Andrej Tisma

Bio:

Andrej Tisma (b.1952) is a Yugoslavian mail-artist, poet, writer, performer, net artist – born and living in Novi Sad. In 1971, Tisma began contact with Mail-Art through Bogdanka Poznanovic, a pioneer of Yugoslavian Mail-Art. In 1972 he began by writing concrete poetry and by transcribing different found texts from books, newspapers, medications, comics etc. The concrete poetry was published in 1980 in a book entitled Document. By using the pseudonym Andrej Zivor he has published more then ten books of prose and poetry since 1980 in Yugoslavia, but also in the U.S.A. and France. He sees the Mail-Art network as a good model for the future world, because it is based on collaboration, love, exchange, tolerance, cosmopolitism. He coined the term “No-ism” in 1986 to describe his definition of networking. When the war in Yugoslavia was beginning, Tisma launched the ‘Love Offensive’ campaign and rubberstamp, as reaction to hatred, nationalism and destruction. In November of the same year he started the ‘Institute of spreading of love’ as a continuation of previous activities for peace. Love/Ljubav is a bulletin Tisma has published since 1992 concerning this project. Tisma wrote widely on the subject anti-embargo and published anti-embargo articles all over the world, he made more then twenty anti-embargo rubberstamps and organized many anti-embargo exhibitions in collaboration with Aleksandar Jovanovic. One of his important anti-embargo actions is the Mail-Art project ‘Fax HeART.’ A book was printed about the project in 1995. In the nineties he had many ‘(spi)rituals’ focusing on stopping the war in Iraq, former Yugoslavia and against the cultural isolation of his country. Since 1991 he has referred to the act of spiritual exchange when two or people meet as Encounter Art.

Publications:

Document (1980)

Privatni z¹ivot me?unarodna izloz¹ba mejl-arta = Private life, international mail-art show / organizator, Savremena galerija, Zrenjanin ; Trz "GRAFO-ARS" C¹ac¹ak ; autor projekta, Andrej Tis¹ma ; sezona 1986-1987. Zrenjanin : Savremena galerija, [1986]

SIDA & raj : SPC "Vojvodina", Novi Sad 20-25. januar 1987 : 130 autora iz 27 zemalja : Me?unarodna izloz¹ba mejl-arta = AIDS & paradise : International Mail-Art Show.[Serbia] : Foto kino savez Vojvodine, [1987] (author of the show and catalogue) – Exhibition Catalog

Alter : alternativni radovi (1972-1982) = alternative works (1972-1982). translated from the Serbo-Croatian by Aleksandar Nejgebauer. Vrs¹ac : Literary Commune of Vrs¹ac, 1987.

Prioda Daje... Yugoslavia : [Novi Sad] 1992

Fax HeART (1995)
“ Web.art's Nature” Translated by: Gordana Perc. 1998. Voice Argentina http://www.vorticeargentina.com.ar/escritos/web_art_nature.htm

Source for obtaining more information about the artist:

Website: http://www.atisma.com/

Perneczky, Geza. Network Atlas: World and Publications by the People of the First Network. Soft Geometry, Cologne. http://www.c3.hu/~perneczky/atlas.html (updated April 2003). Vol. 2, pp. 118-120.

Janssen, Ruud. Mail-interview with Andrej Tisma (Yugoslavia). Tilburg, Netherlands : TAM-Publications, [1996]. http://jas.faximum.com//library/tam/tam_45a.htm

Some biographical information obtained from Sztuka Fabryka (2005). Mail-Art Encyclopaedia. http://www.sztuka-fabryka.be accessed in April 2005.