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Anna Banana fonds
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Mail art and correspondence

Series is made up of correspondence and mail-art related items received and collected by Anna Banana from the late 1960’s to the 2000s. The series reflects Banana’s involvement in the Mail Art movement (through what was then called the Mail Art Network – referring to a global network of artists who communicate through the post as an act of decentralization of artistic communication among the arts community) as well as her own personal mail. Beginning in the mid 60’s, mail art was a movement inspired by the Dadaists and futurists of the early 20th century, and made popular by notable artists such as Ray Johnson, as well as artist groups such as Image Bank and the New York Correspondence School. It remains a highly collaborative and decentralized global movement, with artists like Banana sending out, receiving, and manipulating artworks through the mail. It focuses on small form artworks, including rubber stamps, artistamps, decoration and adornment of letters and envelopes, chain mail and other creative forms.

Subject matter includes mail-art received through the Mail Art Network, personal mail to friends and family, and collected invitations to participate in mail art shows, publications and magazines, as well as catalogues of artists displayed in mail art shows, publications and magazines. Media in this series varies greatly due to the nature of the mail art movement, and the lines between textual and graphic records are blurred, so that many letters, envelopes and other classically textual mediums are often decorated with the use of paints, stamps, drawings, collage and other mixed media.

The series is arranged into 11 subseries using Banana’s existing filing system: Original mail art network, 1990s Mail art (Part 1), 1990s Mail art (Part 2), Mail art Fin de Siecle 2000, 2000s Mail art (Part 1), 2000s Mail art (Part 2), Mail art final years, Personal mail, Mail art show and publication invitations and catalogues, Unfiled mail, and Envelopes.

Original mail art network

Subseries contains mail art and correspondence received and created by Banana through the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s. This period is marked by her engagement with the early Mail Art Network, including prominent artists and networkers such as her then partner Bill Gaglione (later Picasso, also known as Dadaland), Ray Johnson, Guglielmo Cavellini, Buster Cleveland, Irene Dogmatic, Pat Travenner, Art Rat (aka Gary Lee-Nova), Judy Hoffberg, General Idea, Dick Higgens and others.

Items in this subseries are predominantly letters and envelopes, often decorated, but also include photographs, drawings, xerox art, found objects and small sculptural items, collage, and other visual mediums, often integrated into the letters and envelopes.

Anna Banana fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1845
  • Fonds
  • 1964-2020

Fonds contains materials arising from Anna Banana’s activities in the Mail Art network, her collecting of published materials and artworks, her performance art, exhibitions of her work and others, promotion of her activities, the production of various publications including VILE magazine, and the creation of visual art including artist trading cards, artistamps, collage, drawings and paintings. Materials were created in Victoria and Vancouver from 1964-1973, San Francisco from 1973 to 1982, Vancouver from 1982 to 1995 and the Sunshine Coast from 1995 to 2020, as well as on various tours and travels throughout this whole period. Materials are often focused on the neodadaist movements of San Francisco in the 1970s and beyond, as well as involvement in the Mail Art Network and performance art, and Anna’s personal and professional life.

The fonds is divided into 10 series: Mail art and correspondence, Interactive/performance art, Anna Banana’s publications, Artworks, Artist Trading Cards, Artistamps, Exhibitions, Photographs, Press, Collected publications. Records include textual materials, particularly letters, postcards, books, periodicals, zines, and other published materials; graphic materials such as envelope art, photographs, collage, xerox art, ink and pencil drawings, and watercolour; and other items such as CDs, DVDs, and various artefacts.

Banana, Anna

Personal mail

Subseries reflects Anna Banana’s separation of personal correspondence from her mail art network activities. Correspondence from some individuals located in this subseries can also be found elsewhere, and much of her personal correspondence might also be considered mail art. The series was created between 1967 and 2016. Much of the correspondence is made up of greeting cards from friends, letters to and from family members, as well as correspondence relating to Banana’s romantic endeavors.

The series arises out of distinctions that Banana made in her own filing system and has not been changed. It is generally made up of textual materials such as letters, cards, postcards and envelopes, but also contains graphic and photographic materials.

Books

Subseries was created between the late 1960s and 2016, and is made up of collected books. These include published books about various artists, art movements, and collections of essays, as well as artist books, some chap books, self published books of poetry and other small edition books. There is no clear focus to the collection, although mail art, performance art, artist books, and concrete poetry make up a significant portion.

Books are separated into files by name.

Press

As soon as Banana began her performance life as Anna Banana in 1971, she began to collect and distribute information about herself and her events. This series reflects those activities, and includes press releases and posters produced by Banana for her various shows, events and performances, as well as newspaper clippings, photocopies of news stories, magazine articles, and gallery schedules which made mention of her and her activities.

The series is arranged semi-chronologically, with certain events, such as the Banana Olympics or her 1978 Futurist Sound tour with Bill Gaglione meriting their own files.

Collected Publications

Series is made up of published materials collected by Anna Banana. Series was collected between 1970 and 2019, from before Anna’s beginnings in the mail art network up until the donation of the fonds to UBC.

Many items were created out of mail art collaborations, while others were collected because of reference to Anna’s work, reference to the mail art network as a whole, because the creators were friends or colleagues of hers or because the items held personal interest. Banana loosely divided this series into a number of different categories, which were the basis of the subseries found here: Zines, Periodicals, Books, Exhibit Catalogs, and “Best Examples of how Mail Art Evolved.” Items which do not fit into these specific categories have been set aside into a subseries labeled “Ephemera”.

Photographs

Series was collected and produced over the course of Anna’s career. It is made up of a number of binders and collections of photographs. The five binders mainly show events which Anna organized, or record her artworks, performances or costumes, such as the Banana Olympics of 1975, Columbus Day Parades in San Francisco in the 1970s, and her 1978-9 European Tour with Bill Gaglione. Other files include collected photographs from various mail art network connections and friends, although most are not labeled and so specific individuals are difficult to ascertain. Identifiable people and photographers include Genesis P. Orridge, Montana Rose, Mat Matthews, Mike Slattery, J.A.N Galligan, Irene Dogmatic and others. Photographs are mostly black and white and colour prints, black and white negatives and colour positive slides.

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