RECEIVED: DharmaDaDa's Al Hansen Trashpo Tribute (Germany), YES from Carina Granlund (Finland) + Jim SantAmour Asemics (USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

 Mail-art by IUOMA member Erni Baer (Hamburg, Germany)

 

April 19, 2012 - Good friend Erni Baer (aka DharmaDaDa), for me, is one of the great current masters of all that is found art, DaDa, and Trashpo. I have been saving this masterpiece for a rainy day and cannot, in good conscience, keep it to myself any longer. First, this piece is MASSIVE by mail-art standards, so I have ramped up the scan size to try to convey its powerful impact and PRESENCE.

 

Flattened aluminum cans are an Erni Baer trademark. This work is a variation on that theme. From what I can reconstruct about the piece above, DharmaDaDa found a cardboard container for Beck's beer in the streets of Hamburg. (We call these beer containers in the USA 6- or 12-packs). The piece has been flattened and writing added. Then it was mailed as-is and made it fairly well through the postal system. I've had it on display, perched on cardboard box, for a long time.

 

Erni took the opportunity to creat a tribute to a Fluxus artist whom we both regard highly: The late Al Hansen. Of course, it is not Hansen Beer. Al Hansen is the grandfather of post-punk, avant rock star Beck (Hansen), a performer widely known. When you are aware of his background especially, I think it is easy to locate the influence of Fluxus and experimental music in Beck's work. I did not know that beer inspired Beck's name. 

 

Erni's art was hard to fit in the scanner and this detail should help:

 

 

Erni makes reference in the piece to the Beck song with the lyrics: "I'm a loser, baby, so why don't you kill me." It was a big hit - thus the gold? In reading about Al Hansen, I learned he was very involved in the Punk music scene when he lived in Los Angeles, so that connection runs in the family. Here is the reverse side that (barely) fits the scan, but I think you can get an overall impression:

 

 

I apologize for the blurriness in places. I believe Erni Baer gathers his material using a principle of harmomic randomness. You can sense a human presence, even in his most seemingly randomly collected work. I imagine the discovery of some particular thing discarded triggers a thought or concept, even if highly intuitive, that the selection of that object will add to the unified vision that his entire body of work represents. This Beck piece clearly shows the presence of associative thought: from beer, to Al Hansen, and then - what I appreciate most - to me!

 

And I do treasure this piece. As always, many thanks DharmaDaDa! If you like this DharmaDaDa work, then you will surely want to check out:

 

http://iuoma-network.ning.com/group/erni-bar-fan-club

 

 

Emphatic YES from Carina Granlund

 

Mail-art by IUOMA member Carina Granlund (Petsmo, Finland)

 

Carina Granlund is a new friend from Finland and we have just completed our first mail-art exchange, which I think was very successful and enjoyed very much.

 

I am always eager to have friends from Finland because (1) Satu Kaikkonen is from Finland. I do not like rankings, but I have to say Satu is on my top-ten list for favorite visual poets in the world. So I like to see what others are doing in Finland. Perhaps it is like Portugal in terms of talent. I am also a fan of the U.S. literary critic Edmund Wilson who wrote To the Finland Station. Somehow that book has created a conditioned response in me concerning Finland. Just one of those strange things. I perk up for some reason.

 

I believe Carina is primarily a visual artist; however, whether by chance or intention, she sent me work that is language-oriented, such as the one above. I like the piece very much because it works for me as poetry as well as pure image. You have the intense, if not absurd, repetition of a well chosen line. Things like this can actually be found in DaDa and Fluxus works. When read aloud, if you can give yourself to the repitition, these poems can create a deep awareness of the rhythms of language, word meanings, word relations, and other related things. It's not too far from the mantra principle. (On the other hand, there is "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" in Kubrick's The Shining that offers another explanation for extreme word repitition. I'll stick with the Fluxus concept.

 

I doubt Carina meant her work to be read aloud or intended anything I just wrote about, but I still note the comparison. Especially with the blank space, the typing suggests concrete poetry, although the b&w typewriter picture (below) fits perfectly in that space and I suspect belongs there, although it's moveable. The graph paper is great. I see asemic writing done on graph paper. In addition to understanding the practical reasons, the delicate lines, grids, geometric uniformity make a great material and add to visual impact. I always like stamp overlays. Here's more of what she sent:

 

By now, it's clear that writing (or typing) is part of the theme. I like the red threads streaming out from the typewriter keys. If you place the photo on the graph paper piece, the threads can become intermixed with the words and images. This entire mail-art package is very interactive if you arrange the work in different ways and consider the different possibilities. Carina's reference to Dean Marks (France) and Vizma Brun (Australia) further indicates she was thinking about creation, process, and (interactivity). I find myself wanting to move the pieces around. The reverse side of the photo has a note:

 

 

The "YES" - made with tape - is the reverse side of the envelope that held everything. I had seen this in other pieces by Carina Granlund posted at the IUOMA and was, of course, very impressed with this use of tape, seeing some asemic possibilities, and liking the stark b&w. I think Carina means Ray Johnson with the "RAJ"? That would explain why she seems to understand mail-art so well, even if she has not actively participated. And the front:

 

I can tell Karina is an artist. A sense of aesthetics is operating in this piece. Nor is much left to chance - a principle of organization and overall concept governs. So I found this a very intriguing piece that still pulls me back to re-think, reconsider, and find more.

 

Many thanks, Carina! I look forward to more exhanges! You can see a whole lot more of Carina's work at:

 

http://www.carinagranlund.com/

 

Eco-Asemics from Jim SantAmour

 

Mail-art by IUOMA member Jim SantAmour (St. Petersburg, Florida, USA)

 

Moving mail-art from an area here in the Overlook Hotel that is an organizational disaster to archival safety, I found this unblogged work by Jim SantAmour. By now, Jim's work with visual poetry isn't news. Most friends at IUOMA have been treated to beautiful work he has made combining text and image. This piece, however, uses asemic writing. I haven't seen much of that by Jim. I really like the concept: He produces symbols from tree forms.

 

The Asemics 16 project generated many discussions about the origin of symbols and the fact that nature is filled with asemically suggestive shapes. We even gave that pursuit a name: Eco-Asemics.

 

Jim Santamour is a fantastic photographer and seems to have access to an incredible photography archive. He puts that to good use here. The tree photos, I think, are amazing and the presentation subtle, in his distinctive collage style. They certainly capture a multitude of expressive shapes and forms that are, simultaneously, translated into an alphabet. I am further amazed by the way he is able to do this in a very small space:

 

Definitely a little piece of asemic history that needs to be documented. Definitely a piece that deserves a close look. Many (belated) thanks Jim! And welcome to the Postage Due Club. I'm sure you and Diane Keys (major offender) can find a lot to talk about.

 

Jim now has a blog! Check this for more of his work:

http://santamour.blogspot.com/

 

 

 MAIL-ART PSYCHIC

 

 

http://minxuslynxus.wordpress.com/

 

Minkeys.

 

Repeat X 5 = "The minkey stole my woekie."

 

Minnkeys = Minnesota monkeys

 

Dianekeys = Species of Chicago monkey (?)

 

That was Peter Cellars, Ray.

 

Are you Finnished?

 

More substitute substitute.

 

Purple.

 

A shriner's convention or "We all shrine on..."

 

GS: "What was the question?"

 

Seriously folks: Thoughts go out & wishes for a speedy recovery to Tom Clark in Oakland.

 

No relation to Dick Clark or Max Baer.

 

Magic Christian

 

or ice fishing, as in walking on thin ___

 

[De Villo Sloan]

YES! Even Marie made it. I like the red threads coming out of Carina's typewriter too.

 

Well, based on the comments, the three artists blogged are All-Stars. Jim SantAmour is last in the blog, but that's just a disadvantage of linearity. I think the piece is different because Jim ventures into asemics here, and I haven't seen him working in that area, although I think I've seen him use the tree symbols somewhere else. Maybe. YES, Nancy, the really small inlays of the trees are superb - isn't one of them shadows? I had this one propped on a book shelf. I took it off, was looking at it closely (the insets) & thought, geez, this is a REALLY good one, as NBS concurs, Jim really nailed it with the trees & asemic symbols. He has an eye for photos that are very expressive.

 

Thanks for the comments.

[Marie Wintzer]

Oh I LOVE the thread coming out of the typewriter! Great work all of this, great blog!

[Nancy Bell Scott]

Ha, missed half of the whole comment section before commenting, pardon.

[Nancy Bell Scott]

Terrific works by all three and terrific blog. 

The patchy collage by Jim looks a bit different for him (at least from what I've seen), and I REALLY like it, Jim. I REALLY like that a lot. Every single piece of it, and how you put them together. 

[De Villo Sloan]

Thom is right, I just noticed DK's first comment on the blog was: WOW, WOW &WOW. Then it turned into a chorus of YES! OH! WOW! YES! YES!

[De Villo Sloan]

Shot from the old days: Al Hansen, John Lennon, Andy Warhol. I think we can safely say Beck had some influences in his family background:

[De Villo Sloan]

Glad you could have a look, Carina. And thanks again. No formalities. This is just an assembling of the usual gang. And when you are feeling like things are complex, please remember the commitment for mail-artis that anyone can do it & inclusive for all & all voices adding value.

 

YES, Erni! The overall title of the series must be Venus. And there's Cheryl.

 

Hi Thom, we definitely have been wrapped in thread from Japan & South Africa too. Carina has no corner on that market. Erni brought the connection between Beck & Al Hansen to my awareness some time ago. It makes so much sense because Beck makes use of the sound collage idea that is so Fluxy among many other things. Erni's homage has been a great opportunity to dig into this aspect of our heritage.

 

BTW, I am obviously organizing & archiving - thus posting work that is several months in some cases (ancient by mail-art terms). I have the wonderful knitted piece you sent! OMG, it was never blogged. Thank you so much. I'm going to have to start a "Lost Classics" feature to make sure everything is documented.

[Carina]

Great works by Erni and Jim! Many thanks for your engagement DVS, I'm stunned. Asemic writing feels more and more interesting, there's so much to take in... you are all opening doors, thank you.

[Thom Courcelle]

This blog is starting to sound a bit tittilating with all the "WOW,WOW,WOWs" and the "YES, YES, YESes"... but I can only concur with the sentiments!!  I always look at commercial product board that has holes or openings in it and think, "Hmmmm... there is something just burgeoning to be created with that.  But so far I have myself been stumped to know what I can reveal in those little "windows."  Erni makes a simple and obvious choice and incorporates tha commercial-part of the cardboard right into his tribute.  Awesome.  And I honestly did not know the factoids treasures revealed about the musician Beck--one of my favorite musical artists.

Carina's piece is blowing my mind.  I'm lucky to have already received a piece by her, too, and am looking forward to seeing more of her creativity here.  It seems we now have lots of artists utilizing red thread to their mail art effect.  True master archivist DVS??  I can think of a Minxian artist in Japan, and a South African wizardess at minimum who have used it, too.

LOVING Jim's Eco-asmeics as well!  Have admired Jim's stuff for EONS--gotta send that guy something soon, though I fear whatever it may be won't touch his level of creativity with a ten-foot-pole.

Great blog, DVS!

[De Villo Sloan]

And even more harmonic randomness: At least one of those Al Hansen Hershey bar pieces is titled: "Cheryl." No kidding. At least it isn't one made out of 100s of cigarette butts. He did those too.