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...