Printerpo by FinnBadger (Columbus, Ohio, USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail art by IUOMA member FinnBadger (Columbus, Ohio, USA)

May 21, 2015 - Not long ago, I was thrilled to document a FAB Trashbook by FinnBadger. An online discussion about said work (if I am remembering correctly) touched on topics such as the artistic use of randomness, found materials and glitch art. Mostly due to Diane Keys’ work in the area, glitch art (often produced by digital malfunctions) has become associated with Trashpo in the mail art network. “Scannerbed compositions” (art made by improvised arrangement of material on a scannerbed and then quickly copied) has also become associated with Trashpo.

This provides a context for this interesting new piece sent by FinnBadger. It is a sturdy piece of carboard, approximately 5 X 7 inches, with unaltered, glitched text that looks to me like concrete poetry. To many viewers, this might appear to be nothing more than a piece of unremarkable cardboard. In the realm of Fluxus and DaDa – where distinctions between art and life are always a topic of scrutiny – the piece holds a certain fascination. FinnBadger wrote his explanation on the other side:

Thus FinnBadger officially adds Printerpo (I do not believe I have seen the term before) to the Trashpo Lexicon and the digital avant. Let’s try some other takes on the printerpo:

And even closer:

A certain element among conceptualists favors the production of art and writing by machines with as little human involvement as possible. (Or is that from 1984?) FinnBadger has taken both the conceptualist and machine-generated route here. The use of found material, at this point in time, is a kind of classicism.

I greatly appreciate having this interesting work for the archives!

[De Villo Sloan]

Hold on to that printer, FinnBadger. Put a label on it that reads "DaDa Fluxus Poetry Generator" and send it to the Museum of Modern Art when it finally expires.

On the other hand, it could be a case of demonic possession. IUOMA members have voiced their suspicions when they encounter printing and scanning difficulties.

And you need to be proactive if this becomes some sort of Hal in 2001 or Skynet in Terminator situation. Mudhead has a great photo of a Fluxus performance of guys destroying a printer with baseball bats, if you catch my drift....

[FinnBadger]

Thanks for another thoughtful blog post. Every time I think it is time to replace the printer it manages to do create its own art, so I keep it and put up with its idiosyncrasies.

I wonder if its crankiness increases as is gets closer to producing a new piece?

(I will have to replace it eventually, it is almost at the pint of complete scan refusal).

((Hope it doesn't read that last part - I can see the headline now - 'FinnBadger dies in tragic office accident'))