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Stamp Art

Maybe you saw the announcement that Stamps.com is once again offering civilians the opportunity to make their own bona fide postage stamps. The new terms are so restrictive that pretty much anything you'd want to see on a stamp is forbidden, and gaming the system can set you up for a lawsuit. Some pranksters will no doubt try to subvert the Stamps.com policy anyway, but I'd say Michael Hernandez de Luna has a better approach: cut out the middle man. De Luna and other stamp artists have been creating satirical stamps and sending them through the mail for years. In fact, I just got one a few weeks ago on a postcard for a group show that de Luna curated, Axis of Evil: The Secret History of Sin.

This is, of course, illegal. In fact, one of the galleries hosting Axis of Evil received a visit from the Secret Service. Around post offices in Chicago, de Luna is notorious and he's seen a decided drop in the number of fake stamps he is able to get through. But so far, de Luna has more or less ignored visits from the secret service -- not to mention postal authorities and the feds -- and kept doing what he's doing. Why he hasn't gotten in trouble after all these years is a mystery, but I suspect that the powers that be may not want to spend too much energy going after someone who uses the mail for art, particularly since prosecuting would not only cost more than its worth but would ultimately publicize the practice it aims to prohibit. 

After all, making a fake postage stamp is easy these days, thanks to cheap publishing technologies. And many postal workers are overworked humans who appreciate a good joke like the rest of us. I got an email from a postal worker a couple of years ago regarding de Luna's work:

I see hundreds of thousands of letters canceled every  night in automated cancelling machines. There are things that one can do to fool this machinery into thinking a real stamp has been placed on the letter. You may not be aware, but the postal service has a LONG tradition of treating it's workers poorly, so that even if a lot of workers saw fake stamps, they probably wouldn't even mention it to a supervisor. In fact, I'm sure that if some workers saw fake stamps, they would probably be VERY interested in making sure they got cancelled as though they were real stamps, and would possibly even show a few co-workers.

By the way, if you're interested in learning more about the history of stamp art -- and viewing some hilarious examples -- check out The Stamp Art & Postal History of Michael Thompson & Michael Hernandez de Luna (BadPress Books). (Powells | Amazon)

De Luna is looking for a gallery willing to host Axis of Evil in New York. Any interested parties can contact me and I'll put you in touch.