Guy Bleus

Guy Bleus is a Belgian artist, archivist and writer whose practice connects olfactory art, visual poetry, performance, postal communication, artist networking and experimental archiving. Born in Hasselt in 1950, he developed an artistic identity around the number 42.292 and treated administration, correspondence and information management as creative materials rather than merely as support systems for art. His work is therefore difficult to classify as a conventional commercial brand: it is better understood as an individual artistic practice, an archive and a platform for international cultural exchange. Bleus became particularly associated with olfactory art. In 1978 he issued the manifesto “The Thrill of Working with Odours,” arguing that smell had been largely neglected by visual-art institutions and artistic theory. He subsequently produced smell paintings, perfumed objects sent through the mail, aromatic installations and spray performances in which fragrance was dispersed over audiences. These works made scent a vehicle for memory, communication and participation, while also questioning the dominance of sight in contemporary art. The same year, Bleus founded The Administration Centre – 42.292. The centre developed into a substantial mail-art archive containing works and information from approximately 6,000 artists in more than 60 countries. Rather than functioning only as a private collection, it served as a node in the international networking-art movement, preserving correspondence, artistamps, publications and other forms of distributed artistic exchange. Bleus’s archival activities also informed his concept of “Artministration,” a term describing the transformation of bureaucratic procedures, filing, identification and institutional language into artistic subjects and methods. His projects explored the postal system and successive communication technologies as artistic media. Indirect correspondence examined mediated postal exchange, while Airmail by balloons imagined alternatives to ordinary delivery systems. He worked with Charles François on early computer-and-modem communication for art in 1989 and later investigated microfilm, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, fax and internet-based formats. His writing and curatorial work helped articulate the theory of mail art and networking art, and he contributed to influential publications and artists’ periodicals in the field. Bleus organized numerous international projects, including W.A.A.: Mail eARTh Atlas, Telegraphy, Aerograms, Art is Books, Fax Performances, Private Art Detective: Sealed Confessions and Building Plans & Schemes. From 1994 to 1999, his non-profit E-Mail-Art Archives gallery in Hasselt hosted more than 40 events involving mail art, fax art and internet art. In 1995 he edited The Artistamp Collection, an early mail-art catalogue distributed on CD-ROM. In 1997 he helped publish the E-Mail-Art & Internet-Art Manifesto, reflecting the transition of networking art from postal and fax systems toward digital communication. His performance work often combined institutional symbols, money, identity and political imagery. Value Shredder, presented in Brussels in 1982, used Belgian banknotes, identity cards, shredded text and scent to question monetary and bureaucratic value. A photographic record of the money suit from that performance entered the art collection of the National Bank of Belgium. In 1984 Bleus organized the Cavellini Festival across several Belgian cities and staged an administrative performance proclaiming Guglielmo Achille Cavellini the first president of the United States of Europe. Bleus also pursued projects that connected experimental art with official institutions. After a lengthy bureaucratic process, he worked with Jean Spiroux to realize a Belgian postal stamp devoted to mail art in 2003. The issue was produced by the Belgian Postal Service in a reported edition of four million copies. In 2005 and 2006, he organized Scents, Locks & Kisses at the…

Guy Bleus was born in Hasselt, Belgium, on October 23, 1950. His career developed through the convergence of conceptual art, visual poetry, performance, postal experimentation and archival practice. Instead of separating artistic production from its logistical and administrative infrastructure, he made correspondence, filing, cataloguing, identity documents, postage and institutional procedures part of the work itself. He often used the designation 42.292, which became associated with his archive and artistic activities. In 1978 Bleus founded The Administration Centre – 42.292. The centre became a major European archive of mail art, eventually containing material from roughly 6,000 artists in over 60 countries. The archive reflected the principles of the mail-art movement, in which artists exchanged works and ideas through postal networks outside conventional gallery and market structures. Bleus’s concept of “Artministration” described his effort to turn administration into an artistic field, using bureaucratic forms and systems as subjects for investigation and performance. That year also marked the beginning of his systematic work with smell. In The Thrill of Working with Odours, Bleus argued that the visual arts had insufficiently explored scent. His subsequent practice included smell paintings, perfumed mail, aromatic installations and spray performances. The use of scent gave his work an unusually physical and temporal character: fragrance could travel, evoke memory, alter a public environment and create an intangible form of correspondence. During the late 1970s and 1980s he investigated communication systems as artistic media. Indirect correspondence addressed the postal system, while Airmail by balloons proposed an alternative method of transmission. His performance works used stamps, money, identification and political symbolism to expose the conventions underlying official communication. In Value Shredder, staged at Gallery Entr’Act in Brussels in 1982, he combined a suit made from Belgian banknotes with the destruction of identity cards, the shredding of Mein Kampf and the dispersal of scent and flour. The work concluded with the destruction of the money suit and the distribution of fictional Martian identity cards. A life-size photograph of the suit is held in the collection of the National Bank of Belgium. Bleus also organized large-scale networking projects. These included Are you experienced? L.H.F.S., W.A.A.: Mail eARTh Atlas, Telegraphy, Aerograms, the Cavellini Festival 1984, Art is Books, Fax Performances, Private Art Detective: Sealed Confessions and Building Plans & Schemes. The 1984 Cavellini Festival honored Guglielmo Achille Cavellini through events in Antwerp, Brussels, Eeklo, Hasselt and Tienen. Bleus’s administrative performance in Brussels humorously declared Cavellini the first president of the United States of Europe. His writing established him as a theorist and documentarian of networking art. He authored essays including Exploring Mail Art and contributed to publications on mail art, artist networks and artists’ periodicals. Between 1994 and 1999 he operated the E-Mail-Art Archives gallery in Hasselt, a non-profit venue that presented more than 40 events involving mail art, fax art and internet art. In 1995 he edited The Artistamp Collection, an early catalogue on CD-ROM. In 1997 he participated in the publication of the E-Mail-Art & Internet-Art Manifesto, marking the expansion of networking art into electronic communication. Bleus’s interest in communication technology extended to computer and modem exchanges, microfilm, CD-ROM and DVD-ROM. In 1989 he worked with Charles François on computer-mediated artistic communication. These experiments anticipated later debates about digital art, online collaboration and the changing relationship between physical archives and networked distribution. A notable institutional achievement came in 2003, when Bleus and Jean Spiroux realized a Belgian postage stamp dedicated to mail art after a bureaucratic process lasting approximately two decades. The stamp was issued by the Belgian Postal Service. In 2005 and 2006, Bleus organized Scents, Locks & Kisses at Art Museum Z33. The project connected 778 artists from 43 countries through olfactory mail art. A retrospective at the Cultural Centre of Hasselt in 2010 revisited his career, while the accompanying publication Pêle-Mêle: Guy Bleus® – 42.292 included perfumed elements and a re-created Martian identity document. His legacy is primarily that of an artist-organizer and cultural archivist who expanded the definition of art to include smell, administration, communication networks and the preservation of collaborative exchange.

1. 2010Hasselt retrospective is presented

   The Cultural Centre of Hasselt mounted a retrospective of Bleus’s work.

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2. 2005Scents, Locks & Kisses begins

   Bleus organized the international olfactory mail-art project at Art Museum Z33.

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3. 2003Mail-art postage stamp is issued in Belgium

   A mail-art-themed stamp was realized with Jean Spiroux and issued by the Belgian Postal Service.

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4. 1997E-Mail-Art & Internet-Art Manifesto is published

   Bleus helped publish a manifesto addressing the use of electronic networks in artistic exchange.

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5. 1995The Artistamp Collection is issued on CD-ROM

   Bleus edited an early CD-ROM catalogue devoted to artistamps and mail-art production.

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6. 1994E-Mail-Art Archives gallery opens

   Bleus opened a non-profit gallery in Hasselt that operated until 1999 and hosted more than 40 events.

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7. 1989Computer-modem artistic communication is explored

   Bleus and Charles François pioneered the use of a computer connected to a modem for artistic communication.

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8. 1984Cavellini Festival 1984 is organized

   Bleus organized a four-day festival across five Belgian cities in tribute to Guglielmo Achille Cavellini.

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9. 1982Value Shredder is performed in Brussels

   Bleus staged a performance involving banknotes, identity cards, political text, scent and fire.

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10. 1978The Administration Centre – 42.292 is founded

    Bleus established the archive and networking centre that became a major international mail-art repository.

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11. 1978Olfactory-art manifesto is published

    The Thrill of Working with Odours articulated Bleus’s argument for scent as a central artistic medium.

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12. 1950Guy Bleus is born in Hasselt

    Guy Bleus was born on October 23, 1950, in Hasselt, Belgium.

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An interdisciplinary, research-led artistic practice positioned at the intersection of olfactory art, mail art, visual poetry, performance, archival culture and experimental communication.

• The Administration Centre – 42.292Art archive and networking platform1978

  Founded in 1978, this archive collected mail-art works, artist information, correspondence and related documents from an international network. It treated preservation and administration as active artistic practices and became one of the most substantial European repositories associated with mail art.

• Olfactory artInstallation, performance and postal art1978

  Bleus’s olfactory practice includes smell paintings, perfumed objects, aromatic installations and performances that release fragrance into public space. The work challenges the visual bias of art and uses scent as a medium for memory, communication and audience participation.

• The Artistamp CollectionDigital catalogue1995

  Edited by Bleus in 1995, this CD-ROM catalogue documented artistamps, a form of mail-art production that imitates or reworks postage-stamp formats. It represents his effort to use emerging digital media to preserve and distribute networked art.

• Scents, Locks & KissesInternational mail-art project2005

  This olfactory mail-art project connected 778 artists from 43 countries and was presented at Art Museum Z33 during 2005 and 2006. It extended Bleus’s interest in scent, postal exchange and collective participation.

• Mail-art postage stampPostal edition2003

  Realized with Jean Spiroux after a prolonged administrative process, this Belgian postage stamp brought the subject of mail art into an official postal issue.

• 2005Scents, Locks & Kisses

  International · Belgium

  An olfactory mail-art project hosted at Art Museum Z33 and involving artists from 43 countries.

  Outcome. The project involved 778 participating artists and continued through 2006.

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• 1984Cavellini Festival 1984

  Belgium

  A four-day project honoring Guglielmo Achille Cavellini, held in Antwerp, Brussels, Eeklo, Hasselt and Tienen.

  Outcome. The festival included the administrative performance that humorously declared Cavellini the first president of the United States of Europe.

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• 1981W.A.A.: Mail eARTh Atlas

  International

  An international networking-art project organized around postal exchange and the mapping of artistic communication.

  Outcome. Added to Bleus’s broader body of collaborative mail-art and network-art projects.

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• 2003Pursuit of an official mail-art postage stampOther

  Bleus sought formal recognition of mail art within the Belgian postal system through an extended administrative process.

  What changed. Together with Jean Spiroux, he realized a mail-art-themed stamp issued by the Belgian Postal Service.

  Aftermath. The project connected an experimental art movement with an official national communication institution.

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• 2010Hasselt retrospective surveys Guy Bleus’s work

  The Cultural Centre of Hasselt presented a retrospective of Bleus’s artistic practice.

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• 2005Scents, Locks & Kisses brings together an international group of artists

  The olfactory mail-art project, organized at Art Museum Z33 over 2005 and 2006, involved 778 artists from 43 countries.

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• 2003A Belgian postal stamp dedicated to mail art is issued

  Following a long administrative process, Bleus and Jean Spiroux helped realize a mail-art-themed stamp through the Belgian Postal Service.

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• 1982Guy Bleus presents Value Shredder in Brussels

  The performance used banknotes, identity documents, shredding, scent and fire to examine monetary and administrative systems.

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• 1978Guy Bleus establishes The Administration Centre – 42.292

  Bleus founded an archive and networking platform that grew to contain works and information from thousands of artists across dozens of countries.

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• 1978Guy Bleus develops an early olfactory-art manifesto

  His manifesto on working with odours set out a sustained investigation of scent as an artistic medium.

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1. Guy Bleus
2. Mail Art website of Guy Bleus