Sechiisland: art and everyday life of an imaginary island

Abstract

The plastic artist José Roberto Sechi has become a representative figure in the scenario of the Mail Art international network in which artists of the whole world make use of the Mail System as a support for creation and artistic distribution. From his work as a mail artist and his desire to (re)construct his identity as an artist and a human being, Sechi transformed his house, located in a poor neighborhood of the city of Rio Claro – SP, little by little, into an alternative cultural center, with a significant collection of catalogued art works, a space for exhibition of artists inserted into contemporary experimental movements, a reference library and a space for meetings. Naming his creation as Sechiisland (Island Sechi), the artist defines it as an imaginary island that has become a reference – so or more important than an official institution – for a great number of mail artists worldwide. In this present article, it is intended to carry out a first approach/reading of this space, with the purpose of evidencing a deliberate process of creation of an alternative everyday life, understanding Sechiisland as a poetic image, susceptible of being read as well as borrowed as a work of art in process, in its physical and concrete aspect and/or in its virtual representativeness.