This concept by Mel Zaid, was initiated by his faxing a partially completed drawing from Santa Barbara, California USA -- the birthplace of ARTLIFE. This fax was then relayed westward from Artist to Artist until it proceeded around the world -- each Artist contributing a small element to that drawing until if finally arrived - completed - at the Opening for the 10th Anniversary ARTLIFE exhibition in New York, NY, USA at the Franklin Furnace Gallery.
The intent was to celebrate a milestone in the growth of ARTLIFE, and also to "plant a seed" which will grow from year to year until one day, when we all take the time to touch each other in harmony.
The RELAY started on November 16, 1990 at 5:30 PM (est.) - time of the New York gallery Opening - and completed its around-the-world relay trip to the Opening celebration, approximately 8:30 PM (est.) of the same evening. 11 Artists from USA, Japan and Germany participated.
The first "call for participants" appeared in ARTLIFE Volume 10, Number 9 (Oct. 1990), and another "call" in the Nov. 1990 issue . These calls were then followed by fax communications, preliminary instructions, and other communications until the relay team was finalized. Complete documentation has been retained and is archived -- authenticated reproductions are available, including all communications, interim and completed fax transmissions. Copies of some of these are included in the "RELAY FAX 1990 gallery".
The final faxing procedure was simple -- The growing fax drawing, plus an ordered list of all participants with specific instructions, was relayed from the starting station to the next-in-order participant, with each Artist adding to the growing fax drawing and crossing out their name as this material was relayed onward. Each Artist simultaneously sent identical copies, plus an original contribution, to both the New York gallery and Mel Zaid. In this manner we all watched the drawing and relay materials as they evolved, step-by step.
It is interesting to note that none of the participants had any advance information about the nature of the "starting drawing" -- only that each Artist was limited to 10% of the initially available free space. Each Artist had to modify and improvise rapidly and, by so doing, became part of a "performance piece"; turning a Negative Space into a "full" (or Null) space -- which concept is central to Mel Zaid's Sculpture and Drawings
