Room 11 - GUY BLEUS

Guy Bleus was born in Hasselt, Belgium in 1950. He studied philosophy at the Free University of Brussels. The main topic in his artistic works is “artministration”, whereby he understands a critical analysis of administration and its degeneration into bureaucracy, because from his point of view you can find the “banality of the evil” (Hannah Arendt) in every administration. He stamps “make (mail) art not war”. In 1979 at the Administrative Art Performance he showed up with his administrative registration number “42.292″ into which his name “Guy Bleus” was transformed. Ever since that day he has been using that number as his pseudonym as well as old administrative papers, official administration stamps and old family portraits as basic materials for his works.

Guy Bleus (1950, Hasselt, Belgium) – network artist, lingua-artist, performer, curator. He is the editor and publisher of journals-books on the theory and practice of art-communications, on mail-, book-, fax-art: Subterranean II (Gent, 1968-70), Commonpress 56 (Tinen, 1984), Bambu 13 (Wellen, 1982-92), E-PÊLE-MÊLE (Wellen-Hasselt, 1994-95). He has organised and acted as a curator of more than twenty mail-art projects, among them are the following: MAIL-ART pARTy (Leopoldsburg, 1979), Are You Experienced (Brussels, 1981), Telegrams (Hasselt, 1983), Cavellini Festival 1984 (Brussels – Tinen – Hasselt – Eeclo – Antwerp, 1984), Aerogrammes/B.T.S. (Tinen, 1984), Communication (Genk, 1989), Mail-Art Manual (Heusden – Zolder, 1991), The Timeless Calendar (Hasselt, 1993), Mail-Art Memorabilia (Brussels, 1995) and others, of the four international exhibitions of artists’ stamp (1986-95, CD-catalogues), of book-art exhibitions Art is Books (Hasselt – Zonhoven – Zolder – Bilzen – Genk, 1991-92), Kunstenaarsboeken, Een Feest (Hasselt, 1998), of eight Internet- and fax-projects (1992-96), of four rubber-stamp projects (1979-95). He has conducted a series of network radio projects and audio-peformances, including the following ones: Screams (Hasselt, 1989), Radio-Art & Telephone Networking B.P.S. (Limburg, 1993), The Times – They Are Changing: Van Analoog Naar Digitaal (Hasselt, 1996) and others. Bleus arranged about twenty retrospective exhibitions of visual- poetry, mail- and network magazines at the Provinciaal Centrum Voor Beeldende Kunsten (Hasselt), among them are the following retrospects: Doc(k)s (1977-95), Arte Postale! (1979-95), Commonpress (1977-90), Clinch (1982-88), Umbrella (1978-96), Artpool Publications (1970-97), and also more than twenty solo exhibitions of international artists, including such as: Sh. Shimamoto (Japan), J. Held jr. (USA), K. Groh (Germany), C. Padín (Uruguay), B. Vautier (France), A. Banana (Canada) and others. In 1978 he established “The Administration Centre – 42.292” life-project-archives of the International Network Culture, that is at present one of the largest in Europe (comprises of works of more than 5000 artists from 60 countries, little press magazines, catalogues, posters, book-, copy-, Internet- and fax-art, etc.) In 1992 650 productions from the archives were exhibited in the P.T.T.-Museum (the Hague). Bleus is the author of numerous publications in the following magazines: kladderadatsch (Holland), Ruimte (Belgium), Aurora – tijdschrift voor filosofie (Belgium), Arte Postale! (Italy), Collective Farm (USA), Clinch (Switzerland), Literature International (USA), Doc(k)s (France), Umbrella (USA), A.U. (Japan) and others. Since1979 he has held more than thirty solo exhibitions in Belgium, Italy, USA, Holland, Portugal, Germany, including the ones at: La Galleria Del’Occhio (New-York), Stedelijk Museum (Tinen), Museu Municipal (Fiduera da Foz), Postal Museum (Brussels), P.T.T.-Museum (the Hague), etc. He participated in more than two hundred group communication projects, exhibitions of multimedia and visual poetry in twenty-five countries. Numerous artist’s essays and works are published in more than thirty anthologies on the contemporary art, including such as: Mail Art Handbook (1983), Artists books (1986), An Annotated World bibliography of M.A. (1991), Timbres d’Artistes (1993) and many others. Guy Bleus lives and works in Wellen (Belgium).

Publications:

Subterranean II (Ghent, 1968-70) - Periodical

Are you experienced? Wellen, B[elgium] : G.B./Administration Centre, [1981] (editor) – Exhibition Catalog

**W.A.A. : mail eARTh project. Turnhout : Warande, [1983] - Exhibition Catalog N6494.M35 B58 1982 (Art Spec. Coll.)

Bambu 13 (Wellen, 1982-92)

Telegraphy and mail art project : [exhibitions], 26.03-17.04.1983. [Hasselt, Belgium] : Provbinciaal Museum Hasselt, [1983] – Exhibition Catalog

Commonpress 56 (Tinen, 1984) – Periodical

Art is books : kunstenaarsboeken = livres d'artistes = artists' books = Künstlerbücher.  Hasselt [Belgium] : Provinciale Centrale Openbare Bibliotheek, 1991. – Exhibition Catalog

Building plans & schemes : mail-art project : Orde van Architecten Limburg, Architectuurwijzer, T.A.C.-42.292, Cultuurcentrum Heusden-Zolder. Wellen, België : Administration Centre-42.292, 1993. (curator) – Exhibition catalog

Een dialoog tussen de postbode en zijn electronische schaduw : alsmede een algemene discours over mail - art, meer bepaald een onderzoek naar de grondslagen van een communicatief kunstfenomeen. Wellen : T.A.C.-42.292, 1994.

In a memory of Ray Johnson. Wellen, Belgium : The Administration Centre, 42.292, 1995. – Artist Book

Postmuseum : in de erezaal presenteert Guy Bleus "Mail-Art Memorabilia" uit zijn archief T.A.C.-42.292 : van du 14/10/1995 tot au 5/11/1995 =Musée postal : dans la salon d’honneur Guy Bleus présente "Mail-Art Memorabilia" provenant de ses archives T.A.C.-42-292. (Cover Title: Musée postal Mail-art memorabalia, T.A.C.-42.292. Wellen, Belgium : G. Bleus, [1995] – Exhibition Catalog

**The artistamp collection [electronic resource] : mail-art networking. Wellen : Guy Bleus-Archives, c1996. N6494.M35 A758 1996 (Art Lib. CD-ROM)

Guy Bleus. (Related Title: Broken stamps.) San Francisco, Calif. : Stamp Art Gallery, [1996] – Exhibition catalog

Eutopia [computer file] : mail art from the west / Guy Bleus, Dre Devens ; first networking project in the United States of Europe. Maastricht, Netherlands : D. Devens : Balcony Wellen, Belgium : G. Bleus T.A.C. 42.292, c1997.

E-pêle-mêle, 1994-1995 : electronic mail art netzine. Limburg : PCBK : Centrum voor Beeldende Kunst, c1997. (editor) - Periodical

Eutopia [electronic resource] : mail art from the west Maastricht, Netherlands : D. Devens : Balcony Wellen, Belgium : G. Bleus T.A.C. 42.292, c1997. (With Dre Devens.)

The Administration Centre T.A.C. 42.292 Archives C/O              

Guy Bleus P.O. BOX 43  3830 Wellen - Belgium

E-mail: guybleus@mailart.be  

Web site: www. http://www.mailart.be/

Video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq3Dci4uBhA