De Villo Sloan's Blog (1,209)

Mail art by IUOMA member Anja Mattila-Tolvanen (Palkane, Finland)

November 22, 2018 - Apparently Anja Mattila-Tolvanen is among the ranks of those artists who believe I am – in truth – the great Monty Cantsin. Legends die hard, and I won’t expend any more time or space protesting I am not Monty Cantsin. (I suppose in a way we are all Monty Cantsin.)

I do, however, envy the great Monty Cantsin for having the ability to inspire Anja to…

Mail art by Cor Reijn (Zaandam, Netherlands)

November 20, 2018 - Cor Reijn kindly sent me a scrap of a yogurt box all the way from the Netherlands. Does he just work with “found” material or does he know of my proud association with Trashpo and DKult? I do not believe he is an IUOMA member, but he does appear to be an active mail artist. I am sure he will understand I claim this work as Trashpo primarily for thematic reasons at the M-L…

Mail art by IUOMA member Susanne Schumacher (Hannover, Germany)

November 19, 2018 - Susanne Schumacher is not an “Ol’ Bud” (as Fike likes to say). I do not recollect having encountered her work in the past, and I think I'd remember. All the better! For I have found a most excellent collage artist to follow, new to me.

This image-text piece – economical (in the sense of minimalist art) yet fabulously composed and powerful – is a…

Mail art by IUOMA member Nadia Aroca (Barcelona, Spain)

November 17, 2018 - Nadia Aroca is a wonderful correspondent. She has contributed mail art to Asemic Front. Now I am thrilled to be able to document an artist’s book she sent.

Nadia Aroca’s work tends toward image-text and this work, Porn, can be viewed as visual poetry and has asemic elements. The pages are made with a resilient gold and silver foil, which adds…

Mail art by Jonathan Disegi (New York City?)

(November 14, 2018) - Those four-years-too-late entries to the MinXus-Lynxus Who Has The Best Hair Contest continue to pour in. I reiterate: The best hair contest ended in 2014 and the marvelous prizes and titles offered at that time have all been awarded.

What was a mystery a week ago is becoming a tragedy as more bright-eyed hopefuls pathetically grasp for a brass ring that is gone.…

Mail art by IUOMA member El Taller de Zenon (Miguel Jimenez) (Sevilla, Spain)

November 8. 2018 - El Taller de Zenon – a revered figure in the Eternal Network – joins the New Wave of contributors who have revived the M-L Who Has The Best Hair Contest. In fact, this wonderful material coming in is turning my hit-and-run mail art call from 2014 into a Permanent Wave! I find the collage pieces sent by El Taller de Zenon to be extraordinary! I…

Mail art by IUOMA member Mud Head (aka Chris Reynolds) (Scottsdale, Arizona, USA)

(November 7, 2018) - First, Mud Head’s Cat Army (Disorder of the Bee) is essentially a mail art call, so everyone is invited to participate. In my opinion, Cat Army is also one of the most creative, exciting and innovative calls currently being hosted (no criticism of other calls intended).

Cat Army is part of the breed of contemporary calls that…

Mail art by Mzia Valerian (Mechelen, Belgium)

(from the M-L blog)

(November 5, 2018) - No need to clean your fancy sunglasses oh faithful Tenderfoots. Chances is good you read (red) it right the first time. You thought you’d never hear tell of the Who Has The…

Pages from The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs altered by Ferran Destemple (Barecelona)

September 21, 2018 - Ferran Destemple – an artist and writer in Spain whom I admire very much – sent me these pages from The Soft Machine as a submission to Asemic Front (mail art call). He uses erasure on pages from a classic William S. Burroughs text to create asemics.

Ferran Destemple wrote, “In relation to the…

Mail art by Ferran Destemple (Barcelona, Spain)

September 20, 2018 - The immensely talented Ferran Destemple in Barcelona sent me some great examples of his work including this version of the mysterious E’s Fan Club add & pass circulated by Karen Eliot and further embellished by Mikel Untzilla and Sabela Bana (both Spain). This sheet, unlike others I have received, will be returned to Guivry, France!

Here is more work Ferran…

Mail art by Sinclair Scripa (Ludlow, Vermont, USA)

September 18, 2018 - Veteran mail artist Sinclair Scripa (aka Tara Verheide aka Tonya) curated major high-profile mail art calls that culminated circa 2017. They have garnered great praise. Sinclair Scripa has also circulated excellent hard copy documentation of her projects. I am so pleased she sent me copies. As usual, even if belated, I am thrilled to share them with you. Tonya also sent…

Mail art by IUOMA member Jayne Lyons (Lakeville, Minnesota, USA)

September 16, 2018 - Jayne B. Lyons is raising eyebrows in the Eternal Network with her spectacular collages, and she is nothing less than a raving sensation among the Trashpoets and DKulters.

She sent me these three strong, new beautiful collages I am thrilled to share. Even though Jayne has renamed the venerable MinXus movement “Minkus,” I see her as a kindred spirit…

Add & pass sent by Massimo Medola (Bologna, Italy)

August 30, 2018 - News of the (possible) tragic loss of the great E – Ambassador of Utopia (Guivry, France) swept through the network last year. For some reason, I was chosen as a destination for add & pass sheets memorializing E.

I was proud to feature much work by E – Ambassador of Utopia on blogs in the past. He was a great and generous friend. Still, I have never been sure…

I think this blog (link below) by long-time networker Rafael Gonzalez (Spain) is hysterical, especially given the amount of add & passes that are circulating via IUOMA-Ning.

Personally, I've always believed it's impossible to f---- up an add & pass. They're foolproof. Like so much mailart the idea of "anyone can do it" underlies the genre.

But Rafael - who has been doing mail art a long time - is worried that he is messing up the add & pass.

It should give us…

Mail art by Jean-Philippe Gilliot (Saint Ghislain, Belgium)

August 27, 2018 - I am not familiar with Jean-Philippe Gilliott, and I do not believe he is an IUOMA member. But a quick search indicates he is well-known in the network and has done much work of note. I am thrilled to learn about and receive his work because I am a huge fan of the great Belgian collage artists, poets and correspondence artists, among them Little Shiva, Thierry…

Disintegrated bark fragment (with my address) rescued by the US Postal Service. Who sent it?

August 25, 2018 - Postcards are endlessly wonderful, but it is also nice to receive physical objects via the mail. These “objects poems,” “found material,” “cryptic totems” – whatever you prefer to call them – are also a unique genre of mail art. I believe this propensity for sending objects is rooted in Fluxus but also not necessarily exclusive to…

“Surrogate” – a collage with asemics – by IUOMA member Amy Irwen (Rosemount, Minnesota, USA)

August 21, 2018 - Amy Irwen participated in my Asemic Front project previously with collabs. Now she has sent a beautiful solo collage with asemic writing which I am thrilled to share. The circular asemics are an excellent structural device as are the text-image relations that make this piece visual poetry as well. Here is a closer…