From: Mark Rossmiller, a.k.a. Moan Lisa (0125-0619)

[Jayne Barket Lyons]

Mail from Mark Rossmiller has been blowing up my mail box this month. I have received nine envelopes from him. I'll blog about those items at a later time, but I've got to share the awesome mail that came my way today!

 
Skateboard from Mark Rossmiller (Urbandale, IA).

Features a drawing of the DIVINE MERCY JESUS, "Jesus I Trust In You."

I had a "parcel pickup" notice in my post office box. I went up to the service counter, and the postal worker came back and said (in a not so amused voice), "It's a skateboard." Imagine my surprise and delight!

A "Divine Mercy Novena and Chaplet" pamphlet is affixed

to the bottom of an Element Brand "Twigs" Skateboard.

The skateboard has a drawing of the DIVINE MERCY JESUS, along with the phrase, "Jesus I Trust In You." It is based on the Diary of Saint Faustina, an uneducated Polish nun who, in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote around 600 pages recording the revelations she received about God's mercy. A "Divine Mercy Novena and Chaplet" pamphlet is affixed to the bottom of this Element Brand "Twigs" skateboard deck. ​

​It is interesting that Mark should give me this mail! As a Catholic, I have prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet many times, and consider it one of my favorite devotions.

A detailed look at the skateboard from Mark Rossmiller. Love the shoe print!

Our six pound Yorkshire Terrier, Rosie, had to give the skateboard a try!

I hope to hang this piece in my studio. A conversation starter, for sure! Thank you very much, Mark!

[Nancy Bell Scott]

Thanks all for the links, info, photos--I'm about dying of nostalgia here, but enjoy it thoroughly. Kat, it's great you found the shoes blog, saving me at least an hour of searching! Here's a photo from 2 days ago of the inside-lid of Erni's shoebox. The box still lives here happily and holds miscellaneous stuff, like every box I own, haha. The shoes, sadly, aren't still here--I had to give them up 3 years ago when thicker orthotics became necessary--but I did find them a good home. They were still too good not to be worn. 

Great to see DK's Virgin Mary Toast again too, DVS. Thanks for inspiring all this, Jayne.

 

 

[De Villo Sloan]

And how can I not include at least one Diane Keys Trashpo Classic the "Virgin Mary Toast":

[De Villo Sloan]

And to go full circle, the Jesus Skateboard is not the first naked object Moan Lisa mailed. Some might recall Moan was eating a lot of pizza at one point and sending various kinds of pizza plates. I received one that was metal as well:

[De Villo Sloan]

Also - Fluxus was big on mailing objects. So lots of stuff was circulating in the late 70s & 80s. You have to dig back into the books on Fluxus but a lot of that art was mailed.

Ray Johnson actually wrote a lot of letters, although he mailed collage and objects too.

[De Villo Sloan]

W. Reginald Bray is considered by some to be the "Father of Mail Art." A lot has been written. Miss Noma has an IUOMA group dedicated to him. Valentine Mark Herman is emphatic about Bray's importance. Of course many IUOMA folks are Ray Johnson people. Both are part of history.

Minnesota was rock'n for a while with Grigori Antonin, Bifidus Jones and RCBz in St. Cloud. They have all calmed down considerably.

Jayne Lyons and Amy Irwen, steadier hands, are guiding Minnesota into a new, kinder era.

Funny, in the 1980s Minnesota was sort of a blank in the network (Old Timers correct me!) There was one big Dada zine I can remember and I don't think I corresponded w/ anyone there.

[Jayne Barket Lyons]

KAT - Wow...amazing! Like Nancy I spent some time reading through both of those blog posts. That Erni - Bifidus performance was so clever. Although it was stinky - I'm sure it was fun! Bifidus really got his family, friends and neighbors engaged in it, and he did a great job of documenting with photos. The SAW is a very cool piece. Gotta love the spunky ladies!

NANCY - Thanks for sharing some of the odd mail you've received. Do you still have the leather shoes? Did you ever wear the leather shoes with the one red leather glove (Michael Jackson style)? Haha! DK certainly is the Queen of Trash!

DVS - your brain absorbs so much, man! You are a walking encyclopedia, I swear! Thanks for the history lesson. Marie's gold tooth, and the human ear...what a riot! Did Reginald B. ever arrive at his final destination? Oh...and I enjoyed Diane's commentary on the Erni - Bifidus blog post, too.

Thanks for posting, you guys!

[De Villo Sloan]

Lordy, that Erni - Bifidus performance is one of the all-time IUOMA greats. And I'd forgotten Diane was in there with her sparkling commentary.

Thanks for finding that gem.

[Nancy Bell Scott]

Oh Kat, I just spent an incredibly hysterical hour reading every word of those 2 blogs, and remembered the Dean saw blog but had never seen the Erni-Bifidus cheese one. Fantastic! (That was a few weeks before I joined.) All three are sorely missed. Thank you ever so much for posting the links--you've made my day.

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

And my mail box saw a saw...

from the Artist in Seine,Dean in Paris who would always send items "naked"

see the blog:

 Dean Marks' art is the cutting edge!

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

Thanks for blogging the "unusual" and the "amazing" mail art...

yes, the past has seen some fun items in-the-mail.

We are recalling the Erni in Hamburg CHEESE=ART send to Bifidus jones in MN,USA:

see the blog:

  'Reincarnated from Erni Bär, Germany--Dieter Roth: My life as Came...

(the aroma went round-the-world!)