This End Up: Rough Mail Handling Creates Unique Artworks

post post bent in mail

Fragile, Handle with Care and other messages are meant to remind mail carriers that things should arrive in the condition they were shipped, with this exception perhaps made to prove the rule.

post post deformation

rough reflective wall surface

Twisting, turning, bumping and dropping all help shape these perforated aluminum sheets, turning them into unique sculptures that reflect (light and) the way they were (mis)handled in transit.

rough handled wall mirror sculpture

rough shelf art

The creators of Post Post put it thusly: “Inspired by the frivolous handling of packages sent through the postal system, these are aluminium canvases to be sculpted by the mail service. They are available on our webshop” (though limited to only 111 copies).

rough handling postal service

mail bent wall art

The accidental ‘making’ is in the movement – a process seen neither by seller nor buyer. “Upon ordering, we wrap and deliver the becoming artwork to our local post office in Oslo, Norway, where the rough journey ahead begins. As every sheet is handled differently in the mail, each Post Post is unique. We don’t have any control over how roughly the package is treated, so it might come out really crumbled or just slightly dented.”

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See more in Art of Tech or under Technology. May, 2015.