Richard Canard's Yard Sale (Carbondale, Illinois, USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art by IUOMA member Richard Canard (Carbondale, Illinois, USA)

July 10, 2014 - I am amassing a formidable collection of work by Richard Canard. The challenge is documentation and archiving. In this post, I humbly offer a collection of both current and not-so-current pieces (but never before seen!) by our faithful correspondent in Carbondale, Illusion, USADD. The more recent work (above) shows a renewed preoccupation with Trashpo, and I am reminded that Richard Canard’s contributions to the genre rival even those of “Jesus Jim” Leftwich (Virginia, USA) and (dare I say this?) Queen of Trash Diane Keys (Illinois, USA).

This colorful piece masterfully employs found material (yard sale sign) and the recycling theme. I am confident Diane Keys would D-Klare it a “Trashterpiece.” I do.

Is Ray Johnson Finnished Yet?

On this lovely card, Richard Canard references Carina Granlund (Petsmo, Finland) as well as ongoing lobbying efforts for an official USA Ray Johnson postage stamp. Here is the reverse side:

 

Correspondense?

Ray Johnson is known to have favored “correspondance” as descriptive wordplay. Lately, Richard Canard has been favoring “correspondence” (correspondence art) over “mail-art.” In this missive, he takes the alphabetical acrobatics a step further with characteristic, self-effacing humor.

The Trashpo affinity appears again through the ingenious use of a super glue container – excellent recycling!

 

Chez Trashpop

Others have noted a PopArt influence in Trashpo. The tendency is pronounced in Richard Carnard’s efforts. He has a keen eye for locating interesting color, design and irony in consumer/corporate food packaging; his cerealism, for instance, has been widely praised. In this piece, the scrutinizing lens turns cheesy with outstanding results. The message on the reverse side is nothing but classic Litter Richard:

Richard Canard deserves credit for his fine calligraphy as well, IMHO.

 

More Poets’ Coroner

To leave the impression that Richard Canard is only a Trashpoet in the quasi-digital wastes of Mail-Art Nouveaux would be a supreme misrepresentation. His work is eclectic and diverse, including, in my estimation, very fine and serious contributions to post-avant poetry. Here I present another piece in his ongoing minimalist vispo “LIFE” series. Hopefully, I will eventually post more work from this series altogether.

As ever, deepest thanks to Richard Canard for his ongoing correspondance!

[De Villo Sloan]

Poor Richard (after Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac) - I fear we tease him mercilessly, but that is truly out of affection. He sent me... well, I'll try to get it blogged this week.

[Mail Art Martha]

I have gone back a little, to where I found the definition of canard. In France it is also a lump of sugar soaked in wine and given to a child. Only one occationally, mind you.

I also enjoyed all the historical data, most instructive, shouldn't somebody write a book with all this material?

[De Villo Sloan]

[DKeys]

So Richard Canard walks into the post office.  He tells the clerk he wants to mail a letter.  She says, "This is just trash, are you sure you want to mail this?" Richard replies, "One man's trash is another man's girlfriend."

[De Villo Sloan]

Is Richard Canard really the Quacker Jack Kid?

Hi Svenja.

[Svenja Wahl]

Love the trash man / mail man information Richard sent you, DVS! Thanks for sharing

[Valentine Mark Herman]

A duck walks into a bar and asks, "Got any grapes?"

The bartender, confused, tells the duck no. The duck thanks him and leaves.

The next day, the duck returns and asks, "Got any grapes?"

Again, the bartender tells him, "No -- the bar does not serve grapes, has never served grapes and, furthermore, will never serve grapes." The duck thanks him and leaves.

The next day, the duck returns, but before he can say anything, the bartender yells, "Listen, duck! This is a bar! We do not serve grapes! If you ask for grapes again, I will nail your stupid duck beak to the bar!"

The duck is silent for a moment, and then asks, "Got any nails?"

Confused, the bartender says no.

"Good!" says the duck. "Got any grapes?"

[DKeys]

How can women freak out their gynecologists?  ........learn ventriloquism

bud um chee

[De Villo Sloan]

A duck walks into a bar and orders drinks for the house all night,

Bartender says, "Wait. How can you pay for that?"

Duck says, "Put it on my bill."

[DKeys]

I always thought it referred to a mutt "What kind of dog is it?" "a Canard"  "A canard? " "Yes, you canardly tell what it is."  I'm sure you've heard that before, but I never knew it had another meaning.