Pen Palism
To receive something by post is to receive something that has been handled. The letter or package carries with it not only the obvious message in written word or the sentiment of a gift, but the hidden messages from the body of the sender: the fingerprints, the sediment of breath, the oils of the hands, the saliva it takes to seal an envelope.To receive something by post is to receive something that has a history and transcends geography. The artifact bears the visible and invisible traces of some place else. When the recipient handles it a sensuous transmission of information occurs. Pieces from one place gathered together and transferred to another bring with them the vibration, the smell, the essence of its origins.
One day something is felt – thought – written – and sealed in an envelope. This sentiment in material form travels – maybe in the coat or bag of the writer for a few days – the time it takes to find a stamp – then a mailbox. Now the message is in suspension. The writer waits and imagines the moment of reception. The letter is opened perhaps at the breakfast table, on the bus, or on the sidewalk next to the mailbox at the end of a long day. Although the letter has already become an artifact from a moment in history, for the receiver, the sentiments expressed retain a sense of immediacy. The truth of the original moment of expression is intact regardless of distance and time.
Pen Palism