tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45830093008760574102024-03-14T11:25:42.513+00:00A REAL wall displaying REAL posts by REAL people<p>I got fed up of posts on my facebook wall, so I thought I'd close my facebook account and get back to my blogging roots so I set this site up to receive REAL post. From REAL people. Any post sent to me will be put up here and photographed every day until new mail comes in. Don't forget to click on each photo to go through to it's flickr page where you will find full annotations.</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.comBlogger347125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-74211157907792828702013-09-25T10:04:00.001+01:002013-09-25T10:04:10.753+01:00my REAL wall - Postcards from us<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/9930169585/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2834/9930169585_a45f9b5ba2.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>text for your postThis is our final REAL wall for a while as Elena and I are going travelling. We've given up our jobs, sold everything we own and have put your postcards in storage. I've taken the address down for contributions to my REAL wall and want to thank everyone who's contributed over the years for all your excellent post. <br /><br />So, with no fixed address, no income and a postcard and blogging habit to sustain, what's next?<br /><br />I've set up our new travelling and postcard blog at <a href="http://www.postcardsfrom.us" rel="nofollow">www.postcardsfrom.us</a> and will be selling postcards from us from wherever we go in the world! Get yourself over there and pick up a postcard from wherever in the world we are now!</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-37664738864162088922013-09-25T10:03:00.001+01:002013-09-25T10:03:55.577+01:00my REAL wall - Postcards from us<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/9930169585/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2834/9930169585_a45f9b5ba2.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>This is our final REAL wall for a while as Elena and I are going travelling. We've given up our jobs, sold everything we own and have put your postcards in storage. I've taken the address down for contributions to my REAL wall and want to thank everyone who's contributed over the years for all your excellent post. <br /><br />So, with no fixed address, no income and a postcard and blogging habit to sustain, what's next?<br /><br />I've set up our new travelling and postcard blog at <a href="http://www.postcardsfrom.us" rel="nofollow">www.postcardsfrom.us</a> and will be selling postcards from us from wherever we go in the world! Get yourself over there and pick up a postcard from wherever in the world we are now!</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-37555372749585195982012-07-03T22:36:00.001+01:002012-07-03T22:36:25.140+01:00my REAL wall photobooth edition<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/7497112604/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7267/7497112604_c0953c7fa6.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>I met an old university friend this weekend who I haven't seen for a few years and we went out to the South Bank to catch up on old times. <br /><br />I knew I had some postcards to put up on my REAL wall, so they came with me, and we went to the <a href="http://world.southbankcentre.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">Festival of the World</a> exhibition, which was running at the Royal Festival Hall.<br /><br />They have a really cool little machine there, like a retro 4 photograph passport photo machine, but inside it's got a digital camera and it prints the 4 photos really quickly.<br /><br />Anyway, they have this machine and a wall with plastic photo pockets, where people would put their photos after they were taken. The machine is free to use and the wall is rammed with photos, it's great.<br /><br />I realised that we could make an artwork within an artwork with this, so me and Dave grabbed your post and sat in the machine passing post to each other to make this one - it was great fun!<br /><br />Can you spot yours on here?</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-48113780284027495112012-06-24T09:32:00.001+01:002012-06-24T09:32:46.002+01:00REAL to Real<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/7430701902/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5238/7430701902_b4692ec799.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>Earlier this week I heard about a new social network that really tickled me. Called Real, the physical network, this new social network can be found at www.welcometoreal.com.<br /><br />So what makes it different from other social networks, you may be wondering. Well Real is a project sponsored by Royal Mail which gives a select few people some wall space in a premium location in London. All that the people have to do is send in Real part to fill that wall space.<br /><br />It's a real wall to be filled with real post. Sound familiar?<br /><br />Anyway, i'm not bitter, even about the bit where they say they're the first social network as I applaud any effort to connect people, especially using post, and i'm throwing my full story behind the project.<br /><br />I've been given a plot to fill, plot 45, and the lovely full at Real have sent me a welcome pack, complete with lots odd awesome pre-paid envelopes. I have some ideas and will probably ask for your help to full my plot, so watch this space!<br /><br />I'll get started on my first pieces for the plot tonight. In the meantime, I decided to take all the part out into the real world, so here is the contents of my inbox on the tube between Hammersmith and Goldhawk Road. I think it all looks very happy there.<br /><br />if you want to help new full btu plot and show London what postal social networking is really all about, drop me a line!</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-86287031278697770522012-03-26T01:17:00.001+01:002012-03-26T01:17:17.073+01:00British Summer Time arrives on my REAL wall 2012<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/7015856207/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6038/7015856207_56783208ff.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>I'm not great with winter and this winter seems o have dragged on right the way through spring. not really sure that my little Vietnamese body is really built for this sort of thing. <br /><br />Today the clocks finally went forward and I dared to venture outside, where I put up the first outdoor REAL wall since getting here to Kingston. And what a wall it is! <br /><br />If you look closely enough you'll see contributions from some established mailart legends like JJAltheway, with her final piece from mailart 365! What an adventure it's been JJ! I too feel kinda gutted that you're not posting everyday and I can only imagine the sense of emptiness (I'm still stuck on 140/365) There's a Valentines day card from Laura Podob and Mrs Thundercat appears on there all the way from Holland too.<br /><br />As well as the established mailartists, there is also one piece I'm REALLY proud of, and that's the very first appearance of a new mailartist called Stripeygoose, who is now on #25/365 over at mailart 365. The reason I'm really proud of this particular artist is because I work with her and we've worked together on all sorts of projects. There's her work in the bottom right had corner, reminiscing of Wimbledons Big Draw. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that Stripeygoose had signed up for MA365, and am still reeling that, 3 years on my REAL wall still inspires new artists to make and send post! <br /><br />The sun is shining in Kingston and I'm smiling broadly :-D</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-28136260875755645302012-02-21T23:23:00.001+00:002012-02-21T23:23:12.684+00:00my REAL wall at the Centre Pompidou in Paris<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6918388379/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7204/6918388379_159cbe6f29.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>Full write-up now on the new and improved (alright it's new and glitchy) my REAL wall at <a href="http://myrealwall.com/2012/02/my-real-wall-at-the-centre-pompidou-in-paris/">www.myrealwall.com</a></p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-17462047296806719842012-02-21T22:54:00.001+00:002012-02-21T22:55:23.687+00:005 postcards - Student school experiences part 2<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6885585701/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7191/6885585701_39eb60bfb1.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>These are the second lot of postcards produced by students for the 5 picture story lesson I taught at the unviersity I work at. Some awesome stories lie behind every one of them, but I can't for the life of me remember them all!</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-24004073151246027162012-02-06T22:27:00.001+00:002012-02-06T22:27:07.148+00:00PZOLA?<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6832273245/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7166/6832273245_152a9abf11.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>I'm sure I've mentioned this before but have I told you how fabulous I think <a href="http://heleen21.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Heleen de Vaan</a> is? Well if you didn't already know, me and Elena think she's GREAT!<br /><br />Already a firm favourite since putting together some wonderful pimped photos some years back, Heleen has made us smile month after month, with her wonderful drawings and at Christmas we received a surprise package with her unmistakable writing and drawings on.<br /><br />Imagine our delight when we found it covered in Postcrossing stamps and filled with...5 bars of chocolate! So to those of you wondering how to get a full feature here on my REAL wall, watch and learn!<br /><br />Elena saw immediately what the letters meant, but when I laid them out it actualy took me a few days to decipher. Can you mailartists guess what it is yet?</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-35801061160498118152012-02-06T22:14:00.001+00:002012-02-06T22:16:17.975+00:00Chucks REAL wall 2<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6832205375/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7143/6832205375_1109907e0d.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>Chuck Scalin's REAL wall in Paris continues to expand with contributions. This wall is particularly exciting for me as me and Elena are going to see it in a few weeks time! We'll add to it in person.<br /><br />Here's what Chuck has to say...<br /><br />Just wanted to update all of you who've been so supportive on my quest to start a wall of my own during our stay in Paris.<br /><br />Thanks so much for all the mail I've received the past few weeks! As you can see from the photo below, My Wall has grown<br /><br />considerably since I received my first mail art from Katerina who started it all for me.<br /><br />Thanks again and I look forward to meeting some of you soon!<br /><br />Chuck (aka Charles-Benoit)</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-27112583302085895972012-02-05T22:56:00.001+00:002012-02-05T22:56:24.515+00:00my REAL wall - 5 February 2012<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6825380145/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6825380145_02491cb6a4.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>It's been a really busy week this week, what with arranging the very first Roehampton Teachmeet, and I'm still playing catchup with postcards from the end of last year.<br /><br />Up on the wall today are some lovely new envelopes from <a href="http://www.benjaminshawdesign.com/" rel="nofollow">Benjamin Shaw Designs</a> and some stickers from an Anonymous source. Over to the right are two cards from some long-time mailart friends, Dumpsterdiver and Heleen and the splashes of green on the wall come from Mim and Hope. <br /><br />Mailart365ers Lindsay, BrisCris and Dewi are also on the wall for the second time. Dewi actually put that card up himself when he came over to stay!</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-22172414855417662072012-02-02T23:51:00.001+00:002012-02-06T22:16:17.977+00:00Chucks REAL wall in Paris<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6809233211/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7022/6809233211_2d7644917d.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>Later on this month, Elena and I are heading to Paris with Positively Postal and Katerina to meet Mim and Chuck. We are all mailartists and met through sending post to each other, and we're going to meet up and make mailart together. We can hardly wait and have already booked a place to stay together. <br /><br />But even before I get there, I've already got a little treat from Chuck in the form of Chucks REAL wall! Here's his message...<br /><br />Bonjour from Paris!<br />My Real Wall!<br /><br />Just wanted to thank you all for sending mail-art to me in Paris!<br /><br />What a nice surprise to return from our Bilbao trip to find a deluge of mail-art<br />correspondence completely filling my mailbox.<br /><br />A special thank you to my friend Katerina, who sent me my first piece of mail-art in Paris<br />It started a chain of mail to post on my wall in our atelier--I've attached a photo of<br />my growing collection for you to see.<br /><br />Also, many thanks Erni for sending me the awesome Spiegelman book--he's one of my favorites!<br /><br />After we return to our home in Richmond, Virginia, I will respond with mail-art to all of you also.<br /><br />Sending you best regards,<br /><br />Chuck (aka Charl-Benoit in Paris)<br /><br />PS:<br />Check out my blog of photo images I've gleaned from the streets of Paris and Bilbao.<br /><a href="http://myurbanfragments.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">myurbanfragments.blogspot.com</a><br /><br />Also, my website is: <a href="http://www.chuckscalin.com" rel="nofollow">www.chuckscalin.com</a></p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-34364171712289497722012-01-30T23:22:00.002+00:002012-01-31T10:43:46.233+00:00my REAL wall - 30 January 2012<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6792275731/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7149/6792275731_190a991cdb.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br />
</div><p>Gosh what a year 2012 has been and it's barely started! <br />
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Already this month, I've taken <a href="http://myrealwall.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-real-wall-student-school-experiences.html" rel="nofollow">4 mailart-related lectures</a>, with another one scheduled tomorrow. Tomorrows talk is part of a big event i'm helping to run at Roehampton university called <a href="http://teachmeet.pbworks.com/w/page/46088648/TMRoehampton" rel="nofollow">Teachmeet</a>, where teachers come and share ideas on teaching. Everyone gets 7 minutes to talk about anyidea they've used in class, and I'll be talking about how <a href="http://myrealwall.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-real-wall-special-edition-student.html" rel="nofollow">students at our university used postcards to keep in touch during school experience while teacher training</a>, an initiative I led last year. I'm pretty nervous, as usual, but I'm sure it will go fine.<br />
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How is this all related to this wall you may be wondering. Well that postcard in the middle (<a href="http://www.gettingintoliteracy.com/">Getting into Literacy</a>) came from another teacher, @<a href="http://twitter.co/jodieworld" rel="nofollow">jodieworld</a>, who ran the <a href="http://myrealwall.blogspot.com/2012/01/using-postcards-in-classroom-my-real.html" rel="nofollow">last Teachmeet I was at</a>, where I talked about my educational postcard project <a href="http://www.schoolswaps.net" rel="nofollow">Schoolswaps</a>. I talked about how we still need the postal service despite all these advances in technology, then managed to forget my USB stick in her computer. This postcard accompanied the USB stick in the post, which neatly proves my point.<br />
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That lovely pic of a happily married couple comes from my best friend at University, Jay, and shows him and his wife, who really is just perfect for him. Me and Elena went to see them last Wednesday as it was my birthday and we went go-karting, which was great fun. <br />
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In the right hand corner you can see a runner drawn by Dewi when he came to stay at our house and went walking in Richmond Park. His eye was caught by the strange hand position of this bearded runner and made him his <a href="http://mailart365.blogspot.com/2011/11/november-30th-number-365-and-special.html" rel="nofollow">365th piece in Mailart365</a>, which he then gave to me by hand in my house, from Canada via Tuscany. now THAT'S dedication! Wish you could join us in France Dewi!<br />
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Next to that is the 2nd 365 by Katerina Nikoltsou. She actually got to 365 and sent it to me, but I didn't get it as she'd put the wrong number on the envelope. So they sent it back to her. Meanwhile she made an exact replica of her 365th piece and sent me that instead. That arrived to me and the other arrived back in Greece. Not wanting me to miss out, she sent me that one too, so i can now say I own 2 #365s from Katerina. Yay!</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-29232545671373416802012-01-27T13:48:00.002+00:002012-01-27T13:50:20.843+00:00My REAL wall - student school experiences part 1<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6757546473/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7016/6757546473_78cb3d6d31.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br />
</div><p>A couple of weeks ago I presented <a href="http://myrealwall.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-real-wall-presents5-picture-story.html" rel="nofollow">a lecture</a> to some students at the university where I work on the use of postcards as an expressive tool for an assignment they were to be set.<br />
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The idea was that the students were going to create 5 postcards on which they were to tell of 5 incidents that stand out in their memory from their school days.<br />
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After introducing my REAL wall and talking about postcards in schools and how they had been used to tell stories from my experience, the students were asked to create their first ones and bring them in this week. This is by the first class and there are some cracking stories here!<br />
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The class was such a pleasure to attend. When the students came in, they dropped their cards into a "postbox" by the door. This mean that the students could remain anonymous if they wished. The lesson commenced and halfway through the lesson the students took a break, during which time the postcards were all put up on the board as you see them here.<br />
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On the return from their break, I took the students and we took a look at the postcards submitted. Students were asked to look at the postcards and discuss what they thought each one meant and if they related to any of them. They were told that they didn't need to say which was theirs if they didn't want to, but pretty soon we had explanations coming in from every student about what their postcards represented. It was GREAT! There were so many experiences, and so many nods from people who had been there.<br />
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In the flickr version of this photo (which you get to by simply clicking on the photo), I've done my best to recall which stories went with which, so if you hover over the images you'll be able to read the stories. If you don't read the stories, do just enjoy the images and ask yourself what they may mean.<br />
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At the moment the students are collecting these images up on a class blog, which is private, and at the end we hope to put on a little show, which should be a real gem. It would be really nice for teachers to be able to see the sorts of memories that the children go away from school with. I will also ask the students to upload any images they want to share with readers of <a href="http://myrealwall.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">my REAL wall</a> so that they can share their experiences with you directly. You all have a treat in store believe me!<br />
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A little note for the Thursday group - I'm so sorry I didn't manage to get a photo of the wall at the end of the lesson as I was chatting and by the time I remembered the postcards had all gone! :-(</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-74870933450567786732012-01-25T00:42:00.006+00:002012-01-25T00:57:15.356+00:00Plays the Thing postcard show in conjunction with Escape Artists<img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border=0 width=0 height=0 src="http://c.gigcount.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.11NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEzMjc*NTIzNjEyODkmcHQ9MTMyNzQ1MjM3NzUxNCZwPTkwMjA1MSZkPSZnPTEmb2Y9MA==.gif" /><object id="ci_46574_o" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="600" height="400"><param name="movie" value="http://apps.cooliris.com/embed/cooliris.swf?t=1307582197"/><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="bgColor" value="#121212" /><param name="flashvars" value="z=pP3fHGAKOY4M" /><param name="wmode" value="opaque" /><embed id="ci_46574_e" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://apps.cooliris.com/embed/cooliris.swf?t=1307582197" width="600" height="400" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" bgColor="#121212" flashvars="z=pP3fHGAKOY4M" wmode="opaque"></embed></object><br />
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<p>At the end of last year, I teamed up with a UK charity called <a href="http://escapeartists.co.uk/">Escape Artists</a>, with whom I helped run a postcard show called "A good day looks like..."<br />
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The show was part of a conference called "<a href="http://playsthething.org.uk/">Plays The Thing</a>", which was about exploring creative approaches to wellbeing, and so we asked for people to consider what a good day looked like in the spirit of exploring and expressing creatively what wellbeing meant to them.<br />
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This was a particularly interesting show for me, because among other things, <a href="http://escapeartists.co.uk/">Escape Artists</a> do a lot of work with prisoners and young people, so this show had many contributions from people I don't often see in my postbox. <br />
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Can you guess which ones were done by prisoners, which by children and which were done by mainstream artists? <br />
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I didn't manage to get too many photos on the days the conference was on of the photos on display, but here are the 2 photos I took on my phone of all the postcards up on display at the conference<br />
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<a href="http://twitpic.com/7hvucf" title="Another unofficial REAL wall (www.myrealwall.com) of post put... on Twitpic"><img src="http://twitpic.com/show/thumb/7hvucf.jpg" width="150" height="150" alt="Another unofficial REAL wall (www.myrealwall.com) of post put... on Twitpic"></a><br />
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<a href="http://twitpic.com/7idhrw" title="My REAL wall put together with @escapeartists for #playstheth... on Twitpic"><img src="http://twitpic.com/show/thumb/7idhrw.jpg" width="150" height="150" alt="My REAL wall put together with @escapeartists for #playstheth... on Twitpic"></a><br />
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I'm looking forward to working more with Escape Artists in future and hope to use the post to bring people together, regardless of their backgrounds<br />
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All the images can be seen in all their glory on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/sets/72157629018775521/with/6757493763/">my flickr site</a>, where I lovingly scanned and archived them. I'll add descriptions when I get a chance.Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-39715905259586341632012-01-23T23:03:00.001+00:002012-01-23T23:03:05.002+00:00my REAL wall - 23 January 2012<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6751641501/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7015/6751641501_f6330d9d9b.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>"Why the long delay between REAL walls at the moment?" you may be wondering. The answer is really simple. Winter. <br /><br />Our present house is rented, which means we can't just stick up willy-nilly as we did in our own house previously, as the adhesive we use, Blu-tac, sometimes rips off the paintwork and we would rather like our deposit back.<br /><br />So the wall I've chosen as my main REAL wall is in the conservatory, and most of your postcards are opened then put in the conservatory in an ever-expanding pile waiting for it to be warm enough for me to bear to go out and stick them up on the wall. December and January have been WAY too cold for my pathetic little body to take, not to mention the winter hibernation, but this weekend was finally warm enough to get some postcards on the walls. <br /><br />The large painting is a long-overdue posting which came from <a href="http://www.clohnart.com/clohn_Art/Clohn_Art_Home.html" rel="nofollow">Clohn Art</a> to me while I was still at my old address. The reason it's taken so long to go up on the wall is that I thought it was so good, I couldn't help but take it into work, where it's been next to my desk for the last 4 months. Check out the <a href="http://www.clohnart.com/clohn_Art/Clohn_Art_Home.html" rel="nofollow">Clohn art site</a>, where you can pick up a sample of trash art for bargain basement prices.<br /><br />The 4th wasp in <a href="http://cornpone.tumblr.com/">Cornpone</a>'s series is next to that, and those pieces are joined by some of my favourite mailartists of all, JJ, Heleen (complete with Postcrossing stamps! Yay) and Katerina Nikoltsou, who I will be seeing next month in Paris as part of the Mim mailart meetup.<br /><br />Other gems on the wall come from Kerri Pullo, Mim and Hope, whose <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/62653580/keep-writing-postcards" rel="nofollow">Keep writing project</a> is well worth the asking price on Etsy I can tell you.<br /><br />Thanks to everyone on the wall for contributing your fabulous art and post from all over the world as ever.<br /><br />If any mailartists do happen to be in Paris in Mid-October, do drop me a line, as I'd love for Mims mailart meet to be HUGE!</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-20662779308065984862012-01-18T12:01:00.000+00:002012-01-18T12:01:59.586+00:00Your REAL wall by Stimpdawg - House of wall art<div style="margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 1.6em;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stimpdawg/6693424189/" title="The House of Art Wall"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7145/6693424189_5c9a93331b.jpg" alt="The House of Art Wall by Stimpdawg" /></a><br/><span style="margin: 0;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stimpdawg/6693424189/">The House of Art Wall</a>, a photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stimpdawg/">Stimpdawg</a> on Flickr.</span></div><p></p><br />
This is the first House of Art Wall. I borrowed the idea from my friend Andy's <a href="http://myrealwall.com" target="_blank">my REAL wall</a>. He posts mailart and postcards that he receives on a wall in his house. He even told me about the adhesive board you see my postcards on. It allows you to stick paper or photos onto the sticky board without any tape. For some reason I could only find it available in England and not in the USA.<br />
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The postcards are some I've received and a few are ones I have collected during my travels. The postcard on the top left is a postcard that <a href="http://davethemonkey.net/daily/" target="_blank">Lil Dave</a> wrote to his dad Big Dave when we were traveling. It's a picture of a boy holding a monkey in front of the Seashore Temple in Mahabalipuram, India. The next one over is from a Sichuan Opera that we went to in Chengdu, China. The next postcard is from Andy from my REAL wall which contains many pictures of him. The last one in that row is a postcard from a <a href="http://www.couchsurfing.org/" target="_blank">Couchsurfing</a> Spanish couple who stayed with us - it's from where they live in Spain.<br />
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The first postcard in the next row is a friend Raynell who I met on ICQ years ago. She sent me a postcard from her backyard in Waimānalo, Hawaii. I recently reconnected with her on Facebook after finding this postcard when I was packing up my stuff in my old room at my parent's house. There's a postcard of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capuchin_Crypt" target="_blank">Capuchin Crypt</a> in Rome, Italy that we visited. It's a creepy, but cool crypt where skeletons and bones are placed as lamps, monks and in patterns. The last postcard in that row is from <a href="http://keepwritingpostcards.tumblr.com/post/13879267269/keep-writing-no-36-4-1-4-by-5-1-2-inches" target="_blank">Keep Writing Postcards</a> project. It's a homemade postcard that I receive monthly. You can receive the postcards from her <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/62653580/keep-writing-postcards" target="_blank">Etsy</a> shop.<br />
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There's a few more postcards that I found along my travels. There's a Salvador Dali postcard from Australia and The Colosseum from Rome, Italy. I like the Dream Bangkok postcard that has a pink trailer on it. This modern hotel has the best free postcards that I've ever seen and I've been to many hotels traveling around the world for 3 years. There's also a postcard from the Sydney Underground Film Festival which has a picture of a lady with windows of men in them which reminds me of Dali. The last one is a picture of the Mena House Oberoi in Cairo, Egypt taken in 1920. Joy Loves Adventure is the second homemade postcard I received from the Keep Writing Postcards project.<br />
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The washboards are around The House of Art Wall. My fiance Ivan bought the washboard on the right for Christmas. It turned out to be the wrong color and type. The company said he could keep it and then sent the right one which is listed on the left side. Now I have to learn to play it! Ever since I saw a girl playing it in a band on the street in New Orleans, I've always wanted one. <br />
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I would love to receive a postcard or mailart from you. I'll send something to you! Go <a href="http://art.davethemonkey.net/contact/">here</a> to contact me with your information.Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-60045462959556969482012-01-16T11:17:00.001+00:002012-01-16T11:18:25.452+00:00Using postcards in the classroom - my REAL wall/Schoolswaps presentation at Teachmeet LondonIn November 2011, I attended Teachmeet London and gave a brief presentation on the use of postcards in teaching. I referred to my REAL wall, so here's a link to the presentation a little belatedly<br />
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<img alt="" src="http://teachmeet.pbworks.com/f/1316354701/teachmeetlondon.png" title="Teachmeet London nov 2011 Logo" class="alignnone" width="576" height="185" /><br />
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<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zqKQ1Sbhhco?version=3&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zqKQ1Sbhhco?version=3&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br />
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This year I'm looking to get more young people sending postcards, connecting up my hobby of sending and receiving post and my job in education, so you'll see more stuff happening over on <a href="http://www.schoolswaps.net">www.schoolswaps.net</a> as well as here on my REAL wallAndytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-28367282400631717132012-01-13T10:27:00.000+00:002012-01-13T10:27:16.494+00:00my REAL wall presents...5 picture storyIn my day job as an e-learning advisor at Roehampton university, my role is to advise lecturers on the best technology to use for teaching their subjects. Most the time this is something electronic, for example a forum or a blog, or a video camera, but sometimes the best technology is the most basic and I never draw the line at electronic learning tools.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6685400979/" title="Uni by andytgeezer, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7013/6685400979_1cca1f1b64.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Uni"></a><br />
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This term I was asked by a lecturer to suggest the ideal tool for getting students to express their feelings about an event that happened to them at school when they were younger. I wanted for the students to be able to reflect on this experience and to use whatever they had to hand to express how the event made them feel, without fear of criticism. <br />
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For me, postcards have been an ideal vehicle for learning to express myself. The almost-anonymous nature of postcards (you choose whether to sign them or not) and the idea that the recipient is separated from us by time and distance has this effect of freeing the artist to express themselves in a way that real-time social media and face-to-face interactions can't, yet it still reaches out and makes a connection. For some applications, like <a href="http://www.postsecret.com">Postsecret</a>, this is perfect, and so I decided to suggest postcards for this project.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6685400839/" title="Uni by andytgeezer, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6685400839_0258007def.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Uni"></a><br />
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The idea is for students to illustrate on 5 6x4 inch postcards an experience or series of experiences which happened to them in school that they can remember. After they have done so, they will send these images in to their lecturer and share the experiences if they wish. <br />
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This idea came from <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/sets/72157628849381967/with/2362524088/">a lesson I taught</a> while I was schools, and so I showed pictures from this to the students and postcards which have been sent by you to my REAL wall to illustrate what kinds of stories you could tell using the limited size of a postcard.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6685399789/" title="Uni talk by andytgeezer, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7021/6685399789_9402f9c457.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Uni talk"></a><br />
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I volunteered to introduce the postcard picture story project to the students and on Tuesday and Thursday, I went in to the classroom to present to 2 sets of classes, starting with an introduction to my REAL wall and human-human communications in the digital age and moved on to tales of teaching from my past, finally ending up on the task at hand, which was the creation of the 5 picture stories.<br />
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The students were really excited at the prospect of sending post and the talks seemed to go down really well. I was asked by the students for some tips on how to get into sending post and I recommended <a href="http://www.postcrossing.com">Postcrossing</a> as a good place to start as well as of course, looking on the sidebar of my REAL wall for some great postal folk. In addition, I've added a link to my article "<a href="http://andytgeezer.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-to-make-your-mailbox-more.html">How to make your mailbox more interesting</a>" in the sidebar, so if anyone does want more than bills in their postbox next week, why not give it a read.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6685399909/" title="Uni by andytgeezer, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6685399909_871eac09e2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Uni"></a><br />
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Looking forward to seeing what delights the students produce and if I get permission I will stick some of the best right up here on this site.<br />
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When I was at school, I used to love writing stories until the day that I wrote a literary criticism of Macbeth for English literature, in which I drew parallels with the Ninja clans of ancient Japan. My English teacher ripped it to pieces verbally and I never wrote again. Perhaps I'll make a mailart piece about that some day...Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-80022853168724846992012-01-04T11:16:00.001+00:002012-01-04T11:16:53.129+00:00Just in time for 12th night!<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6633672309/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7147/6633672309_16e14b5083.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>I've been way behind on posting, but had a deadline on this one as it's bad luck to leave your Christmas cards up after Twelfth Night. <br /><br />Happy new year!</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-33987799625601920272011-12-31T13:22:00.001+00:002011-12-31T13:22:58.147+00:00my REAL kitchen walls<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6606375993/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7161/6606375993_dbf818a012.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>As 2011 draws to a close, Andy and Elena want to wish all the readers and contributors to my REAL wall a HAPPY 2012!<br /><br />Lately, my artistic output has ground to a halt as I've taken time to settle in to the new place. Since Dewi came over in October, I've taken up cooking, hence why this shot is taken in the kitchen. Elena kindly decorated the kitchen for me with her favourite postcards, which are classics, rather than the new ones that we've been receiving.<br /><br />Hope you can all join me in the new year. See you in the post!</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-62715740518801150602011-11-06T02:21:00.001+00:002011-11-06T02:21:01.474+00:00my REAL wall - First wall in Kingston<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6316557553/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6109/6316557553_6c6b3ab2d8.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>my REAL wall has been keeping a pretty low profile lately. The reason we've been out of action is because me and Elena have been moving house!<br /><br />Now, the best address to send your posts to to get onto my REAL wall is <br /><br />53 Haygreen Close<br />Kingston-upon-Thames<br />KT2 7TS<br />United Kingdom<br /><br />The new place is much more befitting of a newly married couple. It's much bigger, has 2 rooms and a conservatory where this picture was taken where we have an art table. Yes, you read that right. We have a table dedicated to making ART!<br /><br />So much has happened since the last post. Notably, we have met up with 3 mailartists and been to Turkey. We met Dewi last month, who is a <a href="http://mailart365.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">mailart365</a> artist. He popped over from Canada via Tuscany and showed us his sketchbook. It was great! <br /><br />Katerina Nikltsou, another 365 artist, came over from Greece and stayed in Notting Hill, just around the corner from our old place. We popped in to see her, and she gave us that lovely acrylic painted piece that dominates todays wall. <br /><br />Mim, the other 365 artist who is on track and whose piece is on the wall below Katerinas, came over earlier on in the year, so technically that means we've met every artist on the 365 who is set to complete the project on December 1st. Only 26 pieces left to go for those heroes!<br /><br />Another notable artist on the <a href="http://mailart365.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">Mailart 365</a> project that I've met is Postively Postal, who is currently running a project in conjunction with the Royal Mail called <a href="http://www.positivelypostal.co.uk/competitions/a-z-of-the-u-k-mailart-competition" rel="nofollow">"The A-Z of the UK"</a>. Check out his site for details of how to pick up some exclusive stamp packs from the Royal Mail<br /><br />One person who could easily be on 365, but isn't is the great Ruud Jansen, who runs <a href="http://iuoma-network.ning.com/group/mailart365" rel="nofollow">IUOMA</a>. He came over from Holland last month on business and I very nearly met up with him, but he ended up too busy, which was a shame. However he did send some mailart through, which you can see here. <br /><br />That lovely cut out butterfly is from Spopod, the index card is a classic Lindsay Killin piece and there's a new piece from the Keep writing project by Hope, who's work keep making me smile. This time, I've got a recipe for chocolate cake from her, and I need to dig up a decent recipe of my own and send it back. If you've not seen the Keep writing project, check it out RIGHT NOW at <a href="http://www.keepwritingpostcards.tumblr.com" rel="nofollow">www.keepwritingpostcards.tumblr.com</a></p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-60451565229390062011-09-19T22:38:00.001+01:002011-09-19T22:38:54.114+01:00Farewell Housey 3<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6150129618/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6190/6150129618_120234dde4.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>The final REAL wall of my old flat belongs to a single person, who sent in 8 postcards in one single batch. There's no return address so if you want a return post, please get in touch and tell me what you signed your name as and I'll be more than happy to send you a return postcard!<br /><br />This is the shower we used for 2 years. I'll be sad to not use it again, especially as the new shower is so weak. <br /><br />Thanks to everyone for keeping the walls of our house decorated for over 2 years, and I'll be updating our address soon. Watch this space...</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-61671724565135116172011-09-16T10:39:00.001+01:002011-09-16T10:39:17.928+01:00Farewell housey 2<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6149578839/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6070/6149578839_22d226bf1b.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>For the second to last REAL wall on the walls of our old flat, here are your postcards above our radiator, complete with a few pairs of my cruds in homage to the early days of my REAL wall, which early viewers will no doubt reminisce about. <br /><br />As part of the move, Elena took apart the age old blue banner, saying it needs an update, so this is the last time you'll see it. <br /><br />As far as I know, we hang our clothes outside in the new place and with central heating and stuff, we may not even have radiators, so perhaps it's the last time you'll see my cruds on such audacious display too!</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-81118782379655791262011-09-15T14:22:00.001+01:002011-09-15T14:22:44.558+01:00Farewell Housey<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6149578555/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6183/6149578555_b13c54d6ff.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>This weekend we moved house from our beloved little studio flat in Shepherds Bush, to Kingston Upon Thames. I had a whole heap of mailart to catch up on and post on my REAL wall and it had piled up in the REAL inbox, so I posted all of them in places around the house. <br /><br />This is the last REAL wall you will see on this wall sadly :-(<br /><br />We left the wall with loads of lovely blu-tac stains for our new tenant as a reminder of my REAL wall.</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4583009300876057410.post-59354870241698936132011-09-05T09:45:00.001+01:002011-09-05T09:45:19.984+01:00my REAL wall - 04 September 2011<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/6112477034/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6089/6112477034_be04927439.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" width="680px" alt="" /></a><br /></div><p>As September is here, this may be one of the last REAL walls you will see on this particular wall as me and Elena are moving house! <br /><br />We've been extremely busy with projects and work and now house moving, so please excuse the delay in putting up all your splendid work. And of course there was <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytgeezer/galleries/72157627552802416/with/6111192787/">carnival</a> last week...<br /><br />Today sees posts from some of our old favourites. including Mim and Katerina, Girlzootzilla, JJAlltheway and Ammy from Singapore! We've got some great letters on there (Thanks Ammy and Mim, it's great to hear from you in depth every time). <br /><br />Girlzoot's piece is really appropriate. A wall with "How are you" written on it, which reminded her of my REAL wall.<br /><br />Right now I'm loving the contributions from <a href="http://www.keepwritingpostcards.tumblr.com" rel="nofollow">The Keep Writing project</a>, which are always little packets of magic. As soon as I get a spare moment I'll try and reply to these as well as the numerous other projects I have on! Excellent story and picture about libraries, a subject close to my heart :-)<br /><br />Also honourable mentions have to go out to my Canadian Secret Admirer (eek!) and Molly from Australia. Sorry you both had to wait so long for me to post!</p>Andytgeezerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270371825207017953noreply@blogger.com4