De Villo Sloan's Blog (1,209)

Mail art by IUOMA member DSF (Dopesick San Francisco) aka Michael Kelly (Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA)

June 16, 2018 - DSF is a widely known artist/persona in the Eternal Network and beyond. I am thrilled to share a new piece I consider “rare” in the sense that it falls outside the parameters of classic DSF images.

DSF’s mail art – usually using the postcard format – is widely recognizable. Some of the images I might even dare call iconic.…

Mail art by IUOMA member Jimmy Connors (Berlin, Germany)

June 14, 2018 - Do not misunderstand: I like Jimmy Connors’ mail art and I am thrilled he sends it to me (a lot of it, in fact). But who the hell is Jimmy Connors? Can anyone elaborate?

I tend to know networkers, but Jimmy Connors is a total mystery. And with all the fake identities, I (in a paranoid way) am not sure Jimmy Conners is Jimmy Conners. You know? Anyway,…

Mail art from France concerning E’s Fan Club. Note use of E’s famous muzzled mink stamp.

June 14, 2018 - My post office box – alas – is becoming a Dead Letter Office for non-existent people.

I received this piece concerning E – Ambassador of Utopia that might answer some questions concerning the fate of E. More likely, this only raises more questions in what is becoming a great mail art mystery. I can only hope E – Ambassador of Utopia…

Add & Pass sheet completed by Manuel Xio Blanco (Galicia, Spain) for E’s Fan Club. Starter by Monty Cantsin

June 3, 2018 - I am coming to accept the fact that my PO box has become North American headquarters for E’s Fan Club, which is being managed from some unknown, distant location by Monty Cantsin and Karen Eliot.

I received this very interesting E’s Fan Club a&p from Manuel Xio Blanco. I am not familiar with this artist, but a…

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

June 2, 2018 - I am so pleased to receive mail art from Jayne B. Lyons. I have already made Jayne’s acquaintance here at IUOMA-Ning. I find her engaging, curious about mail art history and – apparently – a born pack rat who collects and deals in vintage ephemera including stamps. This is a promising profile indeed for an artist bound for Eternal Network glory.

The…

Add & Pass by Karen Eliot for E’s Fan Club sent by IUOMA member Richard Baudet (Marseille, France). Baudet apparently believes I am a person named “Montey Cantsin.”

May 31, 2018 - This is what can happen with fake identity mail art pranks.

First, several years ago I vowed never to have any contact in any way with Richard Baudet (Marseille, France) after he rudely insulted my good friend Moan Lisa (Florida, USA).

From a distance,…

Mail art by IUOMA member Jessica Manack (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA) sent from FluxFest 2018

May 30, 2018 - I was thrilled to receive an exclusive investigative mail art report from Jessica Manack made while she was attending FluxFest 2018 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. This year’s event – I understand – was low key by design. Some great documentation is beginning to emerge. I am thrilled to have this mail art-ifact from the…

Mail art by Miss Noma for Monty Cantsin sent to my PO Box in Auburn, New York, USA. Point of origin seems to be France.

May 29, 2018 - I am receiving enough mail for Monty Cantsin that I think it’s time to start documenting and trying to solve the mystery.

In this particular case, I received an Add & Pass sheet from none other than Miss Noma concerning the E Fan Club. Most networkers are aware that the great E – Ambassador of Utopia…

Mail art by IUOMA founder Ruud Janssen (Breda, Netherlands)

May 27, 2018 - I seldom begin a blog post with an envelope. In the case of work received from Ruud Janssen – however – I often make exceptions. Ruud Janssen is a major network force, being a widely recognized artist, mail art scholar, founder of the IUOMA (International Union of Mail Artists), among many other accomplishments. His hand-painted envelopes are a trademark. I have an impressive…

Asemic game by IUOMA member Tiina Kainulainen (Helsinki, Finland)

May 18, 2018 - Previous Asemic Front collaborator (my current m-a project) Tiina Kainulainen from Finland created this ingenious piece, a perfect merging of asemics and conceptualism. What would be the constraints, rules and processes of an asemic game? This is a work that invites audience involvement on several levels. At the heart of Tiina’s game is an asemic symbol…

Mail art by IUOMA member Yayoi S.W. (Kirkland, Washington, USA)

May 15, 2018 - Yayoi S.W. is doing some FAB art which can be seen here at IUOMA-Ning and elsewhere circulating in the Eternal Network. She has already participated in the Asemic Front project. I am thrilled to have new asemics by Yayoi to share as well as an add & pass sheet she sent:

The reverse side:

 …

Mail art by IUOMA member Richard Canard (Carbondale, Illinois, USA)

May 11, 2018 - Richard Canard is a faithful and generous correspondent to the point I cannot document everything, but I do try to choose a few plum gems from the laden branches of the C-Tree to share with Tenderfoots. How is that for a confused-mixed metaphor?

Mail art by Richard Canard

Several copy art and asemic…

Mail art by IUOMA member Ana Kawajiri (Brasilia, Brasil)

May 7, 2018 - Last year (April 2017), mail art friend Ana Kawajiri sent me some absolutely FAB copy art. I used the occasion to write about Ana’s work as “conceptual copy art” and the posting drew a good deal of attention (in terms of how these things go). Here is a link to the previous work received from Ana Kawajiri. I believe this is worth a look:…

Mail art by IUOMA member Lisa Fraker (Blue Ridge, Georgia, USA)

May 6, 2018 - Lisa Fraker is a new mail art friend. I have seen her work here at IUOMA-Ning and admired it very much. And behold! I received this lovely card!

Rabbits are mail art talismans, icons, fetishes – however you wish to identify them specifically. Ray Johnson, of course, was the prime promoter of rabbits in the network originally. Recently, with the rise of Lord Phlegm…

Mail art by IUOMA member Erica Durante (Waldwick, New Jersey, USA)

May 1, 2018 - Erica Durante has released new colorful and beautifully composed mail art. I am thrilled to be the recipient of one of these pieces (above). In her kind note, she explains this work is an exploration of minimalism:

Erica Durante frequently uses…

Mail art by IUOMA member Angie Cope & Snooker the Amazing Mail Art Dog (Port Washington, Wisconsin, USA)

April 6, 2018 - All my labors for art, and I end up as the straight guy in a performing dog act.

But seriously…

Seven years ago (more or less) inspired by Diane Keys and Rain Rien Nevermind, Angie Cope and I did a mail art…

“Asemic Trashpo” by IUOMA member Richard Canard (Carbondale, Illinois, USA). Image courtesy of Nancy Bell Scott

February 19, 2018 - An original member of Ray Johnson’s New York Correspondance School (NYCS), Richard Canard is one of the most recognized and important mail artists working today. I doubt anyone in the network would dispute my contention.

Like most NYCS members, Richard Canard has roots in the avant garde associated with Neo-DaDa,…

Mail art by IUOMA member Alicia Starr Ryan (Iowa City, Iowa, USA)

February 19, 2018 - Alicia Starr Ryan is a very talented visual artist as well as a friend and supporter of the Eternal Network. She is  associated with network visual poetry and asemic writing efforts of recent years. I am pleased to be able to share her work.

For all the emphasis on theory and method, asemic writers – luckily – are excellent humorists too. They often…

Mail art by IUOMA member Norma Soulet (Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA)

February 3, 2018 - Norma Soulet has been developing her asemics in the IUOMA-Ning asemic writing group. I believe we will soon be seeing her participation in Asemic Front collabs.

In the meantime, here is a small sampling of her efforts thus far. Above is a scan (I appropriated) of a solo mail art work by Norma Soulet sent to Carolyn Cline (Colorado, USA). To me,…