Going Postal in Bushwick
As I procrastinate another drab trip to the USPS location on South 4th St. (seriously — why is that place the black hole of the ‘hood!?) I’m fondly reminded of the days I toted around a neon pink sticker book under my arm, glittery unicorn and all. Martha Cooper, who you may know from her efforts in 1984′s Subway Art, tells the Village Voice what we’re all thinking. Or, at least, what we wish we were cool enough to think:
“What I really like about postal stickers is the idea that the U.S. government is participating in street art,” Cooper explains from a counter stool in a 14th Street coffee shop, a knitted scarf and matching OBAMA-print hat tucked into her bag. She’s simultaneously eating a whole-wheat doughnut and examining a sticker that demands, “WHERE THE FUCK IS MY MOONCAKE?” This conveniently works as a thought bubble, but it’s actually scrawled on a page in the sleeved album she’s brought along, to show off just a few of the “couple thousand” stickers she has spotted on foot since 2003, shot digitally, then carefully detached with an adhesive remover that lives in her backpack. “It’s like a little treasure hunt, when you’re walking around, to always have your eyes out.”
So, Tonight at 7:30pm, go check out the launch of Miss Cooper’s new book Going Postal, celebrating this special kind of government funded art at Ad Hoc with FREE drinks, of course. Oh, how I love thee, broken economy.
