Trashpo Meets Neoism in Mail Art by Karen Eliot (Richmond, Virginia, USA)

[De Villo Sloan]

Mail art by IUOMA member (?) Karen Eliot (Richmond, Virginia, USA)

November 1, 2015 - It's not every day I receive mail from the legendary Karen Eliot, so I am very excited to share this work that somebody attempted to burn, as you can see from the envelope. Inside is this wonderful and very vispo-Neoistic piece:

Karen Eliot is residing in Richmond, Virginia, USA. I can speculate she might be a member of the Post-Neo absurdist anti-collective associated with Jim Leftwich. Or maybe not. Anyway, here is the reverse side showing how the singed paper theme runs through the mailing:

The jewel in the crown of this scorched scripture is a poem/rant composed on discarded lottery tickets. The intention seems to be some sort of accordion book. I actually like the poem a great deal. The use of the lottery tickets suggest this particular Karen Eliot is familiar with Trashpo.

The overlaying, especially as it appears in the scan, makes reading difficult. If you spend some time with it, you can find many interesting things in the text. The piece works on the level of color and repetition as well.

We deem the final section especially worthy of transcription:

SELF

lands of rubbish/ the cell vibrates

ave cigarette money/ with the Board

wn the dra n/ the talk sickness

roats torn with/ the muttering

ckness/ claimed his work

Here is the other side of the envelope:

Many thanks to Karen Eliot!