Mailart Doux comme du Miel : Arrivé de France

[Thom Courcelle]

Some mailart arrived from France as sweet as honey!

All kinds of errata and ephemera, some to make one laugh, some that will look classy collaged in future art projects, a very nice enclosed note, and some interesting poetry to ponder...

I have heard this scientific report again and again—how we don't remember things exactly as they were, or that we "color" our memories in conjunction with our imaginations and biases. Frankly, I don't know how any of us remember ANYTHING these days with the bombardment of data and information and video and news that we absorb on a daily basis. Memory, I think in some instances, must be like a type of coping mechanism sometimes, so it is no wonder that we might give it a little coloratura bravissimo once in awhile.

Our species are storytellers—I believe that is one of our special talents as humans... And this poem makes me consider what of that ancient, primary magic we might have lost amidst all the technology and accumulated history and mechanical interactions we have forced upon ourselves... Are we better storytellers because of the overwhelming and ever-expanding plot-line that humans have created to tell their stories? Or have we lost the basics of what a simple memory can provide to our souls? How much can you embellish the original story before it is a different story?...Before we forget what the essence was meant to be?  Can I "get" the same thing from a ten-second TikTok video that I could "get" bundled in furs by the fire with my tribe as my elders told myths about our ancestors? QUANDRY!!!!

Well, I certainly won't "mis-remember" this mailart correspondence for a while anyway... And we can always build upon it for more mailart adventures!

Thank you Zack, for sending such a thought-provoking envelope of treasures!

[Zack]

what a great reception; i'm melting. thanks for blogging - yes more adventures to come!

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

Fabulous blog, Thom, thanks for sharing!