Lomholt Mail Art Archive

Index: Ulises Carrion

Biography

Ulises Carrión was born in San Andres Tuxtla, Veracruz, Mexico in 1941. He studied literature and philosophy at UNAM (The National University of Mexico) and went on to become a successful and respected writer; his books of short stories, La muerte de miss O and De Alemania, were published in 1966 and in 1970 respectively.
He received grants to study language and literature in Paris (1964), Germany (1965) and Leeds, England (1972). Whilst in England, Ulises Carrión discovered the work of the Beau Geste Press, that impressed him very much.

In 1972 Carrión moved to Amsterdam, where he began producing his first artist books. He used various techniques and media to always create a special product. To spread his art as much as possible, he extended his mail art contacts. In addition to his projects, Carrión developed the Erratic Art Mail International System (1977), that was supposed to be an alternative to the official postal system, and of which he said: “By using the E.A.M.I.S. you support the only alternative to the national bureaucracies and you strengthen the international artists community.”

His essay Mail Art and the Big Monster (1977) also reflects the cultural strategy of mail art as a “guerrilla war against the Big Monster”. With his stamp projects Carrión attacked the existing system of communication. About his work with stamps, he said: “Among the many genres that artists have created, identified and developed, Stamp Art is a democratic one if there is any. The materials are simple, the format small, the appearance discrete.” For his Cancellation Stamps Project (1979) Carrión invited different artists to design a stamp. The contributions received were the basis for an exhibition at the gallery Stempelplaats in Amsterdam. His projects have questioned the idea of authorship and original, and stressed the cooperation. Feedback Pieces (1981), for example, consists of 242 responses to an invitation that has been transformed by the participating artists to create new works. In 1989 Carrión died in Amsterdam.

Projects

Definitions of Art (1977)
Erratic Mail Art System (1977)
Ephemera (1977-78)
Box, Boxing Boxers (1978)
Artist’s Postage Stamps and Cancellation Stamps (1979)
Anonymous Quotations (1979)
Feedback Pieces (1981)

Literature (selection)

Carrión, Ulises (Hg.): From Bookworks to Mailworks, other books and so, Amsterdam, 1978.
Carrión, Ulises, (Hg).: Commonpress 5, Selbstverlag, Amsterdam, 1978 (Box Boxing Boxers).
Carrión, Ulises, u.a.: Ephemera, Other Books and So, Amsterdam, ab 1978.
Carrión, Ulises: Mirror box, Stempelplaats Amsterdam, 1979.
Carrión, Ulises, Robin Crozier, u.a.: Kunst in der Öffentlichkeit, Marode Editions, Würzburg, 1981.
Carrión, Ulises und Hubert Kretschmer: die neue kunst des büchermachens, Wolkenkratzer Verlag, Frankfurt, 1982.

Links

http://www.e-flux.com/projects/do_it/notes/essay/e003_text.html
Mail Artists Index: http://mailartists.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/ulises-carrion/

Displaying all 29 posts by the networker in Lomholt Mail Art Archive
S 1976 00 00 carrion two circle formular 001
1976-00-00
Two-Circle Formular
Ulises Carrion
S 1978 01 25 carrion 001
1978-01-25
Letter from Carrion
Ulises Carrion
S 1978 09 21 carrion no 2 001
1978-09-21
Commonpress Box - Boxing - Boxers
Ulises Carrion
S 1979 08 08 carrion 001
1979-08-08
Artists Postage Stamps & Cancellation Stamps Exhibition - A Mail Art Project by Ulises Carrion, 0003
Ulises Carrion
S 1980 06 24 carrion 001
1980-06-24
Letter from Carrion
Ulises Carrion
S 1976 05 11 carrion 001
1976-05-11
Letter from Carrion
Ulises Carrion
S 1978 04 00 carrion 001
1978-04-00
Ephemera
Ulises Carrion
S 1978 10 00 carrion 001
1978-10-00
Ephemera
Ulises Carrion
S 1979 12 00 carrion 001
1979-12-00
Rubber on R D Schroeck & Eduard Bal
Ulises Carrion
S 1981 01 30 carrion 001
1981-01-30
Letter from Carrion
Ulises Carrion
S 1977 00 00 carrion 001
1977-00-00
Letter from Carrion
Ulises Carrion
S 1978 04 01 carrion 001
1978-04-01
Rubber
Ulises Carrion
S 1978 11 28 carrion 001
1978-11-28
Rubberstamp Workshop
Ulises Carrion
S 1980 00 00 carrion 001
1980-00-00
Second Thoughts, 0017
Ulises Carrion
S 1981 05 07 carrion 001
1981-05-07
Yellow
Ulises Carrion
S 1977 12 00 carrion 001
1977-12-00
Ephemera, 0003
Ulises Carrion
S 1978 06 00 carrion 001
1978-06-00
Postcard to Lomholt, 0001
Ulises Carrion
S 1979 03 08 carrion 001
1979-03-08
Rubber, Karimbada 1
Ulises Carrion
S 1980 01 00 carrion 001
1980-01-00
Letter from Carrion
Ulises Carrion
S 1981 06 19 carrion 001
1981-06-19
Daily Art
Ulises Carrion
S 1978 00 00 addresses 001
1978-00-00
Mail Art Index, 0002
Ulises Carrion
S 1978 06 13 carrion 001
1978-06-13
R Mutt is not dead
Ulises Carrion
S 1979 05 11 carrion 001
1979-05-11
Ephemera, 0003
Ulises Carrion
S 1980 01 09 carrion 001
1980-01-09
Letter from Carrion
Ulises Carrion
S 1982 03 15 carrion 001
1982-03-15
Seeing Mail
Ulises Carrion
S 1978 00 00 carrion 001
1978-00-00
From Bookworks to Mailworks
Ulises Carrion
S 1978 09 21 carrion no 1 001
1978-09-21
Poster from Carrion
Ulises Carrion
S 1979 06 20 carrion 001
1979-06-20
Invitation from Carrion
Ulises Carrion
S 1980 05 07 carrion 001
1980-05-07
Rubberstamped Artist Books
Ulises Carrion