Raw Stamp

2007

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An X-ray of a woman's head faces left, her earrings and necklace visible draped on the bones of her skull and neck. The image is roughly contained in an ornate heart-shaped metal frame. The transparent glass covering the X-ray photograph is broken. Beneath the artwork, the word "RAW" is visible with each letter reversed in mirror image.

Mailable Art

US Postage Stamps Ὃ Block of Twenty

Face value can be adjusted at will.

The Backstory of the Stamp

Creating a work of art is never easy. In fact it's an endless process. Before the stamp could be printed, it was necessary to answer a series of intrusive questions. I handed the task over to my publicist:

Q: We have received your order and are looking forward to printing it for you as quickly as possible, but we have a quick question!

Because ZazzleStamps are real United States postage, they are subject to special Appropriate Use Guidelines for ZazzleStamps, detailed at:

 http://www.zazzle.com/stamps/about/helpAppropriateUse.asp

We like to be very careful.

We're having trouble approving your ZazzleStamps design titled "raw." In order to assist us, would you please reply to this email with honest responses to the following question(s):

1. What is the source of this image? Where did you find it?

A: I didn't "find it" at all.

It is an original work created by myself. It was photographed, and edited for publication by myself as well. I hold the copyright and moral rights under EU and California Law.

I am a sculptor and you can see some of my work here:

 http://endlessprocess.com/

Q: 2. What does this image represent?

A: It represents what it portrays, a woman's skull with earrings, framed in a broken mirror, an artistic re-imagining of a traditional pose for women. The X-ray itself is a copy, made by myself, of an original X-ray photograph, made in 1898 I believe, by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, the discoverer of the medical value of X-ray photography, and more or less contemporary with Allan Gilbert's painting, which I reference below.

Roentgen's X-ray photograph is now in the public domain and Roentgen himself died in 1923. His copyright, if any, on the image therefore expired in 1973, under US Copyright Law pertaining to works created before January 1, 1978.

Q: 3. What does the caption make reference to/convey?

A:The caption is a partially reversed image of the word "Raw," which can convey many meanings, depending on the mind and perceptions of the viewer. I meant it to be reminiscent of the painting by Allan Gilbert, All Is Vanity, which you can see here:

 http://www.sandlotscience.com/Ambiguous/All_is_Vanity1.htm

and here:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Allan_Gilbert

In this context, the skull is the representation of the raw humanity of every individual, stripped of all surface pretentions and artifice. Without specialized medical skills, it's not even possible to ascertain whether the individual in the broken mirror is male or female, or of any particular race or ethnicity, and suggesting that few of us see beyond surface appearances.

Q: 4. Do you have permission to use this image?

A: Yes. As I said, I hold the copyright.

Not completely satisfied with the above answers, the second interrogation consisted of a single question:

Q: 1: We would just need a little more clarification before we can proceed with the production of your order. Does your product represent/convey any political statement about the war or any other recent events?

No. This product has nothing to do with the current war and, the last I heard, there was no particular war going on in 1993, when I created the piece, although one supposes that I may have missed it. I don't read the paper much at all, and dislike television.

One of my pieces featured a television "garden," in which I planted many of them to illustrate a useful purpose one might put a television to:

 http://endlessprocess.com/raw.html

If you looked at my website, you'll note that I created the piece in 1993. I sold it in 1998, although I can't think what the later fact has to do with anything. Did you look at Gilbert's "All is Vanity," upon which I modeled the work? I gave you an explicit reference, which is still attached to the bottom of this message.

Surely you can see the parallelism between the images, or is the idea of vanity and the distortions that mirrors impose diffficult for you to imagine? If you look at my website you'll see that many of my pieces involve distortions of vision, as this is a particular theme in my life, since I am legally blind.

Charles Allan Gilbert's All Is Vanity, 1892

© Alison Ulman 2001

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