The Return of Dead Letter Art

Dead Letter Art (DLa) is an esoteric underground art collective. The collective consists of eight core members that have known each other since high school, and have been creating and sharing their art for well over fifteen years. Sharing many common interests and influences, the DLa collective explores diverse artistic media, both individually and collectively. Their vast media expertise includes everything from drawing and painting to website development and multimedia production. Further, the group also embraces the fine art of desktop publishing, employing their periodically printed zine, Dead Letter Art, with their recently redesigned website, DeadLetterArt.com, as their vehicle of choice for sharing, discussing, and exploring their highly creative, collective universe.

About DLa

Dead Letter Art originally emerged over fifteen years ago as a disenchanted circle of friends exploring art, creativity, and various chemical substances. Due to the group’s unconventional and frequently clandestine expressiveness, the name, “Dead Letter Art”, was sarcastically applied to the group one day during a so-called “advanced” high-school art class. After high school, the group stayed in contact and continued developing their art, exploring different mediums, and refining their technique. Ten years later, the entire artistic collective officially reunited as Dead Letter Art. For the next several years, DLa published the esoteric, underground art zine, Dead Letter Art, which served to share the group’s collaborative creations, multimedia exploits, and individual artworks. Working together, Dead Letter Art evolved from random artistic encounters to systematically executed collaborations.

Getting in the groove

During the first few years, DLa developed into a full-time endeavor. The collective produced over twenty issues of Dead Letter Art, myriad multimedia projects, countless websites, public presentations, and much more. The group enjoyed a loyal audience and growing patronage, regional distribution of publications, and worldwide exposure via the internet. The DLa zine itself had evolved from a loosely organized collection of random drawings, into a legitimate source of creative ideas and artistic expression. Indeed, the collective was collaborating at elite levels, tightly integrating every aspect of serious business: design, editing, schedules, legalities, finances, distribution, production, advertising, marketing — everything! — DLa had finally found their groove..

Slipping into a coma

But then, for some unexplained reason, just as DLa was grooving and flowing, enthusiasm began to vanish and momentum began to disappear. DLa slowly became more burdensome and less rewarding. Sadly, by the end of 2004, Dead Letter Art had lapsed into a coma. DLa Members had become disenfranchised and uninspired. Collective ideas had dried up, communication had stopped. To the disappointment of their audience, Dead Letter Art was apparently dead and gone..

Back from the dead

But now, after eighteen months of inactivity, Dead Letter Art has returned, completely reunited and determined to continue pursuing their collaborative cause. With a freshly redesigned website by Monzilla Media, DLa is back in effect and preparing to release the greatly anticipated Texture Issue, an elaborately crafted edition of Dead Letter Art embellished with exquisite detail. Other projects already in the works include the first official DLa Newzletter, DLa Tarot Deck, LetterPress issue, and much, much more. So stay tuned, check out the new website, and prepare for the next generation of Dead Letter Art.

About the Author

Jeff Starr = Designer. Developer. Producer. Writer. Editor. Etc.