CN : How did you get involved with mail art?

RJ : In 1980 I started with sending out envelopes into the network. Some years before I probably saw an exhibition of Donals Evans works in a locat exhibition and as a child I was fascinated by mail and postage. So the creativity and the fascinations joined together and made me the interest for the network and exploring it.

Karys Llewellyn: What is it about Mail-Art, compared to other mediums of art, that keeps you participating?

KL: What is it about Mail-Art, compared to other mediums of art, that keeps you participating?

RJ: In Mail-Art all kind of media come together. So Mail-Art çould be called a specific medium as well, but with all the communicationforms at hand nowadays, there is so much to experiment.... The concept is that communication is the medium you use in your art. Mail, the traditional form of sending something from one person to another has now also the e-mail form. But websites generate e-mails (like social networks do) and the play with communication has speeded up a lot. The letter takes its time. When I send something out, the response might take days, weeks or months. That is always a surprise. Communication brings you new ideas.

In Mail-Art one normally takes a break now and then. Always answering mail is a hard job. But once you get a suprise and/or interesting piece in your hand, you are eager to send out something again.

So to make it short in answering: the surprise and interaction with other artists that work on a non-commercial basis in mail-art. The exchange of art, time and ideas.

Van M. Cagle: How about an Interview with you?

VMC: I would like to interview you and also Michael Hernandez de Luna. I need a little assistance. I cannot find de Luna on your website. Is he a member of the IUOMA? Please let me know about the interview with you. We'd probably have to do it via email, since our time differences are so drastic. If this poses problems, I can try to think of another solution.

RJ : About interviewing me; no problem. Just realize that it sometimes takes time for me to answer. About Michael Hernandez de Luna, I am not sure about having an e-mail address. Maybe just google it?

Hal: Are you still interviewing Mail-Artists?

Well Hal, it is a question that I get more often. Sometimes I do start an interview but only rarely and only when I have the time. People who request to be interviewed by me were also not choosen during the Mail-Interview project. Just because otherwise all contacts I have could be asking that. I did think out a system back in 1998-2000 where mail-artists could indicate who I should consider (they could not mention themselves), and that brought me hints on people to interview that I wasn't even aware of. Actually that turned into a kind of startistical event where I would find out about the existing networks outside my own network.