Received: Mail-art of the Nihil from Eduardo Cardoso (Portugal)

[De Villo Sloan]

September 14, 2010 - Eduardo Cardoso sent me mail-art that has been long-awaited. And this piece was worth the wait because it is for me such an original statement that becomes part of the dialog of mail-art visual poetry at the IUOMA. First, Eduardo has called this piece "Tears." There is an artist's reason for this, but it is not about IUOMA. Tania - and I am sure Eduardo - add our voices to celebrate the great triumph of the International Union of Mail-artists. IUOMA is now over 1300 members! We salute you! And the great founder of IUOMA! But back to Eduardo. In past weeks Eduardo has come to virtually sit in the IUOMA Cafe and share the sometimes dilemmas of the mail-artist with members who have shown him great sympathy and offered encouragement. I take the piece to be a statement of the challenges of the creative process, which Eduardo overcomes by making it a part of his mail-art. The back of his envelope seems a wonderful piece of minimalisma:

Anomaly - such a useful word to express all that does not fit or conform. This mail-art was such a gift - every part of it is so deeply appreciated. The Nihil makes me think fondly of the work of the great Fluxus Cecil Touchon. Here is the front of the envelope:

Among many, I am a great fan of Eduardo Cardoso's Paranormal Mail-art blog:

http;//www.paranormalmailart.blogspot.com

I will post from Iceland on behalf of a mail-art comrade whose efforts are turned to writing a great manifesto - a refutation of Antonism which is now a form of nihilism - in response to a new wave of propaganda from the Republic of Minnesota. The Minneapolis Menace has now supplanted his image upon the canvas of the great Warhol and circulates it among unsuspecting mail-artists. "The Grigster" indeed walks among us .

To clear up some confusion, below is a scan of recent mail-art being sent out BY Grigori Antonin, who is hopefully only taking a brief sabbitical from the IUOMA. He remains active in mail-art: