If it is true, that the information on the knowledge of the whole modern art investigation greater is than what any particular artist could ever understood, then is the concept of Avantgarde out of date. Who can, with his uncomplete knowledge, sure enough say, who is leading and who is not. I suggest to consider each individual artist as a part of an eternal network.

Mail art or networking art is an alternative art that puts its emphasis on communication. Communication is its message. A communication that goes beyond the boundaries, both in space and in a spiritual sense. Mail art networking considers art as a product of communication, fruit of the human work (the work), and as a web of relations among the senders united throughout a net (the net) that makes connexions possible for them. Similar to internet, where there is no central head, each networker (mail artist) acts as a contact point of recyclement and creation of communication and information.

Thus, mail art is neither a style, nor a specific technique nor one of the many „isms" in art, but a creative process in community. Everybody is welcome in mailart. All participants are equally worth, the interchange is made by post, fax, e-mail and WorldWideWeb. In this way, a global culture develops from the basis, building worldwide networks of artists of the most different disciplines. Some of these disciplines are the performance art, music, video, rubber stamp art, conceptual art, painting, graphic, poetry, visual poetry, land art, body art, multimedia, virtual art and some others; also here mail art - being interdisciplines part of its essence - puts no boundaries.

This mail art, also called networking art, has been originated among others in Ray Johnsons New York Correspondence School of Art and Fluxus and it has been continously developing for more than 40 years. Some theorists maintains, this is the greatest boundless artist movement that has ever existed.

Since the works of art are given away in interchange, they are not interesting for the official art market. However, museums also collect this worldwide phenomenon. Of course, mailart is most vital in international exchange, team-work and exhibitions like this one, where the principle of a mail art exhibition is kept, i.e., that all contributions are shown without any jury selecting the works of art.

For our mail art installation „Reeperbahn 1997", which was specially conceived for the ElbArt 97 inside the old tunnel under the river Elbe, we have asked our colleages worldwide to work over a view of the Reeperbahn that is more than 100 years old, contributing in this way to the subject „Reeperbahn" and everything related to it. The Reeperbahn, situated only a few minutes away from the Elbtunnel is the most famous street in the world; to fetch it out here in an artistic way through this mail art show is also a question about the relation between market and soul, between body and business, between prostitution and art, and every association that this installation is able to raise.

Created by The Panman (markb@echonyc.com) й copyright 1995 Mark Bloch (with thanks to Ray Johnson and all others I may have omitted)