RECEIVED: Fluxus is 50! & Great X-Stamps from JF CHAPELLE (Merignac, France)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art by IUOMA member JF CHAPELLE (Merignac, France)

 

July 3, 2011 - With everything going on in mail-art these days, it took another great envelope of mail-art from my favorite French Fluxus artist JF CHAPELLE to remind me Fluxus, indeed, celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2011.

 

I haven't looked back in books to check, but trust that George Maciunas first named the global movement in 1961. Fluxus has long been a part and vigilant supporter of mail-art. In the U.S., this can be traced directly to Ray Johnson himself. You certainly do not have to be a part of the Fluxus movement to participate in mail-art, but you will very likely exchange work with Fluxus people; they certainly liven and enrich my experience in the network. Here's a reverse side and stamps JF included:

 

JF CHAPELLE is a master with stamps. I'll pass some of these along, if I can bear to part with any of them. Here are my favorites:

 

In the last half-century, movements and cultural fads have come and gone at an astonishing pace. Fluxus is one of the most enduring in the avant garde. Its connection to the mail-art network has created a system of communication outside the mainstream. The work goes on regardless of the storms above ground. That has to be part of it.

 

The old Fluxus founders are often portrayed as flakes - the media attention Fluxus has received over the decades has proven to be, I think, both an asset and a drawback. Looking back on the writing of George Maciunas and others, you actually find something that was created with great thought and that was built to last. The new Fluxus artists today remain astonishingly aligned with the original concepts, a testimony to their enduring relevance.

 

Anyway, thanks for pointing this out JF! I look forward to more work from you. JF has upgraded his blog. It's more interesting than ever:

http://jfchapelle.blogspot.com/

 

 

[De Villo Sloan]

Où est mon fleur de la cerise? Nous ne dormons pas. Le garçon de lumière parcourt les rues vides la nuit. Où est la fleur de la cerise? Nous parlons sans conviction. Nous dormons à travers les journées d'été. Nous sommes perdussans notre fleur de la cerise.

[De Villo Sloan]

You mean my Zalop sentence! Yes, I'm using President FDR: "We have nothing to Zalop but Zalop itself."

[De Villo Sloan]

Cheryl, I'll look at the event. I am trying to find the "How I Work" blog about JF - I thought you did it. Can't find it. Maybe Marie did it.

[cheryl penn]

Have you sent a return to the event DVS? Wonderful blog and great work.

[De Villo Sloan]

JF does performance scores. When I received the envelope, I thought I was receiving JF's performance score based on Ruud Janssen's Fluxus words - Zalop in particular. I'm very happy with the stamps, but maybe someday I'll get performance score too. This is a scan from IUOMA:

[De Villo Sloan]

Funny you should mention that, Skybridge. There are documented performances of a Flux Mass (reworking of Catholic mass), Flux Wedding, and Flux Divorce. Give it time - there will be Flux Childbirth - if there isn't already/

[De Villo Sloan]

Flux babies - raised on Fluxus, cut their teeth on Fluxus, never remember a time when there wasn't a Fluxus