Nighttime Post
interactive mail art performance project
Detail of assorted artist-made stamps
DURATION
9:01pm - 5:26am
date/location
June 14-15, 2014
Northern Spark Festival, Minneapolis
(subsequent performances have occurred throughout the city at various sustained times)
materials
Vintage bicycles and manual typewriters; winter camping tents; hand screen printed postcards, flags and costumes; handcrafted postage stamps and stampers
Summary
Nighttime Post, a collaboration with co-creator Anthony Chapin, is a participatory art project that illuminates the bond between strangers, hand-delivering messages by bicycle from resident to unknown resident throughout the night.
Nighttime Post invites audiences to offer up dreams to each other and their shared surroundings. Messages pass slowly through the night – from the heart and mind to the mouth, the ear, the typewriter, the bicycle and finally the hands of the recipient.
Originally commissioned by Northern Lights.mn for the 2014 Northern Spark Festival, Nighttime Post was designed to be scalable for a variety of events/venues. Additional engagements in Minneapolis include: Art Attack, Northrup King Building; Creative City Challenge Play Day, Northern Lights.MN; Mini-Spark, Midtown Greenway Coalition; Open Streets, Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition; brewery tour between Indeed, Dangerous Man and 612 Brew taprooms.
CREDITS
Presenter:
Nighttime Post was originally commissioned by Northern Lights.mn for the 2014 Northern Spark festival
Creators:
Project conception, design and direction: Anthony Chapin + Erin Lavelle
Postcard design: Anthony Chapin, Moonear Khar, Kirsten Sevig
Postage stamp design: Anthony Chapin
Performers: Eric Anderson, Marin Byrne, Michelle Chapin, Giuliana Ciabo, Angie Courchaine, Christine Fugate, Adam Grams, Claribel Gross, Karin Haase, scottie hall, Bill Hewitt, Sandy Hitchin, Rosie Jablonski, Olli Johnson, Chas Kennedy, Ted Klyce, Lindsey McDougall, Allison Osberg, Sheila Regan, Scotty Reynolds
Bike mechanics: Sarah Chapman and Phillip O’Toole
Stage Manager: Sarah Chapman
Additional materials and production assistance provided by: Eric Anderson, Junket Tossed & Found, Kathleen Lavelle, Snowtrekker Tents