Received: If it wasn't for bad art, I wouldn't have no art at all from Karen Champlin (Chicago, Illinois, USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art from IUOMA member Karen Champlin's "Bad Art" series (Chicago, Illinois, USA)

November 9, 2010 - First, Karen Champlin is an IUOMA best friend so what I have to say is just in the spirit of the recent work I received: She consciously set out to do a "bad art" mail-art series, which is both fun and thought-provoking. Much of it has been posted already here on the platform. She obviously saved the stinker for me because this thing is really terrible. It's hideous; and I'm in no way inflating the rhetoric. I don't think the scan adequately reveals how lousy this thing is. It looks like a Christmas card from Hell. Scooby Doo? This is like the Punk mail-art thing backwards with the same results. What happened, Karen? Jon Foster mailed his back to you? Now I see why. The irony of this series is that a lot of the other pieces didn't turn out poorly. I detected even disappointment from some people who weren't appalled. I saw some comments posted that suggested maybe Karen had a golden touch and couldn't actually produce something of poor quality. Obviously somewhere in the process of creating the series she hit her stride and began churning out some real junk. And I am one of the lucky recipients. The envelopes for the series were standard in terms of what she does:

This is a little more like an ordinary collage one might receive. They might offer some ideas for those of us who use larger envelopes

This "Bad Art" series has been great fun from start to finish, Karen. I'll place this right along all your other wonderful visual-verbal pieces and assemblages. Thanks!

This blog is about art and presents text and images of art for thoughtful discussion among mail-artists and to encourage creative free expression only. This blog is not meant or intended to malign or offend any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, institution, company or individual. This blog is not meant in any way to do harm including but not limited to defamation, intimidation, libel or injury in any form to any individuals.

[De Villo Sloan]

Another day at the Grand Ol' Opry Hee Haw Mail-art Show. If Karen Champlin says it's bad, it's bad. I think you need to go by that in this case.

[Marie Wintzer]

Note from Karen's Bad Art teacher at the Bad Art school: "must try harder".

[Elaine B(atgirl)]

btw this looks like the kind of stuff I do normally, without deliberately trying to be bad...

[De Villo Sloan]

A real "Hee Haw" episode in the Karen Champlin comment stream today. But no Delte-ism, no no no

[Elaine B(atgirl)]

man, that show was HILARIOUS.

[Elaine B(atgirl)]

They used to sing it on Hee Haw:
"Gloom, despair, and agony -oh me!
Deep dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair and agony ohh meeee!"

[cheryl penn]

Albert King - "Born under a bad sign, I been down since I begin to crawl; if it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all."
Crabbies???

[De Villo Sloan]

Crabbies! Just wanted to add about the blog title - isn't there a blues song with the lyrics: "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all?" (Please no grammar corrections - this is vernacular.) My intention was to play on that, albeit inept. Thanks for the comments, Lisa.

[De Villo Sloan]

I know - it came at Halloween. But it looks more like Christmas card. Oh, and I have your recent mail-art sitting right here.