MAIL-ART CALL: DADAHOMEYA Kit Project (FluXus Box Concept) by Gik Juri (Moscow, Russian Federation)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art by IUOMA member Gik Juri accompanying his DADAHOMEYA KIT #9 annoucement (Moscow, Russia)

 

March 12, 2011 - Mail-art is a serious cultural practice in Russia. It has a fascinating history in that part of the world, and the community is currently vibrant and active. Gik Juri is an incredibly talented mail-artist who is involved in many projects. This DADHOMEYA Project seems to me like one of his best ever. I'll let him speak for himself. Here's the mail-art call he is sending out across the globe:

 

 

Gik Juri is currently calling for submissions to "Mail-Art goes to BLOG." This is part of DADAHOMEYA #9 announcement; I think you can assume it's an open call. Trying not to make this too complicated, I think Gik would appreciate receiving your mail-art. He's also a tremendous guy (it's a matter of overcoming translation problems for some of us), and you might want to make friends with him if you are not already:

Link to the project: http://mail-art-east.livejournal.com/

 

I am fascinated by the fact that Gik Juri has chosen to focus on the concept of Da Da and Fluxus boxes as part of the DADAHOMEYA Project. (BTW Da Da and FluXus in Africa is no longer as exotic or far-fetched as it once seemed.)

 

These boxes are certainly a mainstay of FluXus artists across the decades. Generally, they are boxes containing work by a number of different artists: a kind of three-dimensional anthology. There are also single-artist boxes. Box concepts can range from well-defined themes to random principles. Here is a pic of a Flux Kit by George Macunias (1966). These pieces serve as a prototype for the boxes artists are producing today:

Red Fox Press in Ireland is producing wonderful, contemporary FluXus boxes (aka assembling boxes). The names of many of the contributors will be immediately recognized by many mail-artists:

 

http://www.redfoxpress.com/ass.box.html

 

Here are envelope scans from Gik Juri:

And the reverse:

It is a surprise and pleasure to receive mail-art from Gik Juri. I express my thanks and wish the best of luck on this project. Check out:

http://mail-art-east.livejournal.com/

[De Villo Sloan]

Great to hear from you Gik Juri. DADAHOMEYA is a wonderful concept and project.

[Gik Juri]

Thank you for this post!

[De Villo Sloan]

For sure Bifidus, I think it's a great project. Tiziana Barracchi from Italy sent me the scan I pasted below. I'm wondering if this Mail-Art Pantheon Gik Juri is circulating is a larger piece somewhere? You'll notice in the first shot at the top of the blog there is Pig Da Da. I learned from Gik and Maria F. that Pig Da Da was this central figure in Russian mail-art. Like their equivalent to Ray Johnson. I got off to an uncertain start with Gik because I accidentally translated it as Pig Father, and he thought I was protesting or something. It's all good now. I really like the Russians. Maria F is a sweetheart.

[Bifidus Jones]

Thanks so much for posting this!

[De Villo Sloan]