Lomholt Mail Art Archive

Index: David Greenberger

Biography

David Greenberger, born June 26 1954, is an American artist, writer and radio commentator best known for his Duplex Planet series of zines, comic books, CDs, and spoken word performances and radio plays. He is a frequent contributor of essays and music reviews for National Public Radio.

In 1979, having just completed a degree in fine arts as a painter, Greenberger took a job as activities director at a nursing home in Boston. On his first day, he met the residents of the nursing home and abandoned painting in favor of conversation. "This is my art," he said. In this unexpected setting, Greenberger found an unusual medium and a desire to portray the people he met as living human beings instead of "just repositories of their memories or the wisdom of the ages." Instead of collecting oral history about significant events, Greenberger focused on talking one-on-one with ordinary people about ordinary things—the joy of a close shave or answers to "Can you fight city hall?".

Greenberger began publishing his conversations with old people in The Duplex Planet, a small, homemade magazine he started in 1979, and still publishes today. It has subsequently found larger audiences in other forms, which are all derived from the original template. A series of personal commentaries drawn from Greenberger's experiences with this body of work has aired regularly on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered". Greenberger was the subject of a segment in 2007's "Life Part 2: Language of Aging", part of a PBS series on aging.

Displaying all 23 posts by the networker in Lomholt Mail Art Archive
S 1978 00 00 greenberger 001
1978-00-00
Postcard from Greenberger
David Greenberger
S 1979 06 05 greenberger 001
1979-06-05
Letter from Greenberger
David Greenberger
S 1979 11 17 greenberger 001
1979-11-17
Postcard from Greenberger
David Greenberger
S 1980 05 08 greenberger 001
1980-05-08
Art Work by Greenberger
David Greenberger
S 1979 00 00 greenberger no 1 001
1979-00-00
Postcard from Greenberger
David Greenberger
S 1979 08 13 greenberger 001
1979-08-13
Letter from Greenberger
David Greenberger
S 1979 12 08 greenberger exchangeable photo 001
1979-12-08
Exchangeable Photo
David Greenberger
S 1980 05 10 greenberger 001
1980-05-10
Postcard from Greenberger
David Greenberger
S 1979 00 00 greenberger no 2 001
1979-00-00
Summer-Winter-Summer
David Greenberger
S 1979 09 01 greenberger exchangeable photo 001
1979-09-01
Exchangeable Photo
David Greenberger
S 1980 02 01 greenberger 001
1980-02-01
Postcard from Greenberger
David Greenberger
S 1980 09 17 greenberger 001
1980-09-17
Postcard from Greenberger
David Greenberger
S 1979 00 00 greenberger raetio 001
1979-00-00
Raetio
David Greenberger
S 1979 09 25 greenberger 001
1979-09-25
Mail Art Cheque from Greenberger
David Greenberger
S 1980 02 24 greenberger 001
1980-02-24
Postcard from Greenberger
David Greenberger
S 1980 12 29 greenberger 001
1980-12-29
The Trouble with Christmas
David Greenberger
S 1979 04 09 greenberger 001
1979-04-09
Objects by Greenberger
David Greenberger
S 1979 11 14 greenberger exchangeable photo 001
1979-11-14
Exchangeable Photo
David Greenberger
S 1980 02 26 greenberger 001
1980-02-26
The Duplex Planet
David Greenberger
S 1983 07 20 greenberger 001
1983-07-20
The Duplex Planet
David Greenberger
S 1979 04 09 greenberger exchangeable photo 001
1979-04-09
Exchangeable Photo
David Greenberger
S 1979 11 15 greenberger 001
1979-11-15
Art Objects by Greenberger
David Greenberger
S 1980 02 26 greenberger exchangeable photo 001
1980-02-26
Exchangeable Photo
David Greenberger