NEW DIRECTIONS IN TRASHPO (Part I): Diane Keys (USA), Stephanie Blake (USA), Richard Canard (USA), DharmaDaDa Neil Gordon (USA), Vizma Bruns (Australia), Susan Mc Allister (USA), Claudia McGill (USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art by IUOMA member Diane Keys (Elgin, Illinois, USA) and Trashpo buttons by Stephanie Blake (Huntsville, Alabama, USA)

 

October 23, 2012 - Trashpo fans around the globe today have their dumpster diver favs and fabs such as DK, DharmaDaDa Neil, Eduardo Cardoso, Katerina Nikoltsou, Claudia Mc Gill, Arac, Skybridge Studios, "Planet Claire" Dinsmore, Richard Canard and - of course - former DaDa artist now turned cartoon character Erni Baer (the original DharmaDaDa). "Trashpo Jesus" Jim Leftwich, who started it all, is a revered visual poet.

The meteoric ascension of Trashpo in the mail-art world is an almost unbelievable saga filled with triumphs, tragedy, and deeply human drama. Some had Trashpo greatness thrust upon them and have met the challenge, maintaining balance in their lives. For others, Trashpo has become a kind of curse that has forever changed their destinies from which they cannot break free or move forward like William Shatner forever seeking to move beyond the role of Starship Captain James T. Kirk.

Already the names of many former Trashpo All Stars have been relegated to the landfill depths, crushed like moldy grapes into putrid juice fit only to spit out. Who remembers KDJ, Prettylily, Katerina Nikoltsou, DharmaDaDa Lynn Radford, Mick Ronson, Mr. Stubbs, Ramone, Thom Courcelle, Bernice, Dean Marks, Ray Johnson, and Grigori Antonin, just to name a few of Trashpo's one hit wonders?

Although they crashed and burned in the name of Trashpo, we must not forget them and their contributions, regardless of how minor, insignificant, and ultimately trite in relation to the contributions of the Trashpo Grand Masters.

Nor must we forget that everywhere the cynics, critics, agents of TOXIS and crazed Neoists are eager to pronounce the Death of Trashpo so as to further crush all that is good and hopeful in the human spirit. Yet remarkable work I have recently received testifies that Trashpo is thriving and moving in exciting new directions, exemplified by these pieces by DK (aka Diane Keys, Elgin, Illnois, USA).

 

Mail-art by Diane Keys (left) used in the ongoing DK Trashpo Translation Project and (right) Trashpo Noir Halloween card from DK.

 

I am thrilled to be spearheading the DK Trashpo Translation Project, through which I am adapting her Trashpo to more traditional literary forms and presentation that I am convinced will move Trashpo from a popular phenom into the "serious" world of art and literature where its brilliance will be shared for the ages. The poem below is my translation of the DK Trashpo above (left):

 

 

"Lake in the into presenting" by Diane Keys. Translated by DVS as part on the ongoing DK Trashpo Translation Project.

 

I think one of the most important new directions for Trashpo is DK's first International Trashpo Exhibition in Elgin. While blemished by the sinister Tinkler Incident, never before has someone sought to gather the world's best Trashpo and display it; never before has there been enough Trashpo to merit a major exhibition. The results thus far, documented on the DK blog, are impressive:

 

http://dianekeys.blogspot.com/

 

Please make sure to visit this amazing show and maybe send your own work!

 

Trashpo and its Adherents - Richard Canard (North Carolina, USA)

 

Mail-art by IUOMA member Richard Canard (Thomasville, North Carolina, USA)

 

Trashpo has attracted the attention of "Old School" mail-artists while its practitioners most often represent a new generation. Indeed, Trashpo emerged - at least this was a partial impetus - with Rain Rein Nevermind's (Minnesota, USA) (unreasonable) rejection of Diane Key's roaDKill art in the "Recycling Mail-Art Group" at IUOMA, leaving DK to search for new avenues of expression. 

 

Mail-art legend Richard Canard has done a great deal of work with both found materials and visual poetry, the DNA of Trashpo. His work, particularly with cereal boxes, can be viewed as pre-Trashpo or proto-Trashpo. Perhaps even more crucial, Richard has been a sympathetic supporter of many Trash poets, freely offering support and sharing his wisdom.

 

 

Many thanks to Richard Canard for his inspiration and great mail-art. Note his new address!

 

DharmaDaDa Neil Gordon and the DKult Trash Presence (Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA)

 

Mail-art by IUOMA member DharmaDaDa Neil Gordon (Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA)

 

The personal choice by many to elevate Trashpo in their lives from an art practice to a disciplined spiritual activity has muddied the waters a bit for some fans.

Making Trashpo requires no personal or spiritual choices. The luminaries who have chosen that path have inevitably become DKult members, although even DKult does not really advance any spiritual or philosophical position connected to the making of Trashpo.

It, too, is a fan club and discussion group for all interested in anything to do with Trashpo, including sharing examples of work and finds. DharmaDaDa Neil does good work and spreads peace and harmony among the Trashpo artists. He is pushing forever forward through the landfill with exciting new work, some recent examples shown here. 

 

Mail-art by IUOMA member DharmaDaDa Neil Gordon (Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA)

 

Great trashpoem on the right! Neil has clearly attained the 9th Consciousness of the former DaDa artist now turned cartoon character Erni Baer, yet Neil's work continues to radiate a raw energy that likely comes from his roots in Punk and the Beats (he is well-grounded in the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics). Neil Gordon has done some fascinating and distinctive asemic writing, much of which is considered Dkult sacred texts.

 

Mail-art (with asemic writing) by IUOMA member DharmaDaDa Neil Gordon (Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA)

 

The reverse:

 

Mail-art by IUOMA member DharmaDaDa Neil Gordon (Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA)

 

Thanks for these recent pieces, Neil!

 

Trashpo Down Under by Vizma Bruns

 

Trashpo mail-art by IUOMA member Vizma Brun (Australia)

 

Vizma Brun has recently returned to her beloved Australian sheep ranch after an exhausting world tour that has established her as a genuine mail-art sensation.

While her work is eclectic, one cannot even think of the word "trash" without conjuring accompanying images of Vizma Bruns (drinking wine with Katerina Nikoltsou). Vizma Bruns is becoming synonymous with trash. And this recent mail-art she sent me literally knocked my socks off in terms of exciting new directions for Trashpo.

 

Trashpo mail-art by IUOMA member Vizma Brun (Australia). Top left is an ATC (Artist Trading Card).

 

Vizma Bruns is pioneering the loose trash, interactive tendency in Trashpo where the artists are including raw found material in their mailings that have the potential to (1) stand alone as object poems (2) be integrated into other works (perhaps as a Trashpo add-and-pass) and (3) require active involvement by the recipient.

 

Trashpo from Vizma Bruns. On the right is loose material from Vizma I arranged into a Trashpo scannerbed composition.

 

Trash-and-Pass from Susan Mc Allister (Berkeley, California, USA)

 

Add-and-pass from Susan Mc Allister (Berkeley, California, USA)

 

This great found object add-and-pass I received from Susan Mc Allister (via DK) reminded me that I am seeing an increasing number of traditionally based add-and-passes dedicated to Trashpo (thus Trash-and-Pass) or pieces that call for inclusion of found materials. DK put the first Trash-and-Pass in circulation and was awarded a TrashPo Litzer Prize for the innovation. Here is the reverse side of Susan Mc Allister's piece with my addition (empty Zantac pill container):

 

 

I hope this finds its way back to Berkeley covered with Trashpo!

 

Claudia McGill (Wyncote, Pennsylvania, USA) - Representational Trashpo and Meta-Trash

 

Mail-art by IUOMA member Claudia McGill (Wyncote, Pennsylvania, USA)

 

Master collage-maker Claudia McGill caused a Trashpo splash earlier this year with the appearance of her now-legendary furniture catalog pieces that immediately earned her a TrashPo Litzer and gushing praise from many quarters.

Claudia's work offers yet another new direction for a more cerebral and tempered Trashpo that makes pointed commentary on consumer culture with pithy quips constructed of text and images, a departure from classic Trashpo roots in anti-art. While mostly employing found materials, Claudia does not hesitate to employ representational Trashpo if it suits her purpose.

 

Make sure to visit Claudia's blog!

 

http://claudiamcgill.com/

 

Many thanks to Claudia as well as Diane, Neil, Stephanie, Richard, Susan, and Vizma for this great new Trashpo!

 

NO! I PREFER MINXUS!

http://minxuslynxus2.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

 

[De Villo Sloan]

Nude Erections in Trashpo

[DKeys]

I'm sorry to have caused you fear and am very glad you refrained from calling the Hazmat Team. I guess it makes it very clear why DKatering was an epic fail.  Maybe this is why my son is taking cooking in school.It really does have miraculous healing powers though, so any damage it might have done is quickly reversed. It's kind of a problem creation solution scenario. All you need to do is rub the ash on the afflicted area (the burn is normal and should go away in a few minutes) and recite the DKult Mantra using your prayer beads 487 times (please refer to the rules and regs handbook page 71)The ash has rendered the DKoder ring obsolete.

[De Villo Sloan]

&DK - I thought it was some kind of toxic waste (after a first panic). I am serious. I feel very sorry for the D-Kids if that is your cooking. The stuff didn't look terrestrial.

To tell the truth, when I first opened it and saw flaky brown powder stuffed in a plastic glove, I ran to get rid of it fast & that's why it spilled all over. Obviously it turned out just to be one of your brownie batches or something.

I thought, My God! all the KDJ stuff is actually true & I'm somehow in it now. 

[De Villo Sloan]

Love your minimalist Trashpo, Neil. These lines:

southern

d Frische.

short

eastern

We're going to need a Trashpo Anthology soon if people keep creating trash poems of this quality.

[Neil Gordon]

Great commentary DK, DVS, Claudia, Yes trashPo IS an important motivation and form of expression in our lives! In Trash We Trust!

[DKeys]

DVS-I'm surprised the mystery char arrived in crumbs. It was meant as a continuation of Erni Bar's Feed Art to the World campaign. DKult has a cooking night and this was from the demo on what NOT to do. As for what it is specifically, it's hard to say. I'm glad it fell on the floor so your dog could delight in it.   Trashpo is radically inclusive anti-art that embraces the concept of ugly beautiful, and attempts to chronicle place and time. Well, that's what I feel. I look at trashpo as I do the overpopulation problem. We have so many unwanted and orphaned children that need parents. Why create new humans instead of taking care of the ones we already have? We can create art out of the plethora of materials already available to us. That is probably the worst metaphor ever. But as the wise cliche goes, It is was it is, it was was it was, and it be what it be

[De Villo Sloan]

Spoken like a True Believer, Miss Becca. Spoken like a member of the Trashpo-letariat.

[Rebecca Guyver]

Trashworkers all over England should pause at their dustbins in reverence to this blog and all this wonderful TRASHpo!

[De Villo Sloan]

DK - why did you send me a plastic glove stuffed with dirt (?) cinders (?) that split open & went all over the floor?

Claudia - your insights & perceptions are as subtle as your work. (And thx for sending that great m-a).

In writing so much about Trashpo, I would have to say, agreeing with DK, that Trashpo is for everyone and everyone can do it. That's the bottom line.

Framing it as a "movement" is a parody of movements, saying Trashpo can never be or wants to be a movement. Yet there are people associated with the name Trashpo, and what it is - it's community & probably an alternative culture. 

The work (showcased in the blog) is ingenious & heartfelt as well as clever and funny also becoming very diverse. There is a seriousness because of the roots in things like Jim Leftwich's visual poetry, which can be complex and intellectual. 

So I think your insights are - what's that expression? - "spot on."

[DKeys]

ex cellent blog and I'm jealous of each and every piece you have received. Claudia, thanks for the great 'hot seat' piece I just received and glad to know I am playing a part for the rights of zip codes to be included. Trashpo is nothing if not about radical inclusiveness. Fuck the elite!! Sorry just had to get that out