DKult Doodle Therapy TLP#5 by Rebecca Guyver (with Diane Keys) (Suffolk, UK)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail art by IUOMA member Rebecca Guyver (Suffolk, UK)

July 22, 2015 - Rebecca Guyver sent me the fifth Tacky Little Pamphlet (TLP) in her stunning DKult Doodle Therapy series. This new installment is as innovative and entertaining as the previous editions I have received. The DKult Doodle Therapy concept is inherently collaborative. While Rebecca Guyver is unquestionably the guiding force behind these soon-to-be historic TLPs (I'm sure), many other artists have contributed doodles. Diane Keys (Elgin, Illinois, USA) and Figgy Guyver are given credit for contributing to TLP#5; I gather there are others as well. Rebecca Guyver is also a wonderful correspondent in terms of sending generous envelopes stuffed with both art and news. These opening scans are of a card that accompanied TLP#5. Here is the reverse side:

Without further digression, I am very pleased to now present you with complete documentation of DKult Doodle Therapy TLP#5:

Cover of DKult Doodle Therapy TLP#5 by Rebecca Guyver with additional contributions by Diane Keys, Figgy Guyver and others.

(Click to enlarge)

Detail from Dkult Doodle Therapy TLP#5

Back cover of Dkult Doodle Therapy#5

A wonderful production! Rebecca Guyver also included a wonderful example of her plasticized, sewn work.

And the envelope:

And the reverse:

As ever, thanks to Rebecca Guyver!

[De Villo Sloan]

 I found this shot of (Wild Billy) Haddock (middle), widely alleged to have invented the TLP in the 70s. Note Blasster Al and photo by David Zack. Image courtesy of Ross Priddle at bentspoon. bentspoon is one of the major m-a blogs & very interesting, although looks as if Ross has been going off on some rants recently.

http://bentspoon.blogspot.com/

[De Villo Sloan]

Also, you can usually assume that a completed doodle therapy TLP has passed through numerous mail boxes. I've mostly given up trying to identify all but the major contributors. For this TLP#5, as the blog states, the main contributors are Rebecca Guyver, Diane Keys and Figgy Guyver.

Other regular contributors in the past include Carina Granlund, Dan Mouer and Lucky Pierre.

I believe I recognize Carina Granlund's drawings in TLP#5 but have not gotten any clear confirmation.

[De Villo Sloan]

Thanks as ever, Richard.

To me, the doodle therapy is an unexpected turn among the trashpoets and Kulters. My head is still pretty much in the Classical Age of torn cereal boxes & grocery lists (your own distinguished contributions stand as breath-taking monuments among them). When they began calling for "aesthetic trash," I knew the explication would grow dense. I seek to be descriptive rather than prescriptive.

We have regional differences. The British chapter (DKULTUK) has proven to be wonderfully inventive. And Rebecca Guyver is certainly a driving force (Figgy is her daughter BTW). But they have departed from the simple use of found materials.

I do admire Rebecca for using the TLP (Tacky Little Pamphlet) form associated w/ our own John M. Bennett and a Mr. Wild Billy Haddock, who seems the stuff of legend.

I think what Rebecca and her collaborators are making are Surrealist or Stream-of-Consciousness comics. The doodling is associative, possibly akin to automatic writing (but not exactly).

I think Diane Keys first proposed the concept of doodle therapy for the Kulters (the way Chairman Mao endorsed origami during his marvelous Cultural revolution experiment.) It might have been Diane's attempt at a populist asemic writing. In Rebecca's hands, it quickly evolved in a different direction. DK seems to participate in just about every pamphlet.

These TLPs are gorgeous. They are certainly a wonderful gift and worth exhibiting and preserving.

[Richard Canard]

22.07.15 Dare De Villo S., ... I really don't know what these collaborative doodles are all about inas much as  I never achieved  any sort of high status among the Secretive GrandMasters & Matrons of DKult (not to mention, my total ignorance of the feminine graces) but they are rich & fascinating. I enjoy viewing them very much. Thanks for posting. Rebecca Guyver is deserving of praise. Best to all concerned. Richard Canard