Received: Fluxus Stamps and Haptic Mail-Art from Katerina Nikoltsou (Thessaloniki, Greece)

[De Villo Sloan]

 

Mail-art by IUOMA member Katerina Nikoltsou (Thessaloniki, Greece)

 

December 22, 2010 - Some mail-artists are more than happy to do requests. I was thrilled to receive an envelope with Katerina Nikoultsou's beautiful Fluxus stamps, which I had asked for. Also included on the sheet above are Art Detox stamps. As I understand it, the Art Detox concept originated with Vittore Baroni in Italy and is meant to provide a respite from constant art exposure and thought that tends to engulf mail-artists. The requirement for Art Detox to occur is when two or more artists meet in person. (I'm doing Art Detox from memory, so please correct me if I have the facts wrong.) Here are more stamps Katerina sent:

Katerina is a central figure in the Bifidus Jones Mail-Art School of Haptic Poetics that is headquartered here at the IUOMA. She sent me a haptic piece that also displays her skill as a painter (although the scan does not do it justice):

Haptics emphasize the tactile over sight and sound that we usually associate with poetry. So the center of this piece is two strips of differently grained sand paper. The idea is to explore the piece through touch. Katerina Nikoultsou also places her mail-art in very nice envelopes:

And the address side:

Thanks for this special package in time for the holidays, Katerina.

 

 

MAIL-ART PSYCHIC

I

The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said.

 

[De Villo Sloan]

Nitin Sahwney - a new one for me, Erni. I'm glad all went well in Hamburg. I'm catching up on posting, and I don't think I ever confirmed I DID receive from you thanks! More on that to come. This is a blast and interesting to me too because I missed most of the Art Detox thing. I saw y'all with bags over your heads in museums and stuff and couldn't figure it out for the longest time. Vittore Baroni just posted some great art here at IUOMA announcing Art Detox ends on December 31, 2010. So that's it? No more of these things. No more bags over your head? Katerina, you know I love those stamps - the eye - apotropaeic eyes? Or something from antiquity - pretty amazing. I never thought much about Fluxus and Classicism.

[De Villo Sloan]

Thanks for the "tough love," Erni. Hope you enjoyed the holiday - I've been enjoying your photo posts.