How to Start a Mail Art Project: Part Three

You've just sent your project out into the world and, now that it's passing from one artist to the next, you worry. You worry it'll get forgotten on a bus somewhere. You worry it'll get lost in the shuffle of a disorganized studio somewhere. You worry it'll get tossed in with a load of laundry and ruined forever. Yes, you worry about a lot of things. One thing is for certain, though, is that all of these feelings are normal. There's a lot you can't control when sending these projects out to complete strangers (or even your friends, for that matter), but there are some steps you can take that might lead to a successful ending.

Delivery confirmation numbers: these are the magic numbers you stick on to your packages that allow you to track where packages are when they've arrived at their destination. Make this a requirement each time your project heads out into the postal system and make it a requirement that each participant supply you (or the group somehow) with this number. That way, you know for sure when packages are sent, where they are and when they've been received. If they get lost in the mail, it's a lot easier to get the post office involved and hopefully reach a resolution.

Ask before you send policy: be sure to make it a requirement that each participant contacts the next person in line before sending your project along to them. They need to ask two very important questions: Are you ready to receive this project? Is your address correct? Verifying this information will prevent your project from being stalled by someone who may already have a lot going on or from it being sent to the wrong place.

Notify when you receive policy: make it a requirement that participants make it public when they've received your project and how many days they expect it to take before they start working. Some mail artists also request an estimated time of completion so the next person can be aware and clear out any other projects they might be working on.

Follow-up if you've forgotten policy: don't hound your participants or no one is going to want to work with you on anything else again. Don't be too soft, either, or you'll just get walked all over. After two weeks has passed and you haven't seen your project move, send a courteous note to the person stalling your project asking them when they could send it along. If they're having trouble financially, it might be a good idea to offer to help them with postage. In some cases, though, you'll find that nothing works and you have to just be patient.

Patience: this isn't easy for anyone. Some projects take a week to wrap up (if you're doing a simple group exchange and are sending out returns to everyone) and others can take up to a year. Everything depends on what you're doing, how many people are participating and how organized the project is. You have to be patient, though, and keep in mind that things could (and probably will) go wrong one time or another during this process.