Since the early "slow motion" correspondence of art-exchange of Fluxus and Nouveaux Realisme artists, the network has evolved into a structure of global measurements with "fast motion" effects. Thousands of artists are every day (= every night !) communicating with one another. It is evident that this entails a lot of communication problems, for instance, the impossibility to correspond with "all" the other artists. And the paradox of this situation is : the harder one works in the network, the more answers and mail one gets AND the harder one has to work... !

From an economic point of view mail-art (or correspondence art, or exchange art) includes e.g. the production, distribution and consumption of material and immaterial mail-art goods in the world. Typical herewith is that these three components (usually) stay together in the hands of the artists. Mail-artists don't distribute their art via official galleries, but via the "alternative" planetary network. The existence and working of mail-art returns to an ancient form of barter. It is a primitive structure of direct and free barter of art without our classic medium of art-exchange, the fetish "money". In this respect we must agree that (in principle) the art exchangers value, the received higher than the exchanged. Otherwise they would not exchange ! This comes also through the fact that they /mostly) value the "act of exchanging" (the communication) itself higher than the "objects or information of exchange". So the "exchange-VALUE" does not really matter. But of course, this is not an absolute assertion.

This economic aspect of mail-art or art-exchange can be indicated as "idealistic". The exchange is based on mutual trust and belief,, but this idealism is not forever ; e.g. when artist B never answers the sendings of A, sooner or later the one-way communication or "pseudo-exchage" will stop. So the "materialistic" aspect of receiving an answer (in the form of a catalogue, a list of addresses or a personal letter) is especially important for its "psychological" (an thus practical) consequences : staying in communication.

Mail-art is a "multilateral" art-form, it includes e.g. artists' book, audio and video-art, periodicals, copy-art, assemblings, artists' postage stamps, language-art, postacards, recycling-art, stamp-art, etc... As long as a work can be transmitted or mailed (integral or in parts), all techniques, material or method can be used. Mail-art is also an "encounterplace" of artists of different social classes, different cultures, different ages, different ideologies, etc. But maybe more significant than what they have different, are the aspects they have in common : what brings and holds them together. A mail-artist is often a disappointed artist. Not disappointed in art, but in the art-industry of the leading galleries and museums. Being a member of a planetary art movement helps him to tanscend this isolation and alienation in art. In the network he/she is a part of a big art-community but without losing his/her own identity and individuality. But especially the thrill of working together with thousands of artists is an extremely new experience and sensation in the evolution of art.