RECEIVED: Kerri Pullo's Haptic & Asemic Mail-Art (Arizona, USA) + Austin Wills James (Texas, USA) & Cuan Miles (South Africa)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art by IUOMA member Kerri Pullo (Tucson, Arizona, USA)

 

February 17, 2012 - New mail-art friend Kerri Pullo has sent me two FAB envelopes of mail-art that I am long overdue in blogging. Kerri is a visual artist who creates wonderfully textured pieces that are also highly tactile and thus haptic. Unlike something found in a gallery, this work is meant to be touched; so it operates on a level beyond the strictly visual. The scan above is a postcard-size piece that was inside a larger envelope.

 

I am a big fan of work that incorporates textiles, so I appreciate this one in particular with string. (I think of Marie Wintzer's (Japan) thread and string asemics.) All the work Kerri sent led me to think about Object Poetry. Her work uses themes of secrets and concealment, like murky, buried memories. The string suggests I should open it, that there is something inside; but I do not believe there is, and I do not want to damage it. Yet that desire to interact with the work, to dig in deeper, is key. Here are two other amazing, small painterly works Kerri sent:

 

 

The art on the left is titled "Suffering a Severe Head Injury." The right-hand piece is called "Age 8." While I see this work as painting, I can see a connection to visual poetry. Kerri has developed a complex visual language. At times there is interplay with text and words, yet it remains, to me, highly encoded work regardless. This seems to fit well with Cheryl Penn's Symbolist School of Subtle Aesthetic Obscurity. Or perhaps, as with many artists, when you become familiar with Kerri's work you learn the code and how to appreciate it. She included a beautiful note:

 

 

Other side:

 

 

I could not agree more. I like the notes and letters as well as the art. When people handwrite them, well, I think that is even better. Notes like Kerri's are really part of the mail-art when you have a sequence of material. Her beautiful, ragged message is a kind of Object Poetry. The text itself can be reproduced, but the paper, shape, colors, hand-writing are one-of-a-kind and meant to be experienced together. Something is lost without them. She also sent two pieces that I gather she considers more conventional mail-art:

 

 

The piece on the right clearly alludes to the secret theme. Very clever to use asemic writing and overlays for purposes of obscuring the secrets. A post-it note on the back reads: "Note to Self. Do not tell secrets to strangers." So we have purposeful self-concealment at play here too? Perhaps. The piece on the right is "Life Lines" and something that attracted me to Kerri Pullo's art to begin with: She is an instinctive asemic writer, which she seems to do effortlessly and with complete accomplishment. Here are the envelopes:

 

 

Many, many thanks, Kerri. I hope our correspondence continues! AND Kerri Pullo has a fantastic website where you can see some truly, truly great work:

 

http://annetrixiemona.posterous.com/

 

Recently I was pleased to annouce the spectacular return of Austin Wills James to mail-art. So I am including another piece I received from him, as promised:

 

Mail-art by IUOMA member Austin Wills James (Dallas, Texas, USA)

 

This uses Austin's patented musical inspiration method; however, all the new work shows a wider range and a new-found complexity, IMHO. Previously, Austin relied on his considerable drawing skills; that is powerful in itself. Now he is moving into concepts and a much broader range of images, more interaction with text. He seems to be embracing a larger global and historical perspective. I am enjoying the work more than ever, and I was already a big fan. Here is the reverse:

 

 

Again, great to have you back in the network, Austin. Something on its way to you. 

 

Here is a very welcome surprise:

 

 Mail-art by IUOMA member Cuan Miles (East London, South Africa)

 

According to his IUOMA profile page, Cuan Miles creates cartoons for a South African newspaper, and he is also a collage artist. I have been admiring this postcard-size piece he sent me for a while and thought it was high time to post it.

 

During Asemics 16, we encountered this method of (what I will call) cross-cut cut-ups used by several artists. You can produce great asemics with it, yet it is surprisingly hard to do. At least I had to abandon my experiments in despair. I think Cuan achieves it beautifully and masterfully.

 

I assume he is a card-carrying member of Cheryl Penn's South African Correspondence School? Note to Spell Chick: Contact Cheryl concerning this case immediately. The reverse side also has some great textual work:

 

 

Many thanks, Cuan! He has a very good blog:

 

http://curiouscollage.blogspot.com/

 

Sometimes she frustrates us, but we all love our Spell Chick:

 

 " I before E except after C!"

 

save this

[Austin Wills James]

Absolutely, DVS! Getting to see them on the tours for both "Ten" AND "Vs." (Originally titled "Five Against One", btw) changed my life in a BIG way. I've been a fan ever since!

Out of curiousity, what is MinXus music? I only ask, because I am also a musician, mostly experimental stuff these days. Just wondering if there would be an audience for my Sonic Art.

-AWJ-

[De Villo Sloan]

Marie, Austin & I were talking about "I've Got A Feeling" on another thread. Got it, the Japanese issue of "Ten." "Ten" was like - that's what it was like when a new Beatles album came out - it was a cultural event. That doesn't happen every day.

 

MinXus is going full steam over here. The biggest growth area is MinXus music. I have to get the exact relationship between the SSSAO & MinXus straight in my mind.

 

Pardon my revolutionary zeal and puke-o-rama contempt for the privileged classes posing as artists. No place for it in the land of cuddly kittens & smiley faced vintage postcards. You won't hear any more of that from me. No way.

[Marie Wintzer]

MinXus, over? What are you talking about! I certainly hope you ARE adding the MinXus stamps to your envelopes! All my envelopes have MinXus stamps glued on :-)) that's by default. If I can I also add SSSAO. You know, for promotion of the School. About Arthur Rimbaud you'll need to talk to Cheryl, she's the boss, I'm only a student. And I'll talk to Dw about a separate site, let's see what he thinks about that.

"the bourgeois-avant garde sitting around, sipping wine, and making amusing postcards while people are out in the streets rioting" .... not unlike Marie Antoinette! :-o

[Austin Wills James]

No, it wasn't on the US release of "Ten", I swear I'll have every note of that album burned into my mind for the rest of my life! Oh, & I'm only an hour behind the East Coast.  :)

-AWJ-

[De Villo Sloan]

I'm clocking in at 4 am - long day, er, night. (Too much listening to Pearl Jam etc. And OK - it wasn't on the US version of "Ten." I remember "Ten" like the Bible. Don't tell me I'm losing it.) I think Austin is in another time zone.

 

Yeah CB, I thought it was a solid line-up of good work on this blog. Kerri sent a note, and why offer thanks when you've got material like this to showcase? What's with SSSAO? I just sent out a TON of stuff w/ MinXus stamps. Is MinXus over? I still want to know why Arthur Rimbaud was expelled. Empress Marie needs to manage this better or Chairman M. I've always argued for a centralized organization.

 

I'm really wondering if we should set up a separate MinXus site somewhere. I'm really getting nervous about the bourgeois-avant garde sitting around, sipping wine, and making amusing postcards while people are out in the streets rioting. Push comes to shove, I pick the street.

[Austin Wills James]

Thank you very much, Marie. You just made my day, er evening...

-AWJ-

[Marie Wintzer]

DVS, you're so lucky to be on Kerri's Christmas A-list. So much gorgeous colors and textures it almost hurts. I love everything she does. I saw several of the new Austin Wills James pieces and I like the way he finds inspiration around him, he has a great eye (if I can say so). I'm now stamping SSSAO on most of my envelopes, I hope I'll make Cheryl proud.

[De Villo Sloan]

[De Villo Sloan]

Hi Cheryl, then it is the water in South Africa. Cuan's work seems "spot on" with the asemic tide & also plain nice to look at. The SSSAO helps locate the work fast & so it's useful in the writing for that reason. Having thought a little more - Kerri's work seems to suggest some secret or answer further down the road. Maybe it is even mazelike. Yes, it has an asemic quality because as if in a dream you keep finding these signs & messages you can't decipher. It is profoundly different from what you do, I think, but still SSSAO.

 

Svenja, thank you so much for the kind comment. Keep your art coming. Do you think if I open Kerri's top package my DKult Food Ration will be in there? I am getting hungry.

 

Hi DK, the first thing I sent Kerri was an Elgin Shroud shred. I think it has brought her good fortune with her art.

 

BTW - I have vispo book chapters from all of you (Svenja, DK, CP-SA). The work is so great I'll try to document with alternate blog posts, that's the plan hope it work,

 

I'm working backward my edition #2 (Jackson Pollock homage) is being mailed. We'll get there!

[cheryl penn]

GREAT work all round - Nope - I met Cuan here :-).  Like all little schools, the Correspondence School was incorporated into the Complex School. Or the Symbolist School of Subtle Aesthetic Obscurity.  I am guessing I have to just GO with that title, its proving VERY sticky... The PERFECT way of telling secrets to strangers of course is Asemic writing - thats why its so fantastic :-) - Great blog as usual dvs :-) X