Grigori Antonin knocked on my door

[Marie Wintzer]

 Imagine my surprise when I found an envelope from GA in my mailbox with a familiar Hello Kitty stamp on it. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief, rubbed them a little bit stronger, but it was really him, sending me mail from the Peninsula, one of the best hotels in Tokyo. The one and only Grigster was downtown, a few stops down the Yurakucho line, and he didn't tell his faithful Marie Antonette!! It's a shame, really. I would have loved to meet him. Imagine! A mail art legend like him! But I understand he also wants to keep the mystery around him, so it's fine. I laughed reading his letter because I imagined him asking his way in the metro, walking and walking, up and down the numerous stairs, meeting weird people etc....

 

And he did bring his mail art material and a bag of goodies with him, which is great! I got various prizes, including a ticket to see the Minnesota Orchestra (February 19th of this year, unused?), an a scholarship to the off scene Akademie of Hamburg.

 

A lot of No John Rays/Cavellini prints, and a baseball card featuring Hideo Nomo (LA dodgers).

 

My favorite part, along with the letter, is a blurred snapshot of somebody's face, possibly a self portrait. Or not. But I'll believe that this is Grigori leaving his footprint on Tokyo, and it fits quite well with the envelope made out of a japanese Fujicolor package.
GA, this was a surprise alright!! I hope you enjoyed the Elvis convention and the city! Thank you!

 

[De Villo Sloan]

Marie, I understand you are only the messenger. This is about the work, and I like what he put together here. I like the Fujicolor at the top especially. I cannot stop myself from wondering, however, how did HE fake this?

[Marie Wintzer]

Interesting trivia!

those?

[cheryl penn]

Is this the secret? The secret to mystery is frustration??? I read somewhere - probably a SLIGHT exaggeration - that if the Elvis look-a-alike phenomenon continued its trend from the 70's, early 80's, one in three people would be an Elvis impersonator.  EEEK!! Better take off my blue suede shoes! AND I'm not kidding!!!

[Marie Wintzer]

I see you are taking this with skepticism DVS. The man is frustrating, that's how he maintains the mystery. When I got the envelope I sent him an offended email saying why oh why did you not want to have a beer with me. But zalop answer of course. I suspect he posted this on his last day and was already gone when I received it. The elvis convention yea :-)) on his blog he says something different though. Something about genotype....

[De Villo Sloan]

Marie, this is a wonderful story you've related. I really like Grigori Antonin's work here; it certainly appears authentic. But this is another mail-art mystery for the x-files. He was in Tokyo attending an Elvis convention? He came to your door, yet you didn't track him down in his "luxury" hotel? It's hard to discern fact from fiction any more. Rather, I'll enjoy the work and your blog. Given his history, I'm not sure if they'll let him back in the U.S.