Narrative:

This letter came to me through the US Postal Service from Hawaii, in an envelope that I discarded at the time. The envelope was made out of the same paper as the letter. There is no label on the paper, and I have no idea where it was made and how it made its way to the sender. I do know that the paper was made from pulp obtained by chemical means, known as kraft pulping. Chips of wood were placed in a large, sealed container known as a digester. The digester contained a strongly alkaline solution of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide. The mixture was heated to 320-356° F (160-180°C) at a pressure of about 116 pounds per square inch (800 kilopascals).

The printer ink is green and brown, made from one of many pigment processes. The pen ink is blue and looks like it is from a thin felt-tipped pen. The bodies, caps, and plugs are formed from plastic resin. The marker reservoirs are formed from polyester. Powder and water are used to form the felt writing tip. In addition, felt-tipped pens require ink, and the pigments and synthetic substances used to make it. Toluol and xylol are synthetics used as solvents in dye as well as chemicals such as cyclic alkylene carbonates. Conventional additives, such as nonylphenylpolyglycol ether, alkylpoly-glycol ether, fatty acid polyglycol ester, or fatty alcohol ethoxalates, and preservatives, such as ortho-phenolphenyl and its sodium salt, ortho-hydroxydiphenyl, or 6-acetoxy-2,4-dimethhyl-m-dioxane, may also be added to the mixture. To make the body of the marker, plastic resin is injection-molded into a pen's body. Pen caps and plugs are formed in the same manner as the barrel.  The nib, or tip, of the marker is made from powder mixed with water, molded, and baked into its pointed or flat form. Using one machine for all the following functions, an assembler then places a polyester cylinder inside the marker barrel to form a reservoir for the ink, fills the reservoir with ink, and inserts the nib at the bottom and the cap at the top.

The letter is from Ramsay and Momi Barnes, and describes their wedding in Hawaii and time since. It was difficult for me to take this letter from a storage box and add it to a bundle sculpture.