Quarterly #6: Postcard Vandalism

Greetings from Aotearoa!

This week I went to the post office and mailed the latest Quarterly publication: THE VANDALISED POSTCARD SERIES.

When I started this newsletter over a year ago, I decided to have a paid option for subscribers that want to support the publication. Those that pay also receive a special letter in the mail four times a year. So far there have been five publications of this kind; the budgie magazine, the risoprint travel zine, a hand-painted moss ball book, a wonky linocut print and an Arctic fox propaganda leporello.

I am not sure I will continue this for much longer as national postal services around the world are making it very hard and expensive to post casual letters. But until I figure out what to do instead, I will keep playing around with it.

I’ve been living in New Zealand for the past half a year, a country notoriously far away from everything, so I thought a postcard would be an appropriate medium this time. For a few weeks I’ve been gathering old, weird, sometimes used postcards in op-shops, thinking I could do something fun with them.

But it turned out to be quite the mess! And when you, my dear subscribers, receive them in your letterboxes, they’ll probably be all smudged and hard to read, the already messy paint will be all scratched and mangled.

But I am not a robot – and life is a mess. If there is a lesson, this is it!

Here below are all the postcards I vandalised, along with some context. You'll see them all if you are a member of the paying audience. If you are in the complimentary seats, you will get a generous preview.

This one was obvious. Sassy but true.

The fur seals are seriously good at camouflaging. I once accidentally tried to step on one! I thought it was a rock.

Forgive me for my humour.

This one was hard. I wanted to make the Tui say something, but it didn’t feel right. I guess this picture demonstrates that feeling - nature is always the most beautiful. Nothing I create comes close to it.

There is always one Sue.

This flower is called DWARF PAINTBRUSH.

Walter Peak Stations used to be a farm but now offers its guests sheep shearing demonstrations “and other rural experiences”. I regret not having Doreen express her enthusiasm for something a little more rural than shower caps. But that said, I’m sure they have shower caps too.

An orca boat destruction squad attacks the world’s largest waka war canoe.

“The Nelson City Council says since 2004, as many as 10 people had made regular complaints about a seagull epidemic”.

I found three postcards by a favourite Kiwi photographer, Robin Morrison. This card has a quote on the back: The man with the broad-brimmed hat, celebrating a win, had great difficulty eating his hot dog until he found the ledge for his sliding elbow.

The Moa bird went extinct about 600 years ago, but some people believe some birds are still lurking in the bush of the South Island.

Look at this brick pot! It was made in 1986 by Peter Lange. If you close your eyes, you can hear it sing. PS! If this is the only image that appears on your screen, you have to press the three dots at the top.