> contents / Susanna Lakner - Germany / interview by Sztuka Fabryka (2000) /

1. How and when did you become involved in Mail-Art?

I was always making “corrected" and “modified" postcards just for my pleasure, when I read an article in 1995 about Mail-Art. It was a report about the 1th Biennale International Post Mail Art in Hajduszoboszló, Hungary. There was a Mail-Art call to participate too. Unfortunately the deadline was already over, but I saw the exhibition and I knew at the moment, that I have found what I was looking for. It was a French mail artist who organized the show, his next project was “Hommage á Béla Bartók" and that was my debut in mail art.
Trough the catalogue I came in contact to other artists and so I joined the mail art network.

2. Can you give us a short C.V. of your Mail-Art activities from the beginning till now?

Since the above mentioned exhibition I am participating constantly on Mail-Art projects, exhibitions and assembling magazines. On my website I show works from me, results from collaborations with other artists and topical worldwide Mail-Art calls. In autumn of 2000 I started with my assembling magazine called “22". In may 2001 I have already sent the 3rd issues to the participants.

3. What are your specific activities within Mail-Art?

I make many artistamps, I use very likely rubberstamps to my works. Some of my stamps are self designed and I carve rubberstamps too. In 1999 I had an exhibition of my stamp carved works in Hagen (Germany) on the Stamp Mekka, the international meeting of the stamps freaks from Europe and America. Nowadays I am back to the collage technique and use often the computer to manipulate my photos and other images made on the traditional way.

4. Why did you choose „22“ as the name for your assembling-zine is there a reason behind it?

The original name was „PS“ as „Post Scriptum“ or „Planet Susannia“. I want to make a zine with 20 works, but when I sent the invitations to participate, Jürgen O.Olbrich, the artist from Kassel, who even organized the international exhibition of the artzines, have draw me attention to, that it is a publication called „PS“ in America already exist and I thought I need anything else. My first idea was „“20“, because I meant, if the name is a number, this will be not hinder coming subject cal project to make within the magazine. The number from „20“ to „22“ to change was only an optical reason; I found 20 too round.
Later it´s a came to light for me, that it would be to good to get a little bit reserve for eventually exhibitions and presentations, and so had I raised the number of the works with 2 sheets. That was the kid illnesses of the „22“.
The magic number „2“ will be probably permanent to accompany my magazine.

5. What is your reason to have a website and what do you think of e-mail-art?

As increased the mail-art websites on the internet I had recognized, that an mail-art project list on the web is thousand times usefully than all flyers
and reach more people too. I saw more and more works on diverse homepages from me, which I sent to diverse projects, and so had my wish became slowly a ripe for an own website. I think that the internet is one of the best information source, and we must extremely exploit it, but the effects of the work wich we send by mail, which get extension, substance, scent, will by e-mail never be the same, therefore is an e-mail-art only virtual reality for me without real senses.

6. Why do you do Mail-Art?

I am (was) originally graphic designer, typographer, but I was primarily always fond of the fine arts. In addition to my designer activity I have always drew, painted, maked collages and have experimented with other artistic forms.
Generally I have always found the suitable frame for my ideas, but time after time I began to search for new themes and instruments.
In the mail-art I have found a formula, that was more stimulating to my fantasy, as anything else before. With the mail-art-projects we keep our brains fresh, the diversity of the themes urges us always to brooding, stimulate us to the development and makes our techniques better.
Earlier I was able to make even anything completely different between two exhibitions, till the next inspiration came, but since I discovered the mail-art for me, is my fantasy constantly in move and I am “producing" unbroken too. I see me as a mail-artist who is sometimes employed with fine art and not inversely.
The mail-art fill in my artistic activity full.

7. How did you decide to start with an assembling zine?

I mean, that an assembling magazine is the most perfect medium for collective works. Already as I make the documentation of early mail-art projects, asked to myself : what is the most worthy way of the presentation? How can get the participants the best view of the result? An assembling zine is the perfect presentation because it is an artistsbook and unique example in one piece, not to speak of the joy, about the selection of the works and the bind of the book.

8. What happens with the Mail-Art you receive? Do you have a Mail-Art archive?

Well, the collection need an archivation, indeed, otherwise we will lost the survey. I store in selected boxes the assembling zines, the catalogs, the artist postcards and I have a box for my own projects too. The boxes are the large postboxes of the Deutsche Post. This are proved to be the most suitable till now. From the mighty mass of envelopes I make artistsbooks or I recycle them.