MEANING LESS: An Asemics 16 #3 Dialog with Marie Wintzer (Saitama, Japan)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art by IUOMA member Marie Wintzer (Saitama, Japan)

 

August 26, 2011 - Marie Wintzer is one of my best mail-art friends. So I was thrilled when I learned she and I would both have chapters in Edition #3 of the Asemics 16 collaborative mail-art book project. (I took over for Dark wall who had other obligations and left the project ;) Above is the first page of the beautiful chapter I just received from Marie. I could not be more pleased! She chose to create textile asemics. Here are pages two and three:

 

The textures of the fabric and subtle color tones are a wonderful background for the white thread that, of course, is the actual asemic writing. Next is the center spread of pages 4 and 5:

 

The delicate and fluid weaving of the threads, knots, and twists reveal Marie's aesthetic sense and also suggest to me a stream-of-consciousness flow of thought and shifting emotions.

 

While the writing itself is complex, Marie's chapter is ultimately minimalist. I think the economy she uses is incredibly powerful, leading us to focus on every intricate thread, knot, and intertwining. Here is the concluding page:

 

 

I will treasure this textile asemic chapter from Marie always. It suggests to me the stream-of-consciousness passages in James Joyce where we enter the minds of characters and move with them through memories, dreams, hopes, and regrets.

 

Marie and I did not communicate much to each other about what we were doing for our Edition #3 chapters, but it was clear we both saw it as an opportunity to have our work together. I have been working on a series of "Cherry Blossom" asemic poems inspired by Marie's photography, so I decided to include selected poems in my chapter. Here are the pages I sent Marie:

 

 

I used old pin-up photos, continuing an artistic dialog I have had with Cheryl Penn (South Africa). The Cherry blossom poems also use film noir and hard-boiled detective stories, especially Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, as referential texts.  The next piece is not a Cherry blossom asemic but is a piece I made for Marie, who is clearly an influence and inspiration:

The center section is an asemic writing study that I think would be considered "Asemically Correct" by purists:

 

 

These are more cherry blossom pieces with an emphasis on the darker side of noir:

 

Marie and I have very different styles. My work for Edition #3 is based far more on popcult references and signification (especially the parrots) in the vispo areas. I think at the core, however, we have indeed managed to have a dialog that draws on our previous work and that explores similar things in very different ways. Asemics 16 has provided a wonderful opportunity to put our work together and is yet another aspect of the collaborative process. Make sure to check out Marie's mail-art blog:

 

http://mariesmailbox.blogspot.com/