ARTISTAMP GALLERY
Presents Mail Art's First Online Mail Art Show
CYBERSTAMPS: ARTISTAMPS IN CYBERSPACE
Cyberstamp Entries: Final Postings (03-01-96)
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So What's An Artistamp?
Postage stamps by philatelic definition are tiny, codified, functional objects with edition sizes, denominations, adhesives, perforations, cancellations, inks, colors, papers, watermarks, and printed images. These philatelic definitives, revenues, and commemorative stamp issues are authorized by governments, not artists. While some aspects of the philatelic definition apply to stamps issued by artists, it is the realm of imagination that governs the unorthodox, ephemeral aesthetic of artistamps created by mail artists and emailartists.
So What's A Cyberstamp?
A Cyberstamp is an artistamp in cyberspace. If artistamps are faux postage, then cyberstamps are a double-faux parody of artistamps. The cyberstamp can be altered, cancelled, and mailed like an artistamp, albeit electronically. Cyberstamps are metamorphosed by downloading them as hard copy on pregummed paper. This new "cyberstamp" aesthetic is (e)mailart and is predicated by dissolving art standards by merging media-a very mail art kind of thing to do.
