RECEIVED: Heavy Metal Vispo Mail-Art from Matthew Stolte (Madison, Wisconsin, USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-Art by IUOMA member Matthew Stolte (Madison, Wisconsin, USA)

 

January 28, 2011 - To start the second round of our mail-art exchange, Matthew Stolte sent me this postcard-size piece of visual poetry. The use of the term "heavy metal" here is not ironic :) I explain at the end.

 

The first piece he sent was a single-word poem defined by negative space. This piece is more complex and reliant on symmetry with slight variations. Matthew's use of black and white here reminds that the printed text is still dominated by the lack of color. I think it is also a nod to, or shows the influence of, black and white photocopies that were once the primary medium for distributing visual poetry. A gigantic body of work was produced using this medium. This particular "means of production" shaped form and content. Visual poetry is heavily influenced by the changing nuances of technology; and I know Matt Stolte is also doing ground-breaking digital work.

This piece Matthew sent is also strong on texture. It especially makes me think of the contours of metal - an industrial vispo. You can find many pieces by other artists that have these metallic qualities. I wonder if it does not represent the idea of object or haptic poetry: that somehow the piece has life beyond an abstraction on paper. Heavy Metal is a term many associate with music. That reference is not lost here, but it is derived from science: substances listed on the Periodic Table of Elements. William S. Burroughs applied to music and thus an ironically free-floating descriptive term for art. 

 

I am looking forward to more trades with Matt and having more examples of his excellent work.

He has a great blog that has links to some other vispo sources. Don't let the name fool you, it's FDA approved:

http://www.illegitimateprescriptions.blogspot.com

 

 

[De Villo Sloan]

Why does this old blog (7 years!) keep floating to the surface from the primordial ooze?

Does someone have a question? I don't ged it.

[De Villo Sloan]

Thanks, I'm Glimmer Boy now. I thought maybe you meant Great Britain. This is not my zoo. It belongs to the people. I could go with the flow here and ask you if it's alright if I put you on speed dial, only I lost my cell like months ago.

[Marie Wintzer]

Rutting season :-))))))

GB = Glimmer Boy

You can be proud of your zoo, it's very entertaining!

[De Villo Sloan]

Hi Marie, it's the usual zoo and I'm the monkey wrangler. Some of the inmates seem to be using the stream as place to find dates for the IUOMA Junior Prom. Whatever, Marie, we have loftier things on our minds than rutting season, a we call it here in the Northeastern USA. Marie, what does GB stand for? I'm getting paranoid. Maybe I do need that blood change. What was thiss blog about? I forgot.

[Marie Wintzer]

Sorry to squat your blog DVS-GB, I had to come back to get my slice of morning hilarity :-)

[cheryl penn]

:-)))) May I say I'm honored.

[De Villo Sloan]

DV a legend in your own mind i'm screening your calls MW i left ua message CP-SA i'm putting you on speed dial

[De Villo Sloan]

Dark Wall, if you are going to add comments to IUOMA blogs I post,I hope - in addition to your mail-art networking - you might actually write something about the work everyone else is discussing , in this case Matt Stolte's vispo. I do have a delete option so: "Go ahead punk, make my day." I do apologize for calling you a troll.

[De Villo Sloan]

DV - chill glimmer boy respect and con-troll. MW - i'll catch you on the flip. CP-SA - "i think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship"

[Marie Wintzer]

A cute little pet :-)) that makes my Monday morning, Cheryl!