RECEIVED: Friday Mail-Art Mystery

[De Villo Sloan]

 

September 23, 2011 - A few days ago, this wonderful piece of mail-art appeared in my PO box. I have pondered over it, studied it carefully, and cannot solve the mystery of who sent it. Am I overlooking the obvious as I am often prone to do?

 

This is a big collage (8.5" x 11" or A-4) on solid cardboard, reminding me of Erni Baer's (Hamburg, Germany) masterful work. I see a reference to concrete poetry of the typewriter era. The collage includes a very nice piece of concrete-based vispo, proving the artist is familiar with this kind of work. Could this be another masterpiece by Richard Canard (Illinois, USA)? The work is definitely at that level of talent. The reverse side offers even more wonder with some great text about e-mail vs. snail mail correspondence:

 

 

This displays the wry humor and wit of David Stafford (New Mexico, USA). Yet Thom Courcelle (Washington State, USA) is a great writer and artist. He is among the very few who could produce a piece such as this, perfection in all areas, faithfulness in detail. Or - Lord forbid - is this part of Grigori Antonin's new wave and I've been fooled yet again by The Grigster?

 

Regardless, a wonderful piece of mail-art worth sharing. And I ask: Who done it?

 

[David Stafford]

We sound like the rocking chair brigade on the porch of the assisted living facility where the young nurses are checking our stats on their IBods. "Give Mr. Stafford an extra helping of Feelgoodinex," she twitters to self. Onward through the fog to our bright and glittering future of abundance. Or moribundance.

 

[Nancy Bell Scott]

Wow--beautiful, and so many bucks, but hey, cheaper than most computers. I don't think I ever saw a Hermes in person. Yah, quite often people in my shop would say how this country used to produce great things and "now it's becoming one big office." I love office supplies, but that is sad.

The medieval helpdesk video was sent to me quite a while ago, and it is hilarious--and I enjoyed it just as much this time, am glad you posted it.

[David Stafford]

Isn't a wonder, Nancy! Just from the standpoint of sheer industrial beauty. How blind I was to leave that kind of craftsmanship behind. America used to be so good at producing these THINGS. (insert deep and mournful sigh here) And omigod.....check this out...

http://mytypewriter.com/hermes3000of1958.aspx

[Nancy Bell Scott]

That is one beautiful looking typewriter, David. The green keys are heavenly, for one thing, but the whole machine is a work of art, let's face it. "Brilliant prose tripped effortlessly across the page"--are you using it right this second, to come up with this romantic, poetic, airy stuff?

The fingers are a problem. All of our fingers have turned flabby, weak, and disgusting from not enough exercise. Something must be done. I know what I'm going to do. Look at all you have wrought, David, by sending that piece to De Villo!

I had the, ahem, balls. About 12 of them. Don't know what it says that I no longer have any.

[David Stafford]

Now let me sing the praises of my Hermes...grey green with sleek curvilinear styling. So comfy, so calming, so comportable and transportable. Brilliant prose tripped effortlessly across the page. (The coffee has taken hold of me again). It would be hard to give up the ease of the computer keyboard though and I'm not sure these old fingers have the strength to pound it out. If we live long enough (past next year) we'll find that out. (Nod to Liketelevisionsnow)

And a word about the Selectric...what a miracle they were...you could switch the fonts out! You could have three different fonts in one sentence! If you had the balls of course....

 

[Nancy Bell Scott]

More typewriter art as a result of this discussion would be a really good thing!

Skybridge, those IBM selectrics did end up with some fabulous ball fonts. Wish I still had 'em. My favorite functioning typewriter of all time was, like Theresa's, a manual Olympia, but with elite type rather than pica. I'd kill to have it back. At the time the smaller type was appealing (now I'd like pica), I loved it, and the machine was a dark gray with very dark maroon keys.

You all are giving me hope that I can get another manual without spending a fortune. Ebay here I come. I go to Goodwills but have yet to see a typewriter ...

[De Villo Sloan]

What a fascinating discussion. Thanks commentators! Paint and brushes might be primitive technology, but they are alive and well. Looks like this applies to other "obsolete" technologies too. I know I'm definitely putting some typewriter art into vispo as a result of this discussion - only a typewriter will create the effects I'm looking for.

[David Stafford]

It so happens that in Los Altos, my home town, where I visited recently there's a typewriter repair store that has slowly evolved into a typewriter museum (they also repair printers). On the shelf was a portable Hermes, the kind my mom gave me when I went off to college. Like Nancy I hung on to it for sentimental reasons, never used it, finally gave in to the demons of organization and took it to St. Vincent de Paul. So back to the the typewriter museum...I see my old Hermes on the shelf....with a price tag of $270. Yikes.

Theresa, your story reminded me of this video which some of you book lovers have probably already seen but it's worth a look if you haven't.

 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ

 

[Nancy Bell Scott]

That's exactly it, Theresa. Several years ago a young kid came across me typing on a typewriter, and he was astounded by the way the letters were pushed into the paper. He thought it was way cool and a major improvement over computers because you didn't have to print out your words after typing--they were already "printing out" as they were being typed. He thought I was using the latest machine.

[Nancy Bell Scott]

Yes, I've seen that in Mike Dickau's work, and just looked more at David's photos and see what you mean. "Abstract and grungy" does describe well some tendencies here in the east (including here in my studio). It was either luck or kindness that kept me on David's list after the first knowingly ugly experiment I sent him as a joke!