o t h e r p e o p l e ’ s ma
i l
this
am
e r i c a n l i f e:JUL 25
#70
1997
e v a b l a c k
o t h e r p e o p l e ’ s ma i l
thi s
am e r i c a n l i f e
:
JUL 25
#70
1997
o t h e r p e o p l e ’ s ma i l
thi s
am e r i c a n l i f e
:JUL 25
#70
1997
prologue
act one: dead letters
act three: saviors
act two: thief
act four: golden rule
p r o l o g u e
p r o l o g u e
o t h e r p e o p l e ’ s ma i l
JUL 25
#70
1997
PE TE
won’t eat out of the dumpster, he has rules
(loves)
dumps t e r d i v i n g
he loves read ing other people ’ s m a i l
BUT HE
PE TE founda b a g o f l e t t e r s
a year and a half
A MANa womanpete had the woman’s side
long converstat ion
b e t w e e n
&
j erk
T H E M A N ’ S S I D E
h e s e n t h e r m i x e d m e s s a g e s
was platonic
he was a
&
the woman’s side
s h e w e n t b a c k t o s c h o o l
SHE LIED TO HIM AND WENT TO JAIL
GO T A J OB
s h e a dm i t t e d
&
o t h e r p e o p l e ’ s ma i l
ac
t o
n
e : d e a d l e t t er
s
o t h e r p e o p l e ’ s ma i l
ac
t o
ne : d e a d l e t t e
rs
JUL 25
#70
1997
R I C H A R D L I O N S
N E G I T I V E L A N D
f r o m t h e b a n d
photo project, collecting notes from wrecked cars and photographing the cars
started
spr ing 1994
h e f o u n d h i s o l d c a r
o w n e d b y a s i n g l e m o t h e r
I don’t care if he wants to do crank and everything else to get high. I can find
someone who will be better for me, I know will be around for at least some
times and care about me and us both.
1 s i n g l e m o t h e r
Virg inia sa id you don’ t want to ta lk to me so we are
through wi th each other and I ’m get t ing a bort ion
and I don’ t want your baby so leave me a lone
2
1 9 7 7 B u i c k R e g a l
love le t ter
3
school student
C h e v y Va n
photo/note
photo/note
who: him and his buddies
what: drove drunk
when: 11:30 pm Easter Eve
why: young, stupid and high on beer
1. couch2. love seat3. chair4. coffee table5. dinning table6. T.V.7. radio
l i s t1 9 8 7 Vo l k s w a g e n Fo x
4
passing notes
1 9 7 9 C a d i l l a c F l e e t w o o d M a c
5
crashed essay
crashed essay
n a t a l i e b a b y, s o h o w a r e y o u s w e e t s ? y o u l o o k s o
c u t e .
miss carriage1 9 7 8 T o y o t a C e l l i c a
6
I d idn’ t love the guy, he was hooked
on crack and the baby would
have probably come out mental .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
. . .when they ring the golden bells for you and me
7hymn
ac t t w o : t h i e f
o t h e r p e o p l e ’ s ma i l
ac t t w o : t h i e fJUL 25
#70
1997
wstudent worker
student mailbox worker
thief and lover
student worker
thief and lover
letter stealer.present stealer.cookie eater.& letter reader.
she’s a:
stashes bagstashes bag
stashes bag stashes bag
stashes bag
stashes bag & no one noticed.
working..all while
she only touches & kissesthe four corners of his mailbefore putting it in his box.
glen.she’s also a lover of a boy named,
until she got a notice from the university cops...did she get
caught?
she reported to cops with three other students
she decided she won’t confess.& she never will.
ac
t t h r e e : s a v i o
r s
ac
t t h r e e : s a v i o
r s
o t h e r p e o p l e ’ s ma i l
JUL 25
#70
1997
a c t t h r e e : s av
iors
oth
er p
e o p l e ’ s m a i l
mail recovery centers
three locations in the united states
their objective...
open and read lost mail to figure out where it needs to go
found:items
bugs
(bug
off)
dog p
oop,
ciger
ette b
utts,
dead
mice
also find checks searchfor names
opened a women’s lost mail
insidewhere pictures of her in front of her fireplace
figured out
figured out
in the background of her photos where
christmas cards with addressees
workers do
rules by man-agment
workers do
only send back cecks, legal certificates or anything
over ten dollars or more, the rest gets thrown away
workers willse
nd ba
ck th
ings
that
look
impo
rtant
;
wedd
ing i
nvite
s, in
terna
tiona
l lett
ers,
etc.
work is becoming more automated, so these jobs are
being cut. the upper management doens’ t realize
the impact the workers have.
cost cutting
thankful
customers are so thankful for the work
title : golden rul
ac
t f o
u r : g o l d e n r u
le
title : golden rul
o t h e r p e o p l e ’ s ma i l
ac
t f o
u r : g o l d e n r u
le
JUL 25
#70
1997
believes other people’s mail is personal and private
sarah vowelleditor at, this amercan life
philcollector of other people’s things
sarah visits phil at his home.
phil collects:shopping lists, pads of paper that people test pens on, notes, to do lists, etc.
phil’s interested in these collections as being random art, which is art not made as art.
but he doesn’t want other people looking at his mail the way he looks at others...