Naked Mail by Lincøln
June 7th, 2010 2:36 AM
Sometime last year I got an email asking if I wanted to participate in a Naked Mail swap, and I joined in with gusto. I couldn't wait! My secret sendee was Charlie Fish. I was pleased, because I got to send something to a different country. Plus I like Charlie.
What to send?
I decided to send a disposable camera naked to England. And I would put instructions on it telling every person who touched it to take a picture with it, the intent being that the item could document its own travels.
That was the intent.
So I got me a disposable camera and made a custom skin with instructions on it.
What I found were Post Office employees who time after time told me they couldn't accept the camera. I went to six different Post Offices across L.A. and found not one cool employee that was willing to take the camera.
I had spent a lot of time going to different Post Offices in a schedule for me that was pretty hectic.
I tried the automated system to weigh and ship it, but there was no option for mailing to England, the automated system was only for domestic mail.
And then my life got crazy busy. All during the time I was trying to make it work, I was also preparing for both Burning Man and Journey To The End Of The Night '09.
And then Journey happened. Followed the next day by our trip to Burning Man.And after my week in Black Rock City I went straight to work hanging Christmas Lights.
And as soon as Christmas Light season was over, I went to Texas.
The point being I gave up on the big Naked Mail task. And my camera addressed to Charlie Fish sat on my table for a long time.
And then I got a call from Tac to mail something to an address he gave me. And since I now mail everything I can Naked, I went to the Post Office to see what postage would be on the rope. And while I was there I decided to pick up the camera again and try again. I went to a new Post Office near my mom's house and I learned something interesting from the employee there. She said the reason she couldn't send the camera is that it is against regulations, and because it's going overseas, her employee number would be attached to the thing, so if it got messed with, they could find out that she authorized it. And she could get fired. She very coyly hinted that if it got dropped in a mailbox, well, then there would be nothing they could do about it. And she gave me a customs form that didn't have to be approved by an employee and told me how much an item of the same relative weight as my camera would cost to ship to England.
So I took her hint, and attached the customs form and four dollar stamps, and dropped it in a mailbox.
That was on April 28, 2010.
Then on June 4, 2010, I received a package from England.
I knew what it was!
I was right!
And look! All of the film was used!
I got the chance to have them developed on June 6th.
Not only did a few mail handlers take photos with the camera:
But Charlie Fish sent me a poem using portraits of people in London.
Some of the people I recognize, some I don't.
But here is Charlie Fish's rendition of Robert Frost's "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening":
Madness!
What is all of this? What does it all mean? Read on. 
The begining
Got me a disposable camera and stripped it of it's clothes.
Template
I took the clothes and used it as a template to make my own clothes that I could then customize.
Finished product
And I did customize it. And look, its all ready for mailing!
The automated postage machine
With the camera on the scale over there. This was back when I was attempting to do this as part of the big Naked Mail Swap.
Conditions
The problem I found was that there was no option for mailing overseas.
Journey
Busy.
Leaving for Burning Man
Busy.
At Burning Man
Busy.
Holiday Lights
Busy.
In Texas at SXSW
Busy.
Good information!
I got good information from a cool post office employee who gave me a customs form and told me how much it would cost to mail my camera.
Invention
I hadn't counted on that huge customs declaration form, and there was no room for it on the camera, so I flapped it on. Genius.
The text
I also realized that I hadn't gotten a good picture of the back text all of those months ago. So here it is now.
Mailed!
This is me mailing the camera by dropping it into a mailbox. You can see the reverse of this shot in the second picture on the camera roll.
June 4, 2010
On Friday June 4, 2010 I got a package from Royal Mail. I had a feeling what I was going to find inside.
Oh yeah!
My suspicions are correct. There's a camera in that there package.
And lookie here
No more pictures left on the roll. Charlie done used 'em all.
Shed its skin
I stripped it of it's strange garb before developing the film.
Oh boy!
An hour after dropping my film off, this is what I got!
1
The first shot on the roll from my first attempt at mailing it back in August '09.
2
This is me mailing it without the aid of any Post Office employees. Mailbox FTW.
3
This is certainly in a Post Office sorting room of some kind. Where? WHo knows? Probably Hollywood.
4
Royal Mail is cooler than the US Postal Service. Here we have some chap who works for Royal Mail giving us a donation of his face. (I can tell we're in England now because Tony the Tiger back there is on a box of Frosties, not Frosted Flakes)
5
Another bloke who works in a sorting room at Royal Mail.
6
The Woods
7
are Lovely
8
Dark
9
And Deep
10
But
11
I Have
12
Promises
13
To Keep
14
And Miles
15
To Go
16
Before
17
I Sleep
18
And Miles
19
To Go
20
Before
21
I Sleep
Another bit of Naked Mail
To somewhere in Santa Clara.
Monkey's Fist Naked Mail
Tac Haberdash told me to send six feet of rope to an address he gave me, so I sent it naked in the form of a Monkey's Fist and zip tied the address and postage to it. No return address. I don't know who I sent it to and they don't know where it cam from. Perfect.
PDØ Pixie
Another piece of Naked Mail that went to PDØ Pixie. The item is an artifact from a task that I haven't submitted yet, that is going into a task that she hasn't submitted yet. So you get this close-up view that's not too revealy.
44 vote(s)
- Michelle M.
- Samantha
- done
- Professor Møbius
- Sombrero Guy
- shady grey
- Haberley Mead
- Ntan McNunofurbizwax
- Dela Dejavoo
- relet 裁判長
- LittleMonk
- saille is planting praxis
- JJason Recognition
- Markov Walker
- rongo rongo
- Silent Zig
- Spidere
- Optical Dave
- Charlie Fish
- Rin Brooker
- Ombwah
- Sean Mahan
- Levitating Potato
- artmouse
- LSK
- susy derkins
- Ty Ødin
- Brock Dubbels
- Waldo Cheerio
- Zenobia
- miss understanding
- Poisøn Lake
- Loki
- Myrna Minx
- carry_me_Zaddy
- Acton Town
- Harle Apocalypse
- Minimal Space
- mock piratey turtle
- Bex.
- The Hammer
- Kattapa
- zer0gee
- Kit
Favorite of:
- done
- shady grey
- Spidere
- Brock Dubbels
- Ntan McNunofurbizwax
- Myrna Minx
- Sombrero Guy
- Minimal Space
- Eloquence Mineyes
- saille is planting praxis
- Kit
Terms
poetry, strangers, photography, employee, rules12 comment(s)
Brilliant! I love it! I like best the pics of the post workers - they seemed to like to be involved! And the poem is lovely as well!
This is great! Another reason to love Royal Mail! They are unfairly mocked here for slow deliveries and bad service, but I've never had any problems, and I've sent many weird things in my time...
Also, I'd forgotten about that rope. Anyone know what that was all about?
Wonderful idea about the camera, and it makes me happy that you were able to complete it after all that time. I guess the time was ripe for your naked mail.
But shouldn't Charlie Fish be added as a collaborator?
I would LOVE to add Charlie, but he's still associated with the Naked Mail Swap.
Hey cool! I totally didn't realise this was a delayed part of the Naked Mail Swap - that was so long ago... I just thought Lincoln had sent me a camera with no explanation. Which seemed fun, so I played along :)
I'm so glad you got at least a couple of behind-the-scenes postie shots. Yes, Royal Mail employees are generally supportive of well-natured mischief.
Incidentally, I don't know all the people in the poem photos either. Some of them are just friendly passers-by.
Camera Mail is indeed a wonderful thing!
this is exactly the sort of mail i'm aiming to send and receive these days. spontaneous and outrageously unexpected and all around awesome.
currently cooking up some good ones ... whose secrets i shall not reveal!!
Damn. It's been awhile since I added any new favorites.
Truly magnificent