"Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore": Collage by Jeanne Kasten (Olathe, Kansas, USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art by IUOMA member Jeanne Kasten (Olathe, Kansas, USA)

July 27, 2014 -Jeanne Kasten sent me this great mail-art. Some might consider it “vintage.” I am intrigued by her choice of images because the piece is suggestive of (if not directly connected to) all those wonderful phrenology charts and diagrams from the 19th century. Many mail-artists (including some notables in the Fluxus wing) have done collage work with these diagrams, and Jeanne Kasten makes her mark upon the genre with this engaging piece. Here is the reverse side:

As the Age of Print recedes, we find discarded and often damaged books everywhere. What seems like a tragedy (books relegated to the landfill) has created a windfall of inexpensive material for collage artists. (If you can’t bring yourself to cut-up an undamaged book, remember that you can copy pages.) Pickings have never been better, and old material is being recycled into exciting new art. Jeanne Kasten’s collage is an example of the possibilities.

I am very happy to receive mail-art from Jeanne: Many thanks! I look forward to more exchanges.