Fe-mail box, Where are you coming from? Hello from Denver...

[Theresa A Anderson]

Theresa A Anderson. On flying.</</b>i>

Kim and I are now eagerly awaiting the daily post and carefully opening the envelopes. Spurring our dream travels, we have received twenty entries thus far in our first mail art project, Where are you coming from? Somehow we were able to choose our favorite three.
Please keep sending us your mail art. We are hanging the show the week of June 8th and will accept entries up to the end. Okay, we are hooked.
Where am I coming from?
Have you had those dreams where you are suddenly flying? I read that it is a sign of feeling empowered. I have had them where I could sleep and sleep and just make myself fly. The downside is that typically there was something bad going on and now you are suddenly feeling empowered about how to deal with it.
I have been a little stuck on Gustave Flaubert's writing, particularly the Temptation of St Anthony. His style is very descriptive and if the setting was more current it could play on CSI. The narrative is crunchy and dark like my current fascination with the vivid imagery of cop shows, self-help shows, and reality tv. The Temptation of St. Anthony shows the dark side of Roman Catholicism, something to which I have been told I have the Oedipal Complex. (That may be another blog in itself.)
Here is this guy, Anthony, who really needs to learn how to fly. St. Anthony flogs himself, denies himself, and hides himself and then becomes a Saint for his work in the church. When I watch CSI and see the kooky things people do, the self-harm I often just can't imagine how these things happen. Personally, I have enough family tragedy that I realize it does happen. I just don't think as a culture we realize the historical precedents in society that somehow seems to reward that behavior.
I recently picked up a magazine, Skateboarding, or something like that with image after image of men flying through the air. A few images show the blood and gore after. They are badges of honor. It seems as if sport, and culture offer a controlled outlet, a safe outlet for the release of pain. When a teenager cuts in private it is not sanctioned, but, she can go on Dr. Phil and chase away the demons. Is watching this on tv just like flying in my dream? Virtual reality.

Fe-Mail Box would like to invite you to:
participate in a mail art exhibition themed "Where Are You Coming From?" We are looking for regional and international artists to submit 4" x 6" original work on paper for exhibition and sale. Each work will be sold for $10, with proceeds funding this project and future Fe-Mail Box events. Painting, drawing, photography, printmaking and mixed media are all welcome. The exhibition will be hosted by Anderson's Art Box and East End Applied Arts located at 1556 Florence Street in Aurora, Colorado.
Please go to http://theresaaanderson.blogspot.com for the prospectus and submission form.