OF FLAKES & FAKES: Richard Canard on the Crisis in Cerealism + Letter to KDJ on the D-KULT (Illinois, Florida, New York, USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art by IUOMA member Richard Canard (Carbondale, Illusion, USA)

 

November 15, 2011 - If Richard Canard's wisdom could be placed between a book's covers, might we call it Poor Richard's Almanac? Ask Benjamin Franklin. I will dispense with the weak Tom Clark imitation now.

 

Still Poor Richard remains: Mr. Canard must look back with nostalgia to a time when personal correspondence was not fair game to post in the ether for any wandering eye to find. However, I want to blog this mail-art he sent me because who else, when breakfast food and its packaging is serialized in art, can make sense of it all? Here is another gem to ponder:

 

 

Along with all his other accomplishments, I am afraid Richard Canard will be remembered in the annals of mail-art (accidentally and as the result of the confusion of others) for inventing Cerealism - in the same way Benjamin Franklin is remembered for "inventing" electricity, although I suspect he is best known today for having invented money. Attributing Cerealism to Ray Johnson is just not garnering enough support or evidence. I particularly enjoy Richard Canard's wordplay that here shows a brilliant connection between Trashpo and Cerealism:

 

Many thanks, as ever, to Richard Canard and his seemingly endless "sensibilities of tolerance."

 

The Crisis in Cerealism and its stepsister Trashpo is the proliferation of fakes, from phony shopping lists to (incredibly) outsourced garbage. A most egregious example is D-Koder rings. I have written a letter to KDJ (Florida, USA) protesting the situation and will share it with you:

 

 

 

page 2:

 

So, with many thanks to Richard, Carnard that seems to be situation of Cerealism today.

 

MAIL-ART PSYCHIC

 

Doris gets her oats

 

A neo-flapper, Scotty

 

Dancing lessons in Diana

 

Ray likes the bicycle seat: "Bill me later."

 

You are living proof of cat pajama jojoba

 

Phyllis Wheatley

 

Which describes your relationship needs?

(a) affliction & attention

(b) no common interests

(c) rinse & wash

 

Nolaroids

 

Fruit loops - think outside the box

 

Andy says: "Yes, we have no bananas, Wolfgang. Lou, can you Read?"

 

Cats have nine lives. I end up with nine fingers.

 

[De Villo Sloan]

Diane, don't be anti-MinXus! Or are your cats typing in comments by walking on your keyboard? And as Rodney said about the LA riots: "Why can't we all just get along?"

[De Villo Sloan]

Diane, I agree that the D-Koder ring debacle needs to be laid to rest. I had no idea the toll it was taking on you until I saw you were posting empty blogs.

 

The solution to the D-Koder ring is the Elgin Shroud. The Elgin Shroud, among other things, will grow back fingers lost to D-Koder rings. So place your Elgin Shroud shred orders today D-Kollectibles, c/o Dark wall, PO Box 1314, Auburn, NY 13021 USA.

 

Marie, I was kidding completely. MinXus is alive and its best days are still ahead. Whenever you doubt MinXus, close your eyes, tap your emerald slippers together three, and repeat over and over MinXus Alsace. Ah, try not to do this in a public place, OK?

[Marie Wintzer]

DK those won't be the last MinXus stamps you will get. 

[DKeys]

The envelope also came with a MinXus stamp which I take to be some kind of veiled threat and is a very big word

[DKeys]

This 'evidence' arrived with "the letter". I do not believe it is real, since I KNOW DVS has tatoos on his knuckles that say "Aesth" on one hand and "Trash" on the other. We have to overcome this duality and the only way to start, is by focusing on the future (just not by listening to the mail art psychotic). DKult has addressed the issues in "the letter" (google translate completely crashed when I tried to use it and it redirected me to  a link for people with special needs which I thought was rather insensitive). We feel reasonably certain that this will take care of "the problem", although KDJ has still declined comment until her head injury has healed. She did mutter something about "Tell him to make friends with a dictionary--I don't speak moron." But that was off the record. 

[De Villo Sloan]

Don't worry, Marie. MinXus is very much alive. 

[Marie Wintzer]

I guess I am already in post-MinXus era on this side of the planet this morning. Oh wait no, I'm not in any MinXus at all since I got expelled. MinXus has lived. For two weeks. The stamps are collectables now.

[De Villo Sloan]

Marie, we'll call all the MinXus artists who continue to make MinXus art after 11:59 pm (EST) November 16, 2011 as Neo-MinXus or Post-Minxus. I'm sure there are some who believe MinXus lives. I have many stamps and plan to continue to send them out. Perhaps MinXus has ended in Dw's mind. However, MinXus is NOT Minnesota Fluxus. There is no relation to any kind of Fluxus.

[Marie Wintzer]

And by "any MinXus artistS" you mean... me, I presume. Because it's not like there is all that crowd of followers, you know. And what am I going to do with those hundreds of MinXus stamps that I printed out? Send them to DK for her next ebay sale? In fact I am gluing one of them right in the middle of an envelope, right now.

[De Villo Sloan]

MinXus ended yesterday! Any MinXus artists who continue to make MinXus today are not MinXus!