Collage Text by Brooke Cooks (Seattle, Washington, USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail art by IUOMA member Brooke Cooks (Seattle, Washington, USA)

August 29, 2015 - I am very happy, after an inexcusable delay, to share this highly innovative mail art from Brooke Cooks in Seattle.

This fold-out work, anchored on a solid cardboard collage of conventional size, reminds me of triptych pieces I have received. Yet it wants to be a boekie or a TLP or a mini-zine. Brooke Cooks’ collage talent is showcased, and the novel use of form allows for an interesting presentation of content. Here is the reverse side:

As you might be able to detect, the three-panel fold-out is attached on this side of the card. It can be opened to reveal an amazing collage text:

This scan (above) reveals the full text constructed by Brooke Cooks. Given the literary nature of much of the appropriated material and the juxtapositions of different kinds of discourse, I think of this fascinating piece as being a language centered-text exploration similar to examples found in Modernist poetry by T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, which was not taking the same approach as DaDa but nevertheless related. Overall, this work is more formal and controlled than either DaDa or Trashpo. Yet Brooke Cook’s piece is surely not an exercise in retro-Modernism, though.

The juxtapositions of fonts, the focus on language and the unabashed and even audacious appropriations make it very contemporary. I believe this is a work that deserves a close look. Here is another scan that shows the relationship of the text to the “anchor” collage:

Brooke Cooks included a note of explanation:

I did not realize Brooke Cooks was ever out of the game. I believe she is back now. The reverse side is interesting:

And the envelope:

The usual suspect:

Many thanks to Brooke Cooks for FAB mail art!