magyar

R E P O R T
excerpt

After 7 p.m. on 7 May, my acquaintance paid a visit to György Galántai’s studio and flat in Frankel Leó Street. (This meeting was postponed from an earlier date of 27 April 1981 upon Galántai’s request.)

During the conversation it became apparent that Galántai’s main focus in these weeks was the ‘Stamp Action’. Since the end of last year he has issued thousands (estimated at 3,000-4,000) of calls marked with the emblem of his “Art Pool” art collection to domestic and foreign artists. In his call Galántai asks artists to design ‘commemorative stamps’ for which he designates a 10 x 12 cm empty space on the sheet he sends them. The artists are asked to send their stamp designs back to him. The sheets contain a box at the bottom for the artists’ names, addresses and occupations.

Galántai keeps sending large numbers of this call. According to his plans, he will post another thousand (or more) copies.

Despite the September deadline, about 170 stamp designs have already been sent to him. Galántai expects about six times as many in total and believes that many artists will make the stamp designs later. Many of the senders are from Italy and USA. Others are from West Germany, France, Japan, etc. Apart from a few sheets from Czechoslovakia and Poland, a quarter of the submitted designs were made by Hungarian artists. The Hungarian material is politically of no interest. There are quite a few art students and young artists among the Hungarian senders with whom Galántai maintains contact (for example, the members of the “INCONNU” - “Unknown” group, active in Szolnok). Miklós Erdély submitted an insignificant carbon print. Several of the stamp designs sent by foreign artists had political content but not aimed at the Soviet Union and its allies but their own Western states. An obscene photograph targeted the US foreign minister, Haig, while another one addressed environmental protection and urged disarmament. There were several designs of a pornographic and sexual nature.

Galántai’s main objective is to publish a catalogue containing the stamp designs. He said that he wanted to include the stamp-size version of all the submitted designs in this catalogue. He intends to make at least as many copies of the catalogue as the number of designs he received. He plans to send a complimentary catalogue to every sender by post.

Tibor Horváth, 1st lieutenant

Registry number: 4/5-399/81.
Printed in 4 copies

Galántai • Artpool