RECEIVED: U.S. Mail-Art Compilation from Kerri Pullo (Arizona), Skybridge Studios (Indiana), Nancy Bell Scott (Maine)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art by IUOMA member Kerri Pullo (Tucson, Arizona, USA)

 

November 11, 2011 - Scans of Kerri Pullo's work I have seen in the IUOMA gallery reveal her talent for collage, a subtle and deeply refined sense of color and texture, an interest in the interplay between text and image, and a tendency toward conceptual art.

 

The first mail-art she sent me (above) is a relatively large (5 x 9 inches) piece that emphasizes asemics. I recognize this approach from the Asemics 16 collaborative book project. Mim Golub Scalin (Virginia, USA) used it notably. Symbols and shapes are cut-up, thus fragmented, to create the asemics. As a background, Kerri Pullo uses her wonderful textures to enhance the work and further meld language and image.  The reverse side is equally stunning:

 

Mail-art by Kerri Pullo 

 

All the elements mentioned above are present in this piece, but they produce a very different result. Running your fingers over it, these asemics feel as if they had been painted on fabric. Yet visually, to me anyway, the grey-blue sections look like prehistoric symbols inscribed on stone, a petroglyph.

 

As Asemics 16 also revealed, many writers and artists who create asemics invoke the archaic, as if seeking to return to the primal roots of writing. Kerri Pullo certainly manages to restore the mystery, magic, and wonder that most of us lose in the the daily inundation of signs and their systems. The work came in a beautiful, painted, green envelope: 

 

 

And the reverse, giving us a marker in time:

 

 

Marie Wintzer's (Japan) recent forays into visual poetry and her admiration for Les Brumes as well as Cheryl Penn's (South Africa) recent semiotic excesses have led to the establishment of The Arthur Rimbaud Symbolist School of Subtle Aesthetic Obscurity. This school certainly has many positive qualities. Kerri Pullo's art supports this contention. I am absolutely thrilled to have received her mail-art and look forward to more exchanges. She has an excellent blog where you can see more of her work:

 

http://annetrixiemona.posterous.com/

 

One great thing about mail-art is that on any given day you can receive a masterpiece for the ages or just a great message from a friend who is thinking about you. The next piece is the latter.

 

Before Asemics 16 was ever conceived, I considered Skybridge Studios a friend and admired her art. Having gone through the project with her, I developed a respect on a new level. Her chapters and her service on the Asemic High Council as well as her incredible research ability - well, she is an amazing person.

 

Recently Skybridge Studios sent me a great vintage card. I could take the low road and describe it as Kinky mail-art, but I won't. NOTE TO SPELL CHICK: Please delete the previous sentence. Here is the postcard's front:

 

Mail-art by Skybridge Studios (North Manchester, Indiana, USA)

 

Wow, those guys are the Kinks? Skybridge knows (thinks) I am a Kinks fan. I used to listen to a great version of "Sunny Afternoon" she had linked on her blog. For all the Punk Mail-Art folks: The punk rockers in the U.S. adored the Kinks during a time when it was not d-kool to like anything that had a connection to dinosaur rock.

 

What appears to be my admiration for the Kinks is actually ambivalence. Back in the days of Beatnik Glory, a love-of-my-life girlfriend was an adoring fan of Ray Davies. As if a gift from heaven, Ray appeared in a local record store to autograph albums and generally mix with the public. So said (ex-) girlfriend went to meet him. There was a terrible indiscretion between the two of them in the store - for the world to see, so to speak - that resulted in my total humiliation. I know Ray reads my blog regularly, so I just want to say: "No hard feelings, Ray. That was long ago and far away." Anyway, here's the reverse side:

 

 

So even if on a bad day thinking about the Kinks might still rip my guts apart, I appreciate this great card from Skybridge.

 

Skybridge has been steadily upgrading her blog, and it is becoming an impressive hub for much good work, definitely worth a look (The Kinks link is gone):

http://skybridgestudios.blogspot.com/

 

Nancy Bell Scott's art incorporates many mail-art movements. She creates tremendous asemics and has embraced Trashpo and the D-Kult. Some might go so far as to see Trashpo as standing in theoretical opposition to asemics and visual poetry, especially if one focuses on the core issue of found art. Nancy Scott Bell disproves this with her work that provides a synthesis of many concepts. Here is the front of recent mail-art she sent me:

 

Mail-art by IUOMA member Nancy Bell Scott (Old Orchard Beach, Maine, USA)

 

This is a panel of a fabric and cardboard, commercially produced book cover, bearing the emblems of years of use (and abuse). Stains or some sort of mistreatment have formed lines. Apparently someone used the book as a coaster, and it left light circles.

 

Applying Trashpo concepts, Nancy has identified found asemic structures. This is a tremendous gift of the artist, to find wonder in the mundane world and to share the wonder with me, the lucky recipient. Certainly, this is asemic Trashpo. In her work to better integrate the tribes, Nancy Bell Scott has also done some fantastic work with aesthetic Trashpo. Here is the reverse side:

 

Thank you, Nancy. I love this piece. What a great concept! Nancy Bell Scott has a fantastic blog where you can see more of her work:

http://nancybellscott.wordpress.com/

 

And thanks again to Kerri Pullo, Skybridge Studios, and Nancy Bell Scott for this mail-art!

 

MAIL-ART PSYCHIC

 

Don't bother opening it: It's a polaroid from Grigori Antonin.

 

Your imagination is in overdrive. Tap into the purple spots.

 

Evils is just Elvis with the letters moved around.

 

Whino.

 

Pigpen.

[Nancy Bell Scott]

I wondered if you might be, DVS, and agree that both are trashpo plus I said one unnecessary thing. Your restless mind might enjoy breaking it down further, but since you state that trashpo addresses "elements that define what it is to be human across the ages and the world"--well that about covers it (for tonight). There ARE Native American landfills here on the coast, but I can't find them! Maybe more clues will reveal themselves when the theoretical issue is more resolved.

[De Villo Sloan]

Hi Nancy, I happen to be struggling with those issues right now, as I have new work from Richard Canard on the subject.

 

IMHO, both the cereal box and the book cover are Trashpo, although the important thing about the book cover is the asemics. We've established the validity of asemic trashpo.

 

You make the distinction about trash from different eras. Is that necessary? A lot of archaeology involves digging into prehistoric trash piles - middens. So this trash thing is part of the human condition. And that's something that makes Trashpo art - addresses the human condition in terms of distinct cultures and societies but also larger elements that define what it is to be human across the ages and the world. I think in Maine you can find prehistoric shell middens on the coast - basically Native American landfills. It's Trashpo to me as much as flattened aluminum cans. I won't deny it's a theoretical issue that hasn't been completely resolved.

[Nancy Bell Scott]

Are a damaged book cover and a cereal box both trashpo? One is old and one is new. Is there a distinction to be made here? Historic trashpo and current trashpo? Damaged trashpo and pristine trashpo? Aside from cerealism, that is.

[De Villo Sloan]

Wow, Skybridge - that is pure Freudian uncanny. Does the Eternal Network have a collective unconscious? I've never seen the Elvis/Evils juxtaposition before (maybe it's commonplace). Now twice in one day. Woh, man! And I LOVE it when people pull things out of their collections. Thanks

[De Villo Sloan]

The Skybridge blog is reaching "must see" status. I love Republic of Indiana. Why does the older stuff always seem so good? I wonder what they'll think of our cereal boxes and damaged book covers in a few years. And - seriously - if The Republic of Minnesota falls, all we have is Indiana to save us. 

[Nancy Bell Scott]

You're a bookmarked blog on my computer, Lisa, and I happened to look last night. Nice post--I love the cowboy! I really don't have a thing for cowboys but fell for them when you sent me cowboy wrapping paper and now post another wild guy on your blog. Mail art shouldn't change one's life THAT much, eh? Your blog is terrific.

Wait, we have neo-trashpo now?

[De Villo Sloan]

Skybridge, are you lobbying for a TrashPo-Litzer? I also like the pic of the kid with the "Republic of Indiana" shirt.

[De Villo Sloan]

ray davies is my dad

[De Villo Sloan]

Kerri, mail-art is a whole different thing compared to art school or assessing technical style. It's open to experimentation and every style on earth (and beyond). So try not to be self-conscious. Personally, I liked what you did because of the mixing of written symbols and art elements.

[Nancy Bell Scott]

Thanks for posting, Lisa, and that work of Kerri's is beautiful. As you say, the delicate asemics, plus the color combinations--wonderful. (i'm just not seeing an obvious lack of technical skill, Kerri.) Yes, DVS, the interpretation  of the receiver is often so interesting and enlightening. I get so much from blogs, and see new aspects of work (not only my work but others just as much) from our fellow commenters' perspectives.