In All Transparency: a public art project about voting

In All Transparency focuses on getting out the vote during the pandemic, the history of voting rights, racial oppression in voting, and the United States Postal Service. The USPS has become a nexus for these issues leading up to the general election in 2020. Through an open call, artists and activists create mail art aiming to shed light on these histories and our current moment.

The artists use translucent materials to create mail art that will be sent in transparent vellum envelopes; when illuminated on a light table, various messages and perspectives of the makers will be transparent.

The mail art messages will be photographed and then projected large scale in a loop outside Gallery CA at 440 E Oliver Street in Baltimore, MD and read by people passing by as we approach the general election. Once documented, the mail art will then be sent to a person of the maker's choosing to encourage voter participation and demand fair elections. These luminous messages might be sent to a targeted voter in a swing state, a family member or politician, for example. In All Transparency engages with the history of mail art during this time of physical isolation and social solidarity.