Guy Bleus
Encyclopedia
Guy Bleus is an artist
associated with the mail art
movement and performance art
.
His work covers different areas, including administration
(which he calls Artministration), postal and olfactory communication
.
with works and information of 6000 artists from more than 60 countries. “Guy Bleus has one of the finest archives of mail art in Europe, if not the world.”
Bleus was the first artist who systematically used scents in plastic arts. Since 1979 he showed smell paintings, mailed perfumed objects and made aromatic installations; he also created spray performances where he sprayed a mist of fragrance over the audience.
Exploring the possibilities of communication media as art media, he investigated the postal system in Indirect correspondence (1979) and searched for an alternative postal system in Airmail by balloons. Together with Charles François he was a pioneer using a computer connected to a modem
for artistic communication (in 1989). He also applied reproduction media such as Microfilm, CD-ROM and DVD-ROM for artistic reasons.
(1983), Cavellini Festival 1984, Art is Books (1991), Fax
Performances (1992), Private Art Detective
: Sealed Confessions, and Building
Plans & Schemes (1993).
He wrote many texts on the subject of networking art. About his essay Exploring Mail Art (1984) Géza Perneckzy wrote: “The study of Guy Bleus outranks all other publications with its theoretical weight and conciseness.” Moreover, he contributed to significant publications, such as Piotr Rypson’s Mail Art, Chuck Welch's Eternal Network, A Mail Art Anthology, or Vittore Baroni’s Postcards – Cartoline d’artista. He participated to a lot of artists' magazines.
From 1994 till 1999 he opened the art gallery E-Mail-Art Archives. In this non-profit space more than 40 events of mail art, fax art and Internet art took place. In 1995 he edited The Artistamp Collection, the first mail art catalogue on CD-ROM. With the participation of networking artists such as Vittore Baroni
, Ken Friedman
, John Held Jr., Ruud Janssen
, György Galántai, Pawel Petasz and Géza Perneczky, he published in 1997 the first E-Mail-Art & Internet-Art Manifesto, an issue of his electronic zine
.
After a bureaucratic venture of 20 years he realised in 2003 (together with Jean Spiroux) the very first postage stamp
on the theme mail art edited by an official Postal Service. It was an edition of 4 million copies realised by the Belgian Postal Service.
In 2005-2006 Bleus organised the olfactory mail art project Scents, Locks & Kisses with 778 artists from 43 countries in the arts centre Z 33.. The website is a slideshow with all the works of the participating artists.
A retrospective of his work was held in the Cultural Centre of Hasselt in 2010. The publication Pêle-Mêle: Guy Bleus® – 42.292 had bracts perfumed with lavender essence and included a re-edition of his ID from planet Mars of 1979.
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
associated with the mail art
Mail art
Mail art is a worldwide cultural movement that began in the early 1960s and involves sending visual art through the international postal system. Mail Art is also known as Postal Art or Correspondence Art...
movement and performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
.
His work covers different areas, including administration
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
(which he calls Artministration), postal and olfactory communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
.
Art and archive
In 1978 he founded the The Administration Centre – 42.292 which became a huge art archiveArchive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
with works and information of 6000 artists from more than 60 countries. “Guy Bleus has one of the finest archives of mail art in Europe, if not the world.”
Bleus was the first artist who systematically used scents in plastic arts. Since 1979 he showed smell paintings, mailed perfumed objects and made aromatic installations; he also created spray performances where he sprayed a mist of fragrance over the audience.
Exploring the possibilities of communication media as art media, he investigated the postal system in Indirect correspondence (1979) and searched for an alternative postal system in Airmail by balloons. Together with Charles François he was a pioneer using a computer connected to a modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
for artistic communication (in 1989). He also applied reproduction media such as Microfilm, CD-ROM and DVD-ROM for artistic reasons.
Networking and projects
Impressive are the numerous international art projects Bleus has organised, such as Are you experienced? L.H.F.S. (1981), W.A.A.: Mail eARTh Atlas (1981-83), TelegraphyTelegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...
(1983), Cavellini Festival 1984, Art is Books (1991), Fax
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
Performances (1992), Private Art Detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
: Sealed Confessions, and Building
Building
In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...
Plans & Schemes (1993).
He wrote many texts on the subject of networking art. About his essay Exploring Mail Art (1984) Géza Perneckzy wrote: “The study of Guy Bleus outranks all other publications with its theoretical weight and conciseness.” Moreover, he contributed to significant publications, such as Piotr Rypson’s Mail Art, Chuck Welch's Eternal Network, A Mail Art Anthology, or Vittore Baroni’s Postcards – Cartoline d’artista. He participated to a lot of artists' magazines.
From 1994 till 1999 he opened the art gallery E-Mail-Art Archives. In this non-profit space more than 40 events of mail art, fax art and Internet art took place. In 1995 he edited The Artistamp Collection, the first mail art catalogue on CD-ROM. With the participation of networking artists such as Vittore Baroni
Vittore Baroni
Vittore Baroni , born in Forte dei Marmi, Italy, is an Italian mailartist, music critic and explorer of countercultures. Since the mid-1970s he has been one of the most active and respected promoters and documenters of mail art....
, Ken Friedman
Ken Friedman
Ken Friedman, is a seminal figure in Fluxus, an international laboratory for experimental art, architecture, design, literature, and music. He had his first solo exhibition in New York in 1966. He has also been involved with mail art, and he has written extensively about Fluxus and Intermedia...
, John Held Jr., Ruud Janssen
Ruud Janssen
Ruud Janssen is a Dutch Fluxus and mail artist currently living in Breda in the Netherlands.Ruud Janssen studied Physics and Mathematics. He became active with mail art in 1980 and did several international mail art projects...
, György Galántai, Pawel Petasz and Géza Perneczky, he published in 1997 the first E-Mail-Art & Internet-Art Manifesto, an issue of his electronic zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
.
After a bureaucratic venture of 20 years he realised in 2003 (together with Jean Spiroux) the very first postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
on the theme mail art edited by an official Postal Service. It was an edition of 4 million copies realised by the Belgian Postal Service.
In 2005-2006 Bleus organised the olfactory mail art project Scents, Locks & Kisses with 778 artists from 43 countries in the arts centre Z 33.. The website is a slideshow with all the works of the participating artists.
A retrospective of his work was held in the Cultural Centre of Hasselt in 2010. The publication Pêle-Mêle: Guy Bleus® – 42.292 had bracts perfumed with lavender essence and included a re-edition of his ID from planet Mars of 1979.