Five Years Correspondence Project: Carol Mancke, Edward Dorrian, Ilga Leimanis, Jhinuk Sarkar, Liz Murray, Phill Wilson-Perkin, Rochelle Fry, Sally Morfill

The Five Years Correspondence Project has quietly hummed along in the background of our lives over the best part of a year. Every so often that quiet hum hit a crescendo – a moment of joy and surprise – on the arrival of a ‘gift’ through the post.

Each ad hoc package circulated through the group contained a drawing initiated by one of the eight participants*. These sparked a series of cumulative visual correspondences, acted upon by each recipient in a random order determined by the original sender. Unlike the back and forth of a written correspondence between two, the drawings could only move forward through the list of names. With no knowledge of how each contribution was received, participants stepped into a new correspondence every time a package arrived. We will be revealing the drawings in their final state to each other and to the public for the first time at Five Years in March 2024.

Launched in May 2023 following an invitation to the membership from ilga and sally, the project has reached a first point of reflection – a chance to figure out what actually happened while working together apart, and where it might go next.

*We agreed to use parameters defined by the royal mail large letter format: maximum dimensions 25cm width, 35.3cm length, 2.5cm depth. £2.70 Postage (up to 100g) with a max weight of 750g.

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