Pushing the Envelope: An exhibition of mailed and correspondance art is a group show of 2D artists that use or reference archaic technology. The mailed artworks are hung throughout the UK’s National Museum of Computing (TNMOC)’s galleries between, beside or over the machines themselves. Opened November 2nd 2024 until March 30th 2025.
Title: ART FAX, 2024, analogue fax machine, thermal paper, screen-printed card-board box.
Visual artist Lucy Helton’s ART FAX exhibits work from one invited artist a month faxing via an internet portal from undisclosed locations. Artists can send up to 150 images of their choosing during their month. The fax machine rings alerting museum visitors and staff and a long scroll of imaged thermal paper creates a pile on the floor.
The exhibition provides a platform to soft launch ART FAX, for the artist to conduct research on whether a fax machine and/or its faxed artwork can be sold on a subscription basis. This research and exhibition stems from her questioning current art-world systems, such as, how can various forms of non-archival artwork exist, who are its audiences and what transpires when exhibiting outside the gallery?
November’s fax artist is documentary photographer and prolific zine-maker Matt Martin, founder curator of The Photocopy Club, established in 2011 which is now in transit.
Lucy is TNMOC’s first artist-in-residence, working with retired engineer and volunteer Peter Onion. Using the Elliott 803 computer and its dedicated plotter printer housed in the Large Systems Gallery, a large scale print and other project ideas are currently in progress, along with the curation of this exhibition.
The residency is funded by London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP).
www.lucyhelton.com