Bifidus Jones's Blog (246)

The jewel tones of Satu's mail art is a visual feast that will keep me looking at it for a long time. The colors, shapes, and text spin through one another for a kaleidoscopic effect. I see some pseudo-punctuation as well, while the postage stamp…

A couch to bear the weight of Caligula, and a New Tetris

With my apologies for having a temperamental scanner. Eduardo's envelopes are unique and always otherworldly- looking. Maybe it's because he succeeds at combining…

Lindsay describes herself as an eager snail mailer, a crafter of goods, and a supporter of hard work. It shows. Her zine was inspired by an old book entitled, Charlie Farquharson's Korn Allmynack, and is an alphabetized key for dream interpretations. Here are a couple of my favorite pages:…

Merci beaucoup, Monsieur Herman!

I haven't heard from the Crafty Hag for ages, but there's nothing like a blast from the past to keep me on my toes with this reminder that the Feast of St. Nicholas is upon us and painful things can happen to those who've been naughty. As she points out: the Krampus, a creature of old Germanic lore, traveled with St. Nicholas. As St. Nick left gifts for the good children, Krampus punished the bad. He arrived with a switch…

Mr. Dolgov takes advantage of the fact that the envelope is another surface to transform into a work of art. I marvel at the stamps,the flair of his signature, and the postal cancellations. The figure on his card looks a bit astonished, but charming nonetheless. The use of line and minimal color are wonderful. The beard and those buttons divine.…

Diane mailed an engaging example of what can be done with the things others discard. Scraps of trash, bits of printed text--she rescues and elevates fragments to create a new sentiment. The stitching work not only defines, but connects.Thanks,…

Okay, I knew this envelope of goodies was coming my way, but I really did wonder when, and then, while I was out shoveling snow just now, my 84-year-old neighbor brought Katerina's mail art over to me. Not only did she have my mail art for nearly two weeks, but she had already opened it, stating that her curiosity was irresistible. It had some "dust and crumbs" in it which she took upon herself to get rid of for me, which…

Created with his fingerprint. Cloning you is a tall order, my friend!

A dangerous photograph

never lies

put on your

Poems that draw blood

This is not a poem

it is haptic

when words refuse

to stay they leave…

Blunt and sublime work, Erni. All this haptic sugar accompanied by a psycho with a skull for a crotch and you got a humdinger of a piece of mail art. I'm talking level orange here. Danke…

I've gotten beastly results with ink so I was very excited to receive this in the mail the other day. At least I think it's an ink rendering. I would love to know how Douglas made it. To me, living here in Minnesota where the current conditions are cold and icy, it gives the impression of a distant mirage coming off a winter highway. Take into consideration the polar bear postage…

Jen has sewn a piece of bubble wrap inside a handmade fabric envelope and I can't stop popping it. This is a great haptic AND audio piece. Jen's sewing abilities never cease to amaze me. I"m mightily impressed that she sewed the Gene Autry stamp on and that the postal service gave it the go ahead. It's super to see how the idea of haptic poetry and art inspires and challenges…

This little rodent is on a mission to tell me about Kiera's open call for mail art. With a theme of culture and language, I will not be passing this one up. Thanks, Kiera!

Asemic poetry exists as an apparition of traditional poetry. The beauty of it is that while there is no language "to read" it still retains the sense of text and meaning. The controversial Marshall McLuhan, in his 1962 book, The Gutenberg Galaxy, predicted a post-literate society where reading and writing will no longer be necessary. I see De Villo's piece as post-literate because I know his mind is deep and wide and his…

Henry's little booklet is a short story about a poet who finds his poems expressed in paintings done by an artist who has never read his poetry. "And the more I see," states the narrator, "the more connections I find to things I've written this summer, I become really perplexed. I find painting after painting with titles or motives that are based on the poems I've written. It feels like I'm in a vacuum, everything else…

"Death is a low chemical trick

played on everybody except

sequoia trees."--J.J. Furnas

I don't know who J.J. is but what a trippy quote. And I don't know what kind of leaf this is either, but it's…

1960s light sabre indeed. In all it's habit-forming glory. Perhaps Jon's mail art speaks for the 60s when people of that decade, among other things, were trying to get beyond the habits of thinking that were pervasive and repressive at that time. Thanks, Jon

At last! Someone has sent me goat mail art. Docile sheep will soon take their places in nativity scenes around the planet while goats will be scaling canyons with their Munder full of titillating junk from some farmer's shed, and their souls giddy with all of life's mischief-making opportunities. I like goats, I pretty much like any animal…