Vispo Bagism by Matthew Stolte (Madison, Wisconsin, USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art by IUOMA member Matthew Stolte (Madison, Wisconsin, USA)

March 4, 2015 - I am always thrilled to receive new work from Matthew Stolte and to share it. No matter how recognized and in demand he might be in the vispo world, Matt remains an active and innovative mail artist. IUOMA friends will recognize his characteristic style in these pieces. His current preoccupation involving the world’s oceans and ecology is present and evolving. I also find an interesting use of concealment that borders upon the ancient practice of Bagism in this missive. These first two scans show an envelope fashioned from an infamous brown paper bag. Note the “Big Gulp” that, among other triggers, announces the Matthew Stolte “Oceans”  theme.

Inside the envelope (or bag) is a wonderful work of text-centered vispo:

This piece is relatively minimal for Matthew Stolte, whose dense, layered and complex compositions have already generated much commentary by me. The piece is also rooted in concrete poetry with its emphasis on the materiality of language and reveals fluidity and a sense of play (despite the black and white tonal severity) in the process of re-arranging recognizable letters into asemics. Here is the reverse side:

Matthew Stolte is a 5089er: Like me, he is a participant in Moan Lisa’s (Iowa, USA) 5089 project. The work above came in two envelopes:

And the reverse:

All of the above arrived inside a larger envelope:

Some sort of postal SNAFU occurred.

Many thanks and best wishes to Matthew Stolte in Visconsin.

Matthew Stolte’s Construction Sea is a FAB vispo blog. Take a gander:

http://constructionsea.blogspot.com/