Qua/Si/Za Lopolaroids - from Grigori Antonin

[Marie Wintzer]

 

New mail from the one and only Grigori Antonin to his devoted Marie Antonette :-))
A yellow envelope containing an A4 sheet which I will happily Pad and Ass on. And on the back of the envelope, Groot Suster (to me, every woman with blond hair in a comic = Groot Suster) is very much inspired by Mary. Now that's a twist! Usually it is rather the other way around. But very flattering, for sure! Good one Grigori.

 

 

I already knew that Grigori was a photographer, his Tokyo mail a while back contained a mysterious snapshot. Today he is sending me a couple of polaroids. Well, not exactly polaroids. A Zalopolaroid and a quasi-Zalopolaroid :-)) Could this be a reference to my failed Zalop card to him? NOT that I think that those are failed photos! Not in the least. I love experimental photography, and I think he captured exactly the essence of Zalop with those shots. In fact I will be posting them in the Zalop group, I think they will have much success.
Grigori, thank you for this great envelope, you will be hearing from Marie Antonette any day now.

 

 

[De Villo Sloan]

I have not been able to keep up with all the Zalop forms (declensions?). And yesterday I translated Litsa Spathi's comment on Zalop, trying to figure that into the mix. I have thought about this: Grigori includes a Groot Suster image and then moves on to Zalop. Very little is accident in his work. Do you think he's commenting on your particular part of the larger Zalop project? He's SO inscrutable.

 

I also didn't want to drag Fluxus into it too much. The G-Man seems very supportive of those artists. I think he is a bit skeptical about things on the more conceptual side. But how do you get to the bottom of this with a person - I'm talking about GA - whose stated philosophy is: "Send mail-art. Get mail-art"? Does it correspond with the values: "Mom, Ray, & TRRH"?

 

I always suspect Marie Antonette knows more about it than she reveals when these utterances appear. She doth protest too much.

[cheryl penn]

I've been thinking about this - for sure its fun - but I think this is the beginning of the revived Romantic ZALOP movement. Quasi because there is nearly a ZALIP in the first photograph - ie the ZALOP doppelganger? 

[De Villo Sloan]

[De Villo Sloan]

CB, lest anyone misunderstand: With Grigori, there's always the element of having some fun and teasing you too in the bargain. I like the polaroids, truth be told. 

[Marie Wintzer]

Aw come on DVS, maybe it is nothing more than a mockery of my failed zalop card. Or actually, a mockery of ZALOP itself. In which case I would have to report this case to Cheryl and Ruud :-))) I stand by it, those are great zalopy snapshots. Because there are like no snapshots before, and that is understanding what zalop is about. Experiment, no borders to new things.

cp-sa, you stay safe! I wonder what Gerald thinks of all this.

 

[De Villo Sloan]

No! No Poetry Wars in mail-art! The Polaroids are not Paranoids. We'll give him the benefit of the doubt. He might be serious.

[cheryl penn]

Ah the Monkey Wars Resume. This means the troops this side will enmass. O no, I'd better guard the fruit - and my mail art...

[De Villo Sloan]

Mon cher, je vais attendre pour vous. Je prie pour cette folie passe.

[De Villo Sloan]

I don't know, Marie. Each person has an interpretation. Certainly, the polaroids can't be an attempt at serious art. Nobody could be that incompetent or thoughtless about what they send out. I would think some people might be horribly offended at what seems to me to be such a brazen mockery of avant garde art. I can understand why Dw would be urging you to remove the blog. What I still cannot fathom is how you can fall under the spell of this Postal Pied Piper, this con artist of collage.

 

Last year he launched an attack against the Catholic Church, leaving me to take the heat. Now the target appears to be the avant garde. This is where one misses the good old days. Someone like George Maciunas would have dealt with this joker handily - expulsions and public denouncements might indeed have their place in a case such as this. But this is for other people to deal with. It's none of my affair. BUT Marie, I am deeply concerned for you.

 

We don't speak enough in the network about dysfunctional mail-art relationships. Marie, you need to overcome the denial, wake up, and smell the coffee. Marie Antonette and Pope Grigori are locked in something that is indeed becoming sordid. You work very hard at creating beautiful work, Marie. How are you rewarded in these exchanges? With condoms in Marie's Mailbox? Then you become a billboard advertising any agenda that is issued from Minneapolis, no matter how demented or pointless. I feel nothing but pity for you.

 

And, as always, both Dw and I will be there for you to pick up the pieces when he bursts your bubble. 

[Marie Wintzer]

Yes I remember "Now Jen!" very well. One of the first things that came to my mind (after Groot Suster). It was a great piece.

Even though it is signed "Grigori", it doesn't mean that it wasn't done by his mail art monkeys. Who knows. I still think they are brilliant as ZALOP snapshots. I totally see the art in it.

Mon cher, je trouve l'art des singes tres interessant! Vous devriez aussi essayer la photographie, je serais curieuse de voir le resultat.