I haven’t been into writing for the last week or so. I haven’t been into much at all actually, aside from some mastermind shit that I can’t talk about. But today, I found something worth writing about. No, it’s not that grammatically peculiar rug from the entryway to the Post Office. That photo is just an imagined thing turned real with a bit of photoshop. What prompted me to sit down and write this morning was the stamps that I bought at the Pot Office.

I’m into stamps. Not because I’m into stamps, but because I’m into illustration, design, and small easily appropriated things. I collect stamps, but not as a stamp collector. I use them all anyways. I just buy the ones I like. Another thing that I like about stamps is that they are a sensible thing to counterfeit. Sensible in that it’s easy to make quality counterfeits, and you’ll actually be able to put them to use. I’m not saying that you should be bootlegging stamps, it’s the idea that it is possible that really floats my boat. That, in a world where government agencies have regulated us into very uncriminal existences they have left this very obvious flaw. There are some Mail Artists that have gotten into trouble with the government making counterfeit stamps, but that is a whole other story (but you should peep that link and learn about Mail Art).

So, back to the stamps and why I’m writing though, the Post Office just released some Abstract Expressionist stamps. The thing that really struck me, after the idea of sending mail with Rothko color fields on it, was “Why the Fuck does Jackson Pollock have such a big stamp?” His is the one missing from the middle in the picture above. To me, that’s just affirmation of everything that’s wrong with art, all encapsulated in a stamp. I’ve never liked his role in the art world. I understand his art’s function, but I don’t appreciate the way he’s championed–it’s a lot like that other deadbeat Michel Foucault.

It gets even worse when you remember that we’re supposed to be in a recession and Pollock’s stamp is the size of 6 stamps, yet it’s still only worth 44 cents. I don’t even want to know how much the Post Office had to pay to obtain the rights to these paintings. It’s just totally fucking mind-boggling. They’re raising the price of stamps, whilst producing artifacts that are far from cost-effective. I salute you United States Postal Service.