FYI

[De Villo Sloan]

July 8, 2014 - I did not make this; I am not involved with this. It is being circulated among mail-artists on Facebook. I thought IUOMA members who "don't get out much" (only do online mail-art activities through IUOMA-Ning) might want to be aware of different points of view.

[Ruud Janssen]

To get the history right. Mark Bloch reacted to my poster (using a computer-generated sign) which he photoshopped.....

[Ruud Janssen]

Mark Bloch reacted to this by the way......

[De Villo Sloan]

As a coda to the pro-union vs. con-union (why on earth has this gotten so many views? it's an FYI) I found Ruud Janssen's interview with Mark Bloch:

http://jas.faximum.com/library/tam/tam_23a.htm

1) Mighty interesting read.

2) We're all on the same team, even if we disagree on the plays sometimes.

[De Villo Sloan]

I don't know. I'm always interested in people's thoughts on the state of the m-a network in the digital age. Mark Bloch has written a lot about it. His Panmodern archives are so good I use them whenever I have to research something. I guess his catalog intro for the FluxRus exhibition in 2012 was, er, controversial. A lot of IUOMA folks in that show too.

I posted this in the FB Trashpo group, and a couple responses bordered on ugly. So maybe best to pull the plug on this unless there are any more insights.

[Susan McAllister]

I like that.

[De Villo Sloan]

Thanks Wendy & Susan. Maybe, as Gertrude Stein, said: "There is no there there." Your responses echo the core of mine: puzzlement.  We'd have to know more about Mark's intentions, I guess. It breaks down to being: What difference does it make whether the individual artist belongs to any art-oriented group or not? I'll see if I can brave it on FB. Thanks again.

A couple years ago there was the "We are the mail-artists and we are innocuous" campaign that was an event score that had IUOMA in it. It was attributed to Karen Eliot, which is a Neoist multiple-user identity. Maybe it's some Neoist thing. They're still around.

[Susan McAllister]

Hi DVS, I admit that I "don't get out much", but I am interested in different points of view. I would love to have some polite discussion, but at this point have nothing to offer myself. I hope someone will help enlighten me. Thanks.

[WA Rodgers]

I wondered if this was tongue-in-cheek. I don't know Mark's work, except for the little I've looked up today.

[De Villo Sloan]

Thanks, Ruud. Yes, this was posted on FB by Mark Bloch. I have tremendous respect for all Mark has done for mail-art. I am obviously a diehard IUOMA member & fan.

I thought this might generate some (polite) discussion about the network as well as what is a mail-artist? And who decides what mail-art is & who is or isn't a mail-artist.

No takers! But a lot of viewers.

[Ruud Janssen]

the maker of this image is Mark Bloch. He tends to be negative towards the idea of an union. the website mentioned on the image is his. He only posts on Facebook, but actually IS a member of the IUOMA facebook group...... See: http://www.facebook.com/groups/iuoma/