art network, but reserved them for
trading with other artists who produced editions using the same expensive
techniques. This was the beginning of the end of my "free trade"
within the network, and it was criticized by individuals who produced
B&W copies (at 10¢ each,) who felt I should trade "even
steven" with my $3.50 each editions. The old "Mail art and money
don't mix" rule was evoked, but I was unmoved, and continued to trade
color for color, with few exceptions. In 1986 I travelled Europe for 3
months, presenting performances and slide lectures, organized through
network connections. While there I collected material for a series of
Euro-Tour Commemorative stamp sheets which I executed on my return. I used
maps from the cities and countries I had visited, and collaged other
elements over these backgrounds, again, working to size. This series of 15
sheets is divided into three sub-series; nine sheets of Signs and Symbols
- from statistics, road and marine manuals; four sheets of Putting
Physical Fitness on the Map; and two sheets of Homage to the Unknown
Artist, in which I used the silhouettes of various ships from a Dutch
manual on marine regulations, which gave no credit to the artist who
created them. This series was reproduced in a limited edition of 15
copies, using the first Canon Laser color copier to appear in Vancouver in
1987. They were copied onto a coated but ungummed paper, and are pin-hole
perforated. From 1983-6, I worked in the production department of Varney's
Intermedia Press, learning the intricacies of full-color printing, and
envying the full-color anthology editions that Varney produced. After
leaving Intermedia for the vagaries of self-employment, I continued to
lust after full-color stamps in the useable quantities that printed
editions provide. I dreamed and schemed, and finally came up with a plan
to cooperatively publish sheets of full color stamps, by charging each
participant the actual cost of printing, and nothing more. It was a labor
of love, and at $35/500 copies of a single stamp, networkers jumped to
take advantage of the offer. In 1988, with my first two editions of two
sheets of stamps each, International Art Post was born . With my usual
"leap now, look later" approach, I imagined I might be
compensated for my efforts and the other costs involved (such as postage),
by selling the remainder of these editions through gift, stationery and
postcard shops. As usual, I was rudely awakened by the realities. Few of
these places were even vaguely interested in the mixed bag of images that
appeared on these editions, and those who did take them (on consignment)
found they sold few. Further realities crowded upon me. First, a client
who had 12 stamps on the first 2 sheets wanted his money back because I
had not removed his paste-up lines! Second, a client who ordered a sheet
of 18 stamps commemorating her deceased husband, refused to let me sell
the remainder of the edition, threatening me with legal action if I didn't
give her the remainder, even though I had made it clear what the
arrangement was to be. And third, the hours of unpaid work and headache
that went into these productions were far greater than I had imagined. It
was obvious that the prices had to go up, or I couldn't continue. So, the
prices went up, and after 18 issues, I continue publishing International
Art Post today, although few of the participants at this point come from
the mail-art network. Sometimes a sheet of stamps is inspired by a
newspaper clipping, as was the case of my 1988 edition, San Francisco
Banana Triangle. The clipping, sent by Eleanor Kent, was about the area of
San Francisco around China Basin, where banana shipments (used to?)
arrive, and which was consequently referred to as the Banana Triangle.
This is a sheet of 15 triangular stamps, each with 3 hand-drawn,
overlapping bananas with different color backgrounds painted with
watercolors and the words and denomination (88) hand-lettered. I have
produced several editions of these, using both color Xerox and Canon Laser
color copiers. All are pin-hole perforated. In '89 I began a series of
drawings for a 20-year retrospective exhibition 20 Years of Fooling around
with A. Banana, to be held at the Grunt Gallery in Vancouver in 1990. This
series of drawings started with my historic "fall" into a box of
bananas at a mountain-top party in Big Sur in 1970, progressing through my
public events as Town Fool of Victoria ('71-3), and "Fool at
Large" in San Francisco (73-80) through performances and events in
Canada in Europe from 1981-9. The original drawings were exhibited,
andused as illustrations in the catalogue (100 copies); the miniature book
20 Years of Fooling Around. A limited edition sheet of full color stamps
was also produced from the drawings, and these were tipped in to the
deluxe edition of the book, (now out of print), over the B&W
illustrations. In 1989 I also answered two mail-art invitations with stamp
editions. One is a series of splintered portraits of Jean Laszlo Noel,
from a B&W image he sent. I made numerous copies of his image then cut
them in half, in different directions, reassembling them in mis-matched
pairs, and painting the re-combined images with yellow, pink, blue and
green water-colors, for a sheet of 42 stamps. The other sheet was done as
a commemorative edition for the periodical Gargoyle. In it the background
is white and red images of backgammon board/plays with soccer referees
demonstrating their signals, collaged over top, for a sheet of 12 stamps.
Both sheets were done as signed and limited editions of 12, and are
pin-hole perforated. By 1990 the mail-art network had grown so large, it
was impossible to relate to the whole thing, and I had long gotten over my
desire to communicate with everyone functioning in it. I had grown weary
of a number of aspects of networking, including never-ending demand to
respond to more mail than your average individual would deal with in a
lifetime, the chain letters, the B&W photo-copied collages, amateurish
publications that are difficult to read and that have no particular point
to make when one does read them. I was no longer interested in
participating in mail-art shows with themes I couldn't relate to, and had
no interest in appearing in the catalogues for such shows. I decided that
if I was to continue functioning in the mail-art network, it had to be
within a field of work that I really enjoyed and respected, and it was
obvious by then that artistamps was that field. While I still loved (and
still do) getting banana newsclippings and stories, I decided to convert
my long-standing (1972-1989) network newsletter, the Banana Rag to one
that reflected my new passion. Thus, in 1990, I began work on Artistamp
News; to review books and periodicals that focused on stamps by artists,
new editions of stamps, news and reviews about shows and projects
involving artistamps. For the first issue (Vol.1No.1, January 1991) I
tipped a single, color stamp onto the cover logo, and asked readers to
send sufficient numbers of their stamps for tipping in to future issues.
Artists responded generously, and their stamps have graced all 8 issues
that followed, becoming a feature that is cited by all readers as a
favorite. Since beginning publication of International Art Post and
Artistamp News, I have continued the sporadic production of my own stamp
editions. Occasionally I am able to print them on the IAP editions, as
with my 1989 Eyeful Tower, which appears on the cover of this catalog, my
1993 Germany is Going Bananas block of 3, and Zer's More Horses Asses in
Zee World Zan Zer iz Horses block of 20 and most recently, 1996 block of 3
- The Great Stone Pyramid at Bananda. But for the most part, I get a
single stamp here or there on the IAP sheets, or produce full sheets using
the Canon Laser technology that has become established as "the
standard," in the artistamp field. My 1991 sheet of 12 stamps
consists of repeating portraits of myself, my daughter Dana & her
step-mom Angela, all wearing chicken tea-cozies on our heads. These were
drawn from a photograph taken Christmas day in 1990, when we all got the
chicken tea-cozies for gifts. The sheet, called Hen Party Post, is issued
by the Queendom of Banana, with a denomination of 91. The first three
portraits are in natural colors, but as the images are repeated, the
coloring becomes surreal, with faces of blue, magenta and green, and the
tea-cozies altering accordingly. These were produced in a limited edition
of 30 sheets. 1992 saw the production of a series called Classic Ice
Cream, because I happened to have multiples of some type left over from a
commercial job. The images are from a 50's book on physical fitness (one
of my recurring themes), of a woman doing facial exercises. There are 3
different versions of this sheet, all using primary colors yellow, red and
blue. On two of the sheets of 18, the facial coloring is natural, but on
one of these, the hair changes from red to yellow to blue. On the 3rd
sheet of 24 stamps, the facial color changes from red to yellow to blue,
along with the hair coloring. In 1993 I did a series of 3 Saralee Memorial
sheets, commemorating the life of my friend who was killed in a car
accident that year. For these, I did drawings from photographs, then made
numerous B&W photo-copy reductions, which I painted with water-colors
until I got versions that I liked. These were pasted up, then reproduced
into the limited edition prints using the Canon Laser's reducing
capabilities. Another sheet I did that year was the Owen Sound for your
Summer Break, which combined drawings of my foot in a cast, my hands on a
cane, etc., collaged over tourist maps of the town where I fractured my
ankle - the night before I was to give a performance (which I gave anyway,
with help from some of the other persons in the festival). My most
recently completed edition is my 1995 Ray Johnson Memorial, a sheet of 32
stamps combining the head of Shozo Shimamoto, a profile of Ray Johnson,
and a banana. The banana symbolizes the "flame of creativity",
with Johnson passing it to Shozo, as the next most senior artist in the
mail-art network. In these I used a combination of collage, which I
photocopied in B&W, then had Canon laser prints made using only one
color pass per print, which results in a cyan, a magenta and a yellow
version of the original collage. To these watercolor paint is applied in
various combinations, with the printed part acts as a resist. The
successful ones are pasted up, and the limited edition is done from that
paste-up, using the Canon's reduction feature. There is a signed &
numbered edition of 30 of these, plus an open edition on gummed paper for
trading and sale. I am currently working on a new edition, which as yet is
untitled, but one trial stamp appears on my pre-Xmas 1996 IAP edition - a
silhouette of two hands, thumbs and index fingers touching, with a flame
rising from the thumbs. Between 1991 and 1996, I produced 9 issues of
Artistamp News. While the subscriptions paid for printing and mailing
costs, they did not pay for the time and effort involved in writing and
producing ASN, (approx. 1 month per issue). Much as I love the subject,
and was indeed happy with the newsletter, I found between it and the job,
I had l little time left for recreation or my own work. So I made the
painful decision to pass the editorship of ASN over to Ed Varney, who is
currently nearing completion of his first issue. I am hoping this decision
will result in my having more time for my own stamp editions, and writing
on a more ambitious scale, about the field of artistamps. Anna Banana.
December, 1996. Copyright © Anna Banana - a_banana@sunshine.net |
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