Cancelled Art

By Queuebot in Art on Mar 9, 2010 at 6:06 pm

Two artists have been playing pretty games with the UK Royal Mail’s automated sorting offices. It seems the machines simply read the colour of stamps to check whether the correct postage has been used, so it doesn’t matter what shape they are. Kim Rugg and John Spurgeon each use proper stamps, only they are cut into tiny pieces to create the art on the envelopes. As long as it’s cancelled, it counts! Rugg creates tentacled monsters (pictured), fireworks and beach scenes, while Spurgeon has a collection of vintage postcards sent with confetti postage called ShakesMyMail.

Link to Kim Rugg’s work. Link to John Spurgeon’s Flickr set.

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by longbird.


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  1. Minnesotastan
    Mar 9th, 2010 at 8:06 pm

    What the sorting equipment at the Royal Mail reads is probably a fluorescent tag applied to the stamps, rather than the color pigments per se.

    This art project probably wouldn't pass official scrutiny is this country because there one could just as easily use previously cancelled stamps, cut so that the cancel was not apparent.

  2. Behemoth
    Mar 10th, 2010 at 5:29 am

    I always thought defacing an image of the queen was treason..?

  3. Splint Chesthair
    Mar 10th, 2010 at 8:05 am

    @Behemoth

    Is that what happened to Sid Vicious?

  4. Fran
    Mar 11th, 2010 at 7:39 pm

    Pretty, but someone has waaaaay too much time on their hands.

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