Jessica Voorsanger created several mail art projects, starting early in her career. They consisted of her writing a large quantity of similar letters to a range of well known people within a particular theme. The letters she wrote were almost identical, so that they viewer only needed to read a few of her letters and could concentrate on the range of responses that she received. The projects included: Baby Shower, Birthday Party, Christmas Card Project, etc.
Baby Shower The Baby Shower was a project from the Mail Art Series held at the Camden Arts Centre in 1995 to coincide with the birth of Jessica Voorsanger’s first child. The project was held as both an event, like The Birthday Party , as well as an installation. Over 55 letters were sent prior to the birth of the child requesting congratulation cards. There was an indication that the baby may be named after the recipient of the letter. The final installation consisted of over 300 balloons, music, copies of all of the original letters sent, all of the replies and food. Visitors were invited to bring a gift for the baby. The baby’s birth certificate was also on display, where in the end she was named after the best respondees of her gender, with the exception of Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull whose reply was exemplary. The baby’s middle names are: Ruby (Wax) Rula (Lenska) Twiggy Joanna (Lumley) Hayley (Mills) Emma (Freud) Jethro.
