RECEIVED: SUPERB Collage from Fluxus Artist Svetlana Pesetskaya (Taganrog, Russian Federation)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art by IUOMA member Svetlana Pesetskaya (Taganrog, Russian Federation)

 

August 24, 2011 - Svetlana Pesetskaya and Victoria Barvenko are both Fluxus artists and are known for their performance work as Belka & Strelka. They are also wonderful new mail-art friends. These two fantastic works I received from Svetlana (above) are postcard-size and, I assume, copies of larger works. 

 

Mail-art friends know I am exploring Fluxus and enjoying interactions with Fluxus artists in the network. To me, Svetlana's art speaks to the spirit of Fluxus as I understand it. I have called work by Svetlana and Victoria FluxRus (Fluxus Russian) because it is so original and groundbreaking. However, FluxRus should not be viewed as an attempt to introduce yet another artistic category. FluxRus is simply a name for use among friends.

 

Fluxus is profoundly and inherently anti-theory. Yet it endures in the realm of theory and cultural analysis. While a stated goal of Fluxus is to transcend the boundaries between art and life as they currently exist, removing the need for interpretation, a paradox remains that Fluxus is built on theoretical foundation, anchored by its associations with concept art and conceptual art. The writing of George Maciunas, for instance, is highly theoretical. 

 

Fluxus is frequently defined - by the artists themselves and the critics who write about them - by its use of minimalism. I saw this taken to an extreme recently in an academic text that explained the origins of Fluxus as a reaction against abstract expressionism. To me, that is a gross simplification that is inaccurate. I make this point now because many might see, as I do, the influence of abstract expressionism in Svetlana Pesetkaya's work. 

 

If in any way Fluxus was a rejection of some parts of abstract expressionism, it embraced the concept of action art (Jackson Pollock being a prime example). Action art is very prevalent among the new Fluxus artists. This is one way the realm of the artwork is enlarged beyond the canvas to a performance that includes creation and even reception of the work. Litsa Spathi's Fluxus Poetics applies this idea to literary production. I see Svetlana's beautiful work as one facet of a larger performance. It is a record of activity, engagement with materials, and emotional expression not reduce to a single object.

 

She also sent me two other pieces that more clearly fall in the realm of visual poetry:

 

 

I look forward to many future exchanges with Svetlana, including work from the Asemics 16 project. I am a huge fan of Belka & Strelka performance videos. Here are two current favs:

 

http://iuoma-network.ning.com/video/performance-message

 

http://iuoma-network.ning.com/video/performance-independence-day

[De Villo Sloan]

Hello Victoria, the other half of Belka & Strelka. You are both wonderful additions the mail-art community. Where there is Fluxus, there is mail-art. This has been true from the start. Your fans await a new performance!

[Victoria Barvenko]

DVS thanks for the critique about art, bravo to you, bravo to Svetlana - fine works)))))) as usual))))

[Nancy Bell Scott]

I LOVE Svetlana's work, and it especially made an impression because it was one of the first things I saw, on day 1 here, on arttower's blog.  You do really wonderful artwork, Svetlana, and I am a big fan!  Nice blog, DVS, as usual.

[Svetlana Pesetskaya]

Friends, Skybridge Studios, Cathérine, Thom, Cheryl,  De Villo Sloan, curators, thanks you big for understanding of my art, I love you!

[Svetlana Pesetskaya]

Respected De Villo Sloan, thanks big for the critique, at me aren't present words... Once again thanks!

[De Villo Sloan]

Thank you good friends for sharing enthusiasm about Svetlana's work. I think it could fairly be called breathtaking. Yes, among the beautiful images you will find my scattered musings on Fluxus as I explore it. I'm glad it makes some degree of sense to you. Having these pieces by Svetlana naturally led me to think about this whole area of action art and its relation to Fluxus. I appreciate your comments!

[cheryl penn]

DVS - you beat me to it :-) - for real! I received  Svetlana's wonderful package yesterday filled with the most intersting work - I am going to compare collages and add - IF I have additions. Thanks also for the information on Fluxus - this is a VERY succinct definition  - great :-) X

To quote:

Deadly Kiss - by Svetlana

"In a hide-and-seek it

is played?

Whom will I bite?

Lets observe,

For Victim I search"

- its FAB :-) X 

[Thom Courcelle]

'Brava!' for the art and 'Bravo!' for your blog commentary, De Villo.