RECEIVED: Incredible "Eat Flux" Hand-Painted Envelope from Ruud Janssen (Breda, Netherlands)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art by International Union of Mail-Artists (IUOMA) founder Ruud Janssen (Breda, Netherlands)

 

September 12, 2011 - In addition to having founded the IUOMA in 1988, Ruud Janssen is a very talented artist as well as an archivist and mail-art historian. He has recently released a new wave of his legendary hand-painted envelopes, this time commemorating Italian mail-artist Gugliemo Achille Cavellini and adding new variations to his Fluxus Words project. This seemed like an ideal occasion to blog this outstanding "Eat Flux" piece by Ruud that I added to my collection last winter.

 

I have received the Fluxus Words "Polut" and "Spolice" from Ruud. A Fluxus word received by Cheryl Penn (South Africa), "Zalop," inspired the creation of a group at the IUOMA devoted to participating in the performance score in various ways. It also has inspired creation of musical compositions, videos, other performance scores, poetry, rubber stamps, and - of course - an abundance of related mail-art that carries "Zalop" into the world. Here's a link to the group:

 

http://iuoma-network.ning.com/group/zalop

 

According to a recent posting in the Zalop group by Cheryl Penn: "Ruud has been making a performance score titled Fluxus Words since 1988. The project was exhibited in San Francisco (1996), Moscow (2004) and New York City (2010)." "Zalop" is  part of this score. This project obviously has incredible longevity, and you can learn more about it here:

 

http://www.fluxuswords.blogspot.com/

 

"Eat Flux" is not a Fluxus Word, but I see it very much as a part of the spirit of Fluxus that Ruud Janssen's large and diverse body of work represents, including the words project. The envelope above is bigger than similar pieces I and others have received. And whereas many other hand-painted envelopes he has created are far more subtle and detailed, "Eat Flux" makes, and I am sure is meant to make, a bold statement.

 

For those in the network who have not had the chance to interact with the Fluxus artists among us, "Eat Flux" might seem primarily humorous (and it is to me on one level) and perhaps a bit ponderous. For me, "Eat Flux" is an honest message meant to be taken at face value, no hiding behind complex metaphors. Fluxus seeks to integrate, or re-integrate, art and life. It encourages us to create a truly living culture in which we are all participants, not a removed audience.

Fluxus seems always to have seen food and eating as part of this process of integration. This is clearly seen among the new Fluxus artists. Many performance scores and documentation of performances involve people eating in various settings - it is part of the art. I see Fluxus as helping people become fully aware of all their senses and fully engaged in the world around them. Ruud Janssen's "Eat Flux" is a reminder and an invitation to do that. I think it is a great piece.

 

Here are the two other Fluxus words in my collection:

 

 

 

 

Here is my "Concrete Zalop 2," a humble offering to the IUOMA Zalop group:

 

 

 

As ever, many thanks to Ruud Janssen!

[De Villo Sloan]

Erni, I had meant to add that your discovery of a Fluxus wine to go with the dinner is probably the ultimate show stopper. It looks absolutely authentic; I assume it is. Still reeling over the brilliance of the Spoerri piece, BTW. Thanks for all of your insights!

[De Villo Sloan]

Nice find, Erni. That's a great one!

[De Villo Sloan]

Yip, there are some wonderful Fluxus food performances and scores. I thought of "Identical Lunch" from the 1970s.

[Ruud Janssen]

Go to a Fluxus restaurant and order anything you like.

[De Villo Sloan]

No problem, those are beautiful. Count me in for an asemic Zalop envelope.

[cheryl penn]

Anyway - your blog is a good advert for Ruud's  FLUXUS words - esp ZALOP so thank you - think I'll just Hi- Jack if thats ok - the backs of the first two ZALOP envelopes - topside - John Bennett - lower case - KDJ :-) X

P.S. Is PALOZ one of Ruuds words? I must look it up.

[De Villo Sloan]

It works two ways: I saw "Zalopy" and thought it was high time to bring out this masterpiece. Time for Asemic Zalop? I'm considering it.

[cheryl penn]

If I had not seen two ZALOP related envelopes headed my way from Ruud I'd be insanely jealous!!! Great blog and delicious looking envelope.  Thank you for the concrete ZALOP - its FAB  :-) X