Return to Sender by Slip Studio

Return to sender.

Created as part of Artist-in-Residency programme at Nida Art Colony and Erasmus LLP programme "Contemporary Past: Tracking a Postcard" June 2012. Printing: all in-house at Nida Art Colony Papers: Typefaces: Palemonas and Monotype Grotesque

Foreword This publication in its present form is a collection of sketches and ideas. Unfinished and not yet fully formed they are a record of activities and responses of a month spent in Nida. As a set of investigations on the idea of codes and hidden modes of communication it is fitting that at the moment the collected works are vague and ambiguous in intended meaning. Yet as collected set of works in progress they provide a "rosetta stone" to decipher the meaning and potential of future works. My deepest to all the residents, staff, and students at the Colony for the opportunity to develop these ideas and the invaluable conversations and experiences we have shared over the last month.

Return to sender. No Address. No Such Zone

Introduction to Workshop 1: Surveying (June 11,2 012 17.00-18.30) The original brief of The LLP Erasmus Intensive Programme “Contemporary Past: Tracking a Postcard” (CP afterwards) takes its initial inspiration from the location of Nida Art Colony on the Curonian Spit, “a shortcut of the 19th century mail road connecting Koenigsberg and Riga (and on to Paris, Warsaw and St. Petersburg)”. The IP course seeks to explore “communication by visual representation and suggests the participants reflect on travelling, be it a message travelling from a sender to a receiver, an idea, an object or a person.” In response the working title of the overall project of these workshops is “Return to Sender”. The reference of course is to the 1962 iconic song by Elvis that has been covered thousands of times since. While it is admittedly a rather intuitive starting point, once I reread the lyrics I was intrigued in how they were both so clearly evocative of another time and place that dominated by technologies of modes of communication that now seem archaic. Further I liked the idea of address unknown, no such number, no such zone and what that could me in terms of the broadcasting and dissemination of messages to an unknown audience. Of course in the song Elvis does have a specific target for his message, it is just that she doesn’t want to talk to him, so in the end he resorts to delivering the message in person. Again this idea of distance versus personal delivery of a message in lyrics interested me. But most of all the notion that by returning the letter the unnamed lover had participated in a two-way communication system by simply writing “return to sender, address unknown, no such number, no such zone”. Without saying anything really, the unnamed lover had said everything, and from there a serious of “feedback loops” escalate in differing sets of actions. That’s probably more analysis than the simple lyrics warrant, but I do like how they serve as a starting point for potentially a wide -ranging discussion about message transfer and reception through a simple piece of paper. Finally one last bit of trivia that I believe is vastly interesting for our discussion. On January 8, 1993, the day that would have been Elvis’s 58th birthday, the US Postal Service issued what would become the most popular stamp in US history, a stamp for 29 cents featuring the image of a young Elvis Presley. Immediately people rushed out to buy the stamps and send them to fake addresses in order to get them stamped…. “return to sender”.

So leaving Elvis behind for the moment and back to the CP programme, over the next three workshops we will try to answer the following questions posed in the initial brief through the medium of participatory and generative printed matter. (Below are the questions from the brief with potential areas of investigation/ provisional answer in brackets) - How does a piece of art communicate with the viewer? (Historically Curonian Spit flags, symbology, and heraldry. Contemporarily digital abbreviations, links, and memes) - What codes, strategies or methods are used in this communication? (Again historically Curonian Spit flags, symbology, and heraldry. Contemporarily digital abbreviations, links, and memes) - Does it matter what the artist wants to say and what the viewer gets? (This requires discussion) - What happens to a coded message while it travels from the artist’s head to that of the viewer? (Again this requires discussion, but note the very act of discussion is a form of transmission) - Is it possible to materialize the process of thought through visual signs? (I would say resolutely yes and printed matter is a key component) - Should one avoid or make use of the volatility of meaning and subjective truth? (No comment at this point) - How close can means of visual communication get to those of a language? (Visual communication is a form of language and indivisible from thought…we’ll get into this later) -How to challenge the viewer’s habits of reading visual messages? (Well that is the ultimate question of the workshops) Techniques to be introduced/discussed in Stage 1: -Inbox techniques: Scripting in Illustrator and Indesign Jpeg Tweaking Embracing the Grain Default Systems as Generator Misc Apps Post-box techniques: Xerography Echo Printing - 2 runs with misaligned registration Misc binding methods Activities: Site Visits if time permits

“Return to Sender” Written by: Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott I gave a letter to the postman, he put it his sack. But in early next morning, he brought my letter back. She wrote upon it: Return to sender, address unknown. No such number, no such zone. We had a quarrel, a lover’s spat I write I’m sorry but my letter keeps coming back. So then I dropped it in the mailbox And sent it special D. But in early next morning it came right back to me. She wrote upon it: Return to sender, address unknown. No such number, no such zone. This time I’m gonna take it myself and put it right in her hand. And if it comes back the very next day then I’ll understand the writing on it Return to sender, address unknown. No such person, no such zone.

Neringa is...

neringa is home to the longest street in the country neringa is the longest town in lithuania neringa is achieving its goals neringa is born neringa is 72% forested land neringa is a lithuanian cultural camp founded by the sisters of the immaculate conception in 1969 neringa is very interested in cooperation with storsudret neringa is not a true city neringa is een schiereiland op 338 kilometer van vilnius en 50 kilometer van klaipĐ&#x201D;â&#x20AC;&#x201D;da neringa is een prachtig vakantiegebied gelegen aan de baltische zee neringa is a great holiday site neringa is fascinated 15 neringa is the lithuanian part of the curonian spit neringa is located neringa is a very special case neringa is an active member of the romance writers of america neringa is a name of a place and nagli is the name of a hill in palanga neringa is within walking distance of all the sights neringa is one of the most beautiful resort towns in the baltic region neringa is a resort town neringa is a private neringa is a small neringa is a very nice place to stay neringa is limited neringa is also a small fishermen town neringa is the scandic chainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fifth hotel in the baltic states neringa is 2700 neringa is een aantrekkelijk oord voor toeristen die stilte weten te waarderen neringa is a world of sand dunes neringa is due to open in april 2001 neringa is situated in the city centre neringa is 20 and son marius neringa is a lovely lithuanian camp located near west brattleboro neringa is a town encompassing the entire lithuanian part of the kursiu nerija neringa is a wonderful sandy spit between the baltic sea and the kirsiu lagoon combining sand dunes and pine forests neringa is neringa is of course different from the forests in sweden but that was not a problem neringa is a skinny spit of land running along the northwest coast of lithuania neringa is an unusual and fragile environment neringa is worth a visit for atmosphere and views neringa is a lithuanian neringa is a narrow spit of land running from klaipeda to nearly as far as kaliningrad

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Residency Conditions

Grants

Organizing an event

Selected canditates will use the Colonyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s equipement, bicycles and minivan. Each of the five residencies is set out on two floors, has 65 sq.m of floor space, and features all necessary facilities. A 600-metre walk down a forest path from the colony is a Blue Flag white sand beach.

Some calls include provided grants. If grants are not available, a letter of support \ invitation will be issued to each selected applicant. Studio rent fee is 312 (winter)\ 412 (summer) Eur per month, including all taxes, use of equipment, bicycles and the minivan.

The colony also welcomes proposals from curators \organizations to use its facilities (seminar(53 sq. m.) and conference\ exhibition (100sq. m.) spaces, roof terrace (100 sq. m.), 63-bed guest house) and produce an event.

Location Nida Art Colony is on the Curonian Spit, wich is a 98 km long peninsula separating the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea. The Curonian Spit is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the most beautiful and unique cultural landscapes of Europe. The colony is located in the small resort town of Nida, which has been known as a welcoming and inspiring destination for artists since the XIX century.

Nida Art Colony, Vilnius Academy of Arts, Taikos st.43, Neringa (Nida), Lithuania, +370 662 45216, info@nidacolony.lt, www.nidacolony.lt

A new artist-in-residency and art & education place on the Baltic sea coast

: - 15 February for June-December residencies - 15 June, for Juanary- May residencies

the application deadlines are

Nida Art Colony, branch of Vilnius Art Academy of Arts, invites artists, designers, architects, art researchers and curators to apply for a residency or to organize an event : seminar, workshop, summer\winter school, conference, etc.

Nida Art Colony, Vilnius Academy of Arts, Taikos st.43, Neringa (Nida), Lithuania, +370 662 45216, info@nidacolony.lt, www.nidacolony.lt