RECEIVED: Zenobit 26 Menace Mail-Art from Lisa Iversen (North Manchester, Indiana, USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail-art book chapter for the 26 Project by IUOMA member Lisa Iversen (North Manchester, Indiana, USA)

 

January 24, 2011 - Lisa Iversen is distributing her chapter for the 26 international mail-art book project to other participants, and I am thrilled to have received my copy. Cheryl Penn of South Africa created the concept of a book, with chapters representing each letter of the alphabet, that when completed will be an encyclopedia of fantastic (and fictional) archaeology. This allows the potential to create worlds and artifacts that never existed. In turn, these creations will offer art, commentary, and fun. Lisa's page scans (starting above) are not in linear order, but I think you can still get a good idea what she is doing and appreciate her accomplishment. To me, Zenobits - present at all stages of history and prehistory - are like typos, errors, or anomalies? I hope Lisa can post a comment for documentation.  But let the text speak for itself:

What I like about this chapter is the way Lisa has incorporated so many different cultural modes connected in various ways to archaeology (literally the study of the past connected intimately to anthropology - literally the study of humans): science, science fiction, popular culture more generally, history, poptech to name a few. She covers a lot of territory in her chapter:

Lisa has added some vispo elements, which of course I adore and think enhance the chapter greatly. In particular, I like the binary 1-0 coding (right) which is the basis for all computer logic as well as the gateway to some very serious philosophical issues. Excellent!

I personally like these two pages a great deal: You have an antiquarian photo and petroglyphs (they sure do not look authentic BTW IMHO) juxtaposed with more binary code: How is that for exploring the range of human symbols? Here and elsewhere, I admire Lisa's ability to focus in very specifically on the styles, conventions, and dominant images of certain eras. She creates all kinds of effects using a vintage concept to recycle what has been done before for fresh results. The Zenobit Phenomenon gives her an opportunity to do an extended piece that I think works to full advantage. She also sent these cool tags:

I am A? Oh yes I am. No pressure will I feel, though, as I am already the less-lustrous of the Glimmer Twins serving as Cheryl Penn's alphabet wrangler for the 26 Project. Like all great mail-artists, Lisa Iversen never lets an envelope go blank. I like these especially:

And the usual suspect:

Many thanks, Lisa, for your excellent 26 chapter.

 

[De Villo Sloan]

IC, Lisa - an apologist for de-letism. But seriously, That is wonderful documentation on your chapter. You really set a standard for the 26 project. And I'm glad to have found someone who can assess the authenticity of petroglyphs. Thanks again. I am in A bit of a bind(ing).

[David Stafford]

Ouch. I missed a lot. Thank you DeVillo and Lisa for unveiling the things I overlooked.

[cheryl penn]

Well, if I cant get to see in the real, at least I see courtesy of a fantastic blog - great work, both of you.