POSTCARDS FROM…
1/ Gracia Haby
Postcards from... A key to help make your own world visible
November, 2009
Digital print zine
Edition of 60
A 10.5cm X 15cm, 34 page colour (with some pages in B&W) zine with lapwing brown cover card and black card spine, with a cardboard back. Find within the pages of this zine, a tiger chancing a leap at the moon suspended above, a musk deer enchanted by the spectacle of stars scuttling across the shoreline, sorrowful zoo inhabitants and hare seeking to assure you that all will be a-okay.
Featuring all thirty of the postcards exhibited in gallery two of Craft Victoria as part of the exhibition A key to help make your own world visible (2009) with Louise Jennison, plus an additional two.
Collage on postcard, 2009
Titles of works as they appear:
It appeared before me now, more beautiful than ever
From here it’s a-okay
Complete with counterweight
All secure, really
Yes, I’ll concede. It’s quite impressive
It’s okay; I’ve got you covered
Sporadic episodes of shadow puppetry went unseen
Yes, I see what you mean; our cover could well be blown
Companionship on such a day was invaluable, surely
You really should have asked me first. It’s poor form to arrive unannounced
No, I am not fond of this place
If we just keep our heads, we’ll be okay. Right?
Thou should not vex a stranger
Mind you don’t loose your footing
I don’t recommend that you follow suit
It’s okay; we are alone now
I had always wished to do what was right though it never seemed as such
If this place were my own, I’d move it closer to the sea
On such a day as this the view proved of great comfort
Unseen by tourist in Montevideo
It’s okay; your secret is safe with me
Mulling over one’s options
It was easier than one might initially think
Before the others awoke
The passage home was long
Fearful of losing them, time and time again
Delaying all action for now
It was worth it if only to see the stars scuttle across the shore
A secret that proved harder by night to protect
He had allowed his imagination to delude him
One moonlit night, with little to no prospect of success
Though greatly desired, sleep eluded her still
﹏
RELATED POSTS,
THAT BRILLIANT STIMULANT
AT QUICKENING PACE
LOOK BEHIND YOU
2/ Gracia Haby
Postcards from... But for the moon nobody could see us
October, 2008
Digital print zine
Edition of 60
A 10.5cm X 15cm, 24 page colour and B&W zine with a pale grey cover card and gold card spine, with a cardboard back. Expect within the pages of this particular zine to discover seals of all kinds, the odd aardvark making a tentative crossing, various big cats and black bears, and even an Arabian onyx in possession of a poor sense of direction. This zine features, as title suggests, many of the postcards seen at Imp Gallery late 2008, as part of the exhibition, But for the moon nobody could see us, with Louise Jennison.
This zine was included in the box set, ...and then there were none (edition of three artists’ proofs, compiled 2011), made especially for the IMPACT7 2011 zine fair co-ordinated by Anna Poletti at MUMA.
The three sets of artists' proofs were of a loose trio of zines that won the 2010 Artspace Mackay Inaugural Zine Prize, as part of the 2010 Libris Awards.
...and then there were none included:
Tumble & Fall (2009)
A vagary of impediments & a sneak of weasels (2009)
Postcards from... But for the moon nobody could see us (2008)
Collage on postcard, 2008
Titles of works as they appear:
Talking to me in a long forgotten tongue
Closer to home, things began to make greater sense
I am certain this will never work
A chance sighting
Feeling weightless agreed with me
Hold that line
Blending in I found all was revealed
Feeling out of place in Switzerland
Looking for a way out
A keen sense of direction failed the Arabian onyx
Searching for a way in
Obsidian this size is hard to come across
An aardvark tentatively crosses Lake Louise for seven years good luck
I am not a natural fisherman
Donald’s tools and graphite
I found myself suddenly alone
A smooth-tailed tree shrew in search of a smooth-trunked tree
Looking and not finding
Regarding the Devil’s thumb
Casting shadows longer than the trees could ever hope to
Making the most of it whilst we still could
Feeling at ease
Building a makeshift tipi by Vermillion Lake
3/ Gracia Haby
Postcards from... A trapdoor in every room
December, 2007
Digital print zine
Edition of 60
A 14cm X 9cm, B&W laser copy, 24 page printed zine with a colour copy cover, single gold paper fastener tie and a cardboard back. Featuring many of the postcard collages exhibited as part of A trapdoor in every room with Louise Jennison at Imp Gallery (2007).
Within this zine, as you pass two penguins reminded by a cotton plant of home, you can expect to find a seal So happy to have found you, doves bemused by affordable real estate (We can’t understand why the land here is going so cheap), and that the petrified forest, Arizona, is Not nearly as terrifying upon closer inspection. A host of animals and birds, from around the world, jostle for new homes in Russia, Sweden, America, Africa, and further afield.
Collage on postcard, 2007
Titles of works as they appear:
It had to be said, it reminded them of home (cover)
Do you think anyone will notice?
So happy to have found you
We needed nothing else
All was no longer in fog
Who knew he was actually a muskrat?
Please, take me with you... I don't come empty handed
Treasure before me
The lock was broken but the door still worked
He'd taken a wrong turn somewhere along the line
The yellow mud turtle arrived on the Wednesday
We just can’t understand why the land here is going so cheap
We can’t understand why the land is going so cheap here either
Milano two step
Not my usual locale
She pays me no attention, none whatsoever
I return with important trinkets, one for each of you
A fine balancing act went unnoticed at the New York Zoological Gardens
Jumping not just puddles but whole rivers too
A leopard seal was not normally encounted on such works but then nothing felt normal about today
No cause for alarm, I’m just passing through
This is not the home of the lace maker
Not nearly as terrifying upon closer inspection
The moon above, and all was well
4/ Gracia Haby
Postcards from... If we stand very still, no one will notice
March, 2007
Digital print zine
Edition of 60
A 14cm X 9cm, B&W laser copy, 24 page printed zine with a single gold paper fastener tie and a cardboard back. It features many of the postcards seen behind the little glass doors at Mailbox 141, as part of the exhibition, If we stand very still, no one will notice, with Louise Jennison.
Collage on postcard, 2007
Titles of works as they appear:
Which way to the Emerald lake? (cover)
If we stand very still, no one will notice
Are we there yet?
They are discussing environmental policies
The Pigeon River Hotel seemed so very far away
They gave me no chance to reply
From here we can see the Adriatic sea
Where I can be myself
In Montevideo they could be themselves
It produced what no other refractory in Beirut could
It was not the objects that bewitched him, it was the order in which they were arranged
We once watched the grassy plains, now we watch nothing
He traveled for some time without incident
Everything that reminds me of you makes me unbelievably sad
For Ethel
The things we left behind
The country we invented turned out to be the Canadian Rockies
How did we end up here?
We thought we knew a great deal, but really we knew nothing
The country we invented turned out to be just right
The longer I stood there, the less I understood
It made for a different vantage point
If only the Northern Hopping Mouse thought to look behind him
Postcards from Other Worlds
Melissa Caden
The eloquent page: The National Library of Australia’s fringe publishing blog
15th September, 2011
Delving into the special collections of a library like the NLA, you can discover fascinating remnants from other times and places. To give you just a peek, you may discover the earliest piece of surviving Australian printed material, old photographs, or items of ephemera like postcards, political pamphlets, an 1897 dinner menu (Library conferences looked a little more elegant back then!), a dance card from the 1923 Canberra Bachelor's Ball, a travel poster from 1936 — or even a circa 1914 advertising poster for a Schweppes orange drink! As the term ‘ephemera’ suggests, the beauty of these items is that many were never intended to be kept — yet over the years, many have found their way to collecting institutions such as the National Library where they now serve as a visual, tactile and endlessly captivating insight into our social and political history.
But it seems that serving as historical snippets is not to be the only fate for an ephemera item! A few days ago I was lucky enough to encounter some zines by Gracia Haby, who often collaborates with Louise Jennison to create all sorts of things on paper; the 3 zines on my desk just happen to incorporate one of the most varied and personal forms of ephemera — the travel postcard — into a zine!
Gracia Haby has created a series of zines based on several of her exhibitions at Imp Gallery (Melbourne) featuring quirky postcard collages exploring the types of fantastical, imaginary worlds you dreamt of in childhood. Haby collects old travel postcards from around the world and through collage turns them into surreal, unpredictable and nostalgic creations. The pages of her zines are replete with curious turtles, proud Emperor Penguins, mice, exotic birds, intrepid seals and the odd aardvark or adventurous meerkat peregrinating around the world — and more often than not they find themselves in the most perplexing of locations!
Created in limited editions of 60, these zines are charming, dreamy and fanciful, and both zine and individual images are paired with wonderfully wordy, beguiling titles such as But for the moon nobody could see us, A trapdoor in every room and If we stand very still, no one will notice.
Postcards from… A trapdoor in every room (2007) is a 14 X 9 cm black and white laser-copy zine secured at the top by a gold paper fastener, allowing the reader to open and view the pages in a fan-like formation, or flip through them in the hand as you would a pile of old photographs or postcards. Expect to encounter a penguin peering through a second-story window in the streets of Milan, or a yellow mud turtle on a pilgrimage to Tellskapelle, Switzerland (where William Tell famously escaped the boat of his captors).
Postcards from... if we stand very still, no one will notice (2007, 14 X 9 cm) is created in the same format. Haby’s paper animals explore new landscapes glittering with jewels, whilst seeming to ponder the themes of displacement, transition and their place in the environs.
Postcards from… But for the moon, nobody could see us (2008, 10.5 X 15 cm) is bound in a traditional book format and features both colour and black and white reproductions of Haby’s postcard collage. I loved this zine, as our gallant animal travellers appear to experience all that we feel when we travel far from home — the joy of discovery, the frustration (yet possibility!) of being lost in unknown places, the epiphanies and revelations, and even the alienation and loneliness you can feel in foreign lands.
The National Library has a range of artists’ books and zines made by Haby, which you can check out in our catalogue. You can also view Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison’s world by dropping by their website for a peek at colour images of their artists’ books and zines. Or perhaps you would rather rummage through the National Library’s ephemera collections yourself? Explore, and see what you can find!
