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TBA Mailing Label Street Art

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TBA Mailing Label Street Art
Group:The Butterfly Anarchists
Swap Coordinator:sweetxjosephine (contact)
Swap categories: Art  Mail Art  Illustration 
Number of people in swap:5
Location:International
Type:Type 3: Package or craft
Last day to signup/drop:May 6, 2011
Date items must be sent by:May 20, 2011
Number of swap partners:3
Description:

So, I just picked up a copy of Going Postal by Martha Cooper. I've been infected by the Mailing Label Street Art bug. Based on some forum comments, a few of you have, too.

For the first round of the TBA Mailing Label Street Art swap, go nick some postal/mailing labels from your local post office. A stack of 15 should suffice. (Additionally, if your country does not have Priority Postal Labels or Customs labels, any adhesive label sized 4" x 3" or larger is acceptable.) You will make 5 labels per partner (3 partners per person, for a total of 15 postal labels).

Give your liberated labels some one-on-one time, make 'em nice. They don't all have to be the same; variety is encouraged. The only requirement is that somewhere on the label, the words "Butterfly Anarchists" or the acronym "TBA" appear. It can be the basis of the design, or a signature sized label stuck in the corner. Either way. Sport your TBA pride!

Once they're all tasty with art, send them off to your partners. Upon receipt, please feel free to distribute to others, leave in places for others to find, stamp on buildings, street signs, benches ... whatever. It's up to you. Be creative! And take pictures of places you post or leave them. They'll come in handy for a Round 2 Electronic swap. I promise.

This is International, based on light shipping weight for labels. I've classified this as a Type 3 swap due to the time-intensive nature of art labels. This is a group swap, but I will still be checking profiles. Minimum rating of 4.8, no unexplained or recent 1 or 3 ratings. Please contact me if you have questionable, unexplained ratings. I reserve the right to ban anyone not meeting this criteria.

Please note: The intention of this swap is street art, so ideally these would be posted/stuck around your city in public places. If you are not comfortable with personal information such as blog/website address, full name, etc. being posted/stuck in areas where it may be considered vandalism, please do not include this information on your mailing label art. I do plan to host a swap in the future for advertisement labels to be left for collections. This is not that swap.

Going forward, I will also be hosting an electronic swap for photos of these labels after they've been posted. Some TBA Graffiti photos, if you will.

So, in summary:

  • 5 labels per partner / 3 partners = total of 15 labels
  • Only label requirement: must have "Butterfly Anarchists" or "TBA" somewhere on the label
  • Once received, post around. Be sure to take photos for a later swap, if interested.

... Ok, folks. Any questions? Comments? Out-pourings of emotion? We're all family here. Let me know. And happy swapping.

Discussion

OverMoon 04/25/2011 #

We don't have priority labels in my country (Like the ones in the picture). We do have self-adhesive customs declaration labels, would those be okay to use in this swap?

sweetxjosephine 04/26/2011 #

@OverMoon -- I'd say as long as they're of reasonable size (not like...address label sized) and they've got an adhesive back, they should work wonders for this swap. Plus it'd be cool to see the different types of labels.

theanswerisseven 04/27/2011 #

I'm from the UK and I must say I've no idea as to what these are... in my Post Office you ask for what you need from behind a counter with a glass screen so I wouldn't even know what to ask for - and if I did, don't know if they'd give it to me without it being used immediately for a package! Any UKers who could help? Because this sounds awesome!

OverMoon 04/27/2011 #

@theanswerisseven - Mailing labels like the ones in the picture are pretty much a US only thing. I think. You could use customs declaration labels, I think those are self-adhesive in the UK too?

theanswerisseven 04/28/2011 #

Hmm.. not sure - as I say I'm not sure how to get hold of anything from behind the counter without 'needing it' - also, I think I've only ever had a custom's form filled in for me by the mail person. Is there anything else I could use?

sweetxjosephine 04/28/2011 #

USPS Priority Mail labels are ideal for street art/tag posts because they're disgustingly adhesive and almost impossible to tear off once they've been applied. I would say any form of adhesive mailing label is acceptable, as long as it has a decent sized dimension (no smaller than 4" x 3" ideally) and is fully adhesive.

It never occured to me that other countries may not have as generous a post office.

@theanswerisseven -- do you think you would be able to find labels larger than 4"x3" (I think this is roughly 11 cm x 8 cm) that are completely adhesive? if so, I would say those would be acceptable, even if they are not post office labels, as long as they meet the "decorated" criteria. :]

theanswerisseven 04/29/2011 #

Hi, well, I've just ordered some large blank labels from ebay.. don't know how stick they'll be but hoping for the best! If that's okay I'll use those, and will try to incorporate a faux postage element into them, too. I'm just about to try my hand at artistamps, so perhaps I'll make the label look like a 2D envelope or package and 'cancel' my own stamps or something.

sweetxjosephine 04/29/2011 #

that sounds pretty awesome actually. I Personally, I'd love to see something with that much thought in it stuck up around my city! I'm going to update the swap description to include sized labels. :]

theanswerisseven 05/ 1/2011 #

Ok cool! Also, is it okay for the artwork to be politically themed? [Hopefully nothing that would be super controversial in a group such as this, mind you] I was thinking feminist/anti-consumption/recycling?

sweetxjosephine 05/ 2/2011 #

yes please! politically themed street art is the best kind. rouse some passion in people!! most of mine are politically themed as well, but i'd love to recieve some of yours! (i'm secretly keeping my fingers crossed that i get you as a partner haha)

GRRLbehindtheSTACHE 05/ 9/2011 #

Geeeez. I wanted to join this swap! Do it again! Or who wants to private swap??

GRRLbehindtheSTACHE 05/ 9/2011 #

Geeeez. I wanted to join this swap! Do it again! Or who wants to private swap??

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