RECEIVED: VISUAL POETRY ANTHOLOGY (#4) from Svenja Wahl (Germany), Samuel Montalvetti (Argentina) & Katerina Nikoltsou (Greece)

[De Villo Sloan]

Center section of visual poetry chapter by IUOMA member Svenja Wahl (Heidelberg, Germany) for the second edition in the collaborative mail-art book project.

 

June 2, 2012 - This fourth installment of documentation for the visual poetry collaborative book project that Cheryl Penn (South Africa) and I coordinated begins with a chapter from the second edition by Svenja Wahl.

Her beautiful collage work often uses elegantly ripped paper and juxtapositions of photos from different eras. Svenja uses both printed text and image in her work, so visual poetry seems a natural extension of her art. Here is the evocative first page:

I think especially thanks to the work of Carina Granlund (Finland) and Jon Foster (North Carolina, USA) many IUOMA-based mail-artists have been experimenting with photo transfer techniques lately. For me, Svenja's chapter is an extended exploration of transparency that unites image and word.  Gerhard Richter is the figure of Svenja's homage, and this quote she included provides a conceptual point of departure:

 

Great link provided by Svenja: http://www.gerhard-richter.com/

 

Going through Richter's work on that site (long and well-spent time for me) certainly illuminates Svenja's chapter. As the Richter quote she presents suggests, "reading" through these wonderful images (by both Svenja and Richter) provide all the necessary meaning. I was, in particular, very drawn to Richter's painted-over photos, which fulfill all the requirements of visual poetry and look stikingly similar to work by visual poets today. Those helped me understand the overlays Svenja uses throughout her chapter.

 

I was also intrigued with the way Svenja Wahl maintains the look of magazine journalism, a reminder of the conventions of the printed word, the compartmentalization of graphic design. Yet like Richter - in his Pop Art related work - you find incredibly subtle explorations of texture, equally subtle distortions that undermine the notion of this work as realism. I think Svenja's center page collage (presented here again) is the real stunner in the sequence, an incredible composition of visual syntax, repetition, and tonality:

 

 

Mirroring the geometry of graphic design and logically organized writing contained therein, Svenja has built an incredibly structured visual-textual work. The more often I return to it, the more I see it as formalist, yet with the added dimension of simultanaeity and a use of distortion that questions the facade presented in the materials Svenja has selected to transform into visual poetry. The achievement here is very much a transformation of conventional, outdated, and mundane text.

 

In keeping with its structure, the chapter closes with a mirror-image of the first page, a photo of an indvidual and a two-column page:

 

I believe Svenja's chapter has much to offer if you spend some time with it. Like Richter, uses of devices such as distortion are extremely subtle but very powerful and expressive when you tap into it. Much visual poetry tends to explode on the page. This is different.  But for me the structuralist-formalist nature of the work (so that form overrides content?) is the most astounding part, or perhaps materialist is a better way to think of it.

 

Regardless, many, many thanks to Svenja for a chapter that adds considerable depth and breadth to the project. And something worthwhile is always happening on Svenja's blog:

http://amtfuerpostkunst.wordpress.com/

 

 

Opening page of visual poetry chapter by Samuel Montalvetti (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

After exchanging mail-art for nearly two years, I am starting to feel as if Samuel Montalvetti - visual poet, Fluxus artist, veteran mail-artist - is a good friend. He has contributed great work to almost every project Cheryl Penn and I have coordinated and has helped document the results.

 

Samuel Montalvetti has done stellar work in concrete poetry and asemic writing as well. I think his vispo videos are exceptional and often groundbreaking. Much of his work for the collaborative books has been minimalist, often ironic play and deconstructionist interrogations of single letters or words. He took a very different approach with this chapter.

 

Like Svenja Wahl, Samuel uses pages of existing text as the foundation for his vispo. In this case he achieves a subversion of the content by choosing simply to present it upside-down. Samuel has chosen to dedicate his chapter to Graciela G. Marx. Unfortunately, I cannot find much more information than the fact that she was a mail-artist. I wonder if anyone knows about her? In certain parts of Latin America, being a mail-artist could be a very serious and heroic practice. I wonder if there is an important story here.

Cracker Jack Kid has made an estimate based on the best information available (and no one is sure) that there are approximately 13,000 practicing mail-artists in the world. The IUOMA is approaching 2,500 members and thus represents only a fraction of the community. Many important participants and indeed entire networks are still outside this space. In fact, concerns or distrust of the internet as being too "above ground" seem fairly common.

 

This chapter contribution by Samuel Montalvetti is far more conceptual than any other work of his I have seen. It has a definite anti-art stance and/or conceptual art feel. Jim Leftwich and John M. Bennett (both USA) recently released an interesting collaborative piece using printed pages from books rather than blank pages. Trashpo is also engaged in this recycling process.

 

This kind of recycling seems to be connected to the decline of printed word culture where now the remains of that culture are destined for the landfill and oblivion unless they have been translated into digital form. Visual poets are transforming the fragments into new forms, not unlike other movements of the past.

 

It is always a pleasure to receieve Samuel's work, and I look forward to many more exchanges. Samuel Montalvetti manages several blogs. All have great work from the Eternal Network and especially he provides a gateway to visual poetry in Latin America, which is exciting and vibrant:

http://samuelmontalvetti.blogspot.com/

Opening page of visual poetry chapter by Katerina Nikoltsou (Thessaloniki, Greece)

Katerina Nikoltsou is a veteran of both the asemic writing and visual poetry collaborative book projects at the IUOMA. She has delivered some great work that I have blogged previously, and in some instances she stepped in when others had to withdraw from a project.

 

In mail-art, where we often assume the world must have begun in the late 19th century with Arthur Rimbaud, Katerina is our version of a classicist. Her chapter for Edition #1, dedicated to El Greco, reveals the grandeur and possibilities of mail-art classicism. She kindly included a note indicating her references:

 

 

Katerina uses transparency in this chapter, in the case of the first page taking an opportunity to create some interesting asemic writing. Artists in the project are always faced with the choice of creating highly individualized pages - as would be expected from book artists - or simply making copies from an original. Katerina uses a middle-ground that seems to work well for the mail-art books. I especially like the torn-paper collage pieces she added.

 

 

The centerpiece is a stunner that, unfortunately, does not come through well in a scan. With Katerina, we are often treated to Greek letters, which give her an identfiable style with vispo and asemics. And I have a feeling I am missing a great deal because I am not able to translate this.

For months now, I have seen many blue pieces by Katerina. A true artist, she seems to be having a love affair with blue. So we have the phenomenon here of blue visual poetry, blue vispo, which still rattles the traditional part of my poetic mind - that poetry comes in colors.

 

The Greek asemics are a stand-out! Many thanks again and as ever to Katerina for her chapter contributions to the books!

MAIL-ART PSYCHIC

 

"No! I prefer MinXus!"

http://minxuslynxus.wordpress.com/

 

SB, they have 5 fingers; yours has 6.

 

OK - La Homa?

 

Go with the purple

 

2-3-7/3-7-2 on 12

Ask a friend to help you bury it.

 

Strictly Pippy Longstocking, MH

 

I forget what the 8th is

Only if there is hole in it

When she drops her nail file

 

What can you do without hurting his feelings?

It's in your MinX Kit

 

Ray has something he needs you to deliver, WP

 

Wreck the train set

 

Replace the midget - fast KR

 

So you get this plate in the mail...

 

Pregnant paws

[De Villo Sloan]

Svenja, thank you for sharing your secret. So it's laser over-printing. Well, you made it sing. Those over-printings can be very random and hard to manipulate. Great chapter, Svenja!

Ah yes, the tortured printers. I have to replace mine about every three months. Dark wall's experiments, such as dumping milk & cereal on the scanner bed, painting the scanner glass, dumping wastebaskets with coffee grounds & banana peels on the beds etc. tends to destroy them quickly. I suppose next will trying to run the banana peels through the scanner to see if you can print on them. Indeed, I think there is some sort of Trashpo film on the glass that I can't remove.

[cheryl penn]

'Those' printers are  invaluable! I have an old one - the one I printed the canvas on? I like the fact you call it a 'he' Svenja :-) - ya, have to say, mine would be a 'he' too :-). Katerina - nice new avatar  :=0!!! and - I'm with you on the overlays.  DVS - thanks for translating Samuels comment - had another look at his chapter in view of this new information - makes 'reading' it more open X

[Svenja Wahl]

Thank you very much, De Villo, for your great blog. As Cheryl and Katerina I wonder how to "secure" your words and analyses! I'm blushing here, because I just tried to make something which somehow can remember people of Gerhard Richter who is one of my favorite artists. Not knowing how to hold a brush (to go for the overpainted pictures) I had to do something with photographies and I loved the combination from pictures and the old Fracture-text and the new newspaperesk text. Ohh, I'm afraid I can say anything as knowledgeable and intelligent as you about my work ;-(( It's great to see what you see in it, thank you for that!

For the technique: I just tortured our old printer here, you really can put anything into him, he just tries his best to print on it (like ripped out book pages, small pieces of paper etc.) ... photos are all old family photos ...- so the whole thing looks very special to me ... Thanks to all of you, xoxo

(I do love the El Greco-chapter!!)

[De Villo Sloan]

Oh and yes Katerina - the project guidelines (not that they matter all that much) were simply a favorite artist. So a living artist is appropriate in every sense, as in Samuel's case. I added a sentence saying the artists should feel free to use a visual poet - just to encourage anyone who wanted to explore that area. Cheryl is just extraordinary w/ book concepts. The "favs" have offered resonance to the project & provided all sorts of interesting artists to learn about.

[De Villo Sloan]

Katerina, thank you for explaining DoMeNikos Theo ToKoPouLos. Luckily blogs are living documents. There are no mistakes, only erasures. I will update the main text. I regret my inability to read and speak multiple languages like so many here. Like a good American, I blame my government.

 

The asemic Greek is one of my favs. I do appreciate having your collage bits in the book; forget low-tech concerns. Again, a real artist's book is supposed to be personalized, although in mail-art we have stretched that so more people can participate. Alfonso Filieri was downright confused (and perhaps miffed) when he received laser prints. He's a book arts purist, for sure.

 

Svenja Wahl's technique might be just a physical photo transfer. That's one of the mysteries that remains.

 

Many thanks to Samuel again for providing the info on Graciela Gutierrez Marx - a real treasure. I will not forget her, and that has expanded my horizons. The poem is excellent. I played with a translation, but it is just too weak even for our small circle. I do hope people revisit that poem further down the stream.

 

I'm learning not to commit to anything so as not to disappoint. However, Cheryl and I have both noted we have a growing body of work documenting Asemics 16 & the vispo books. There is some pondering if more should be done with it.

 

Thank you again, Kat.

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

Thank you, Sloan, for yet another super blog...all the Vispo Anthologies are fantastic. As Cheryl says...a bookie can be made about the Vispo boekies...a huge volume edition, actually. Your commentary and research is amazing and the comments by others, too!

Thank you Thom...a person who really understands the "hi-tech handicap". I adore seeing art by Svenja and others who can use the computer as a great artistic tool and create such beauty. I have to rely on the basic copy-and-paste...and often really cut-and-glue :-) But I am happy many enjoy the overlays that work with just simple tracing papers or a glued on piece of painting.

The Vispo Project was for a "favorite artist"..not necessarily a favorite "vispo artist" or "mail artist"...thus my choice:

DoMeNikos TheoToKoPouLos / ΔΟΜΕΝΙΚΟΣ ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ

...and making vispo only with his name and his art...no other Greek included :-) 

ALL the chapters for this project are super...and opened doors to knowledge about other artists from all over the world. Thanks to Samuel, we come to see what's happening in South America! Wow...great blog and great comments! Many thanks!

[De Villo Sloan]

I do my best to provide an accurate translation from Samuel:

"First of all thank you very much for these words De Villo Sloan, although they seem exaggerated. 

Graciela Gutierrez Marx  is still ALIVE! She has a long history as a mail-artist, visual poet and conceptual artist. She is from the city of La Plata, Buenos Aires Argentina, and worked for a time with Edgardo Vigo, and the work resulting is signed MarxVigo. She's very committed to social causes, and hard work along with our mothers of Plaza de Mayo, even looking at Anahi, a lost granddaughter of a friend of hers. I have  had the pleasure of meeting her and she treated me with love. I want her to be well known now, while she is still living and not to talk about it when she is not in this world as is the case with Edgardo Vigo, who introduced mail art, visual poetry and even the artist's book in these lands. I think I should make a group and fill in information about it on this page.

Greetings to all Samuel

 

[Samuel Montalvetti]

Nuestro lenguaje poético-alegórico, 
está lejos de las Bellas Artes.
No reconoce dogmas académicos.
No se vende en el mercado.
No responde a las modas.
Señala la belleza
en los dientes de un perro muerto;
la maravilla en las chapas oxidadas,
ésas que se pudren a la intemperie.
La estética cotidiana de los cartoneros,
apretando desechos en sus carros
de combate silencioso.
La seducción de lo frágil,
porque es efímero e incierto.
Las canteras de ropas, gasas y vendas,
usadas...
La niñez desamparada.
Los relieves tectónicos del homo detritus.
Un mundo que contiene muchos mundos,
en los que cabe el universo único y diverso
de cada ser humano.
Una muestra,
un susurro y un murmullo:
NOSOTROS SOMOS ELLOS: POBREZA-PUENTE-POESIA
Graciela Gutiérrez Marx 

 

Extraido de http://www.escaner.cl/escaner90/signos.html

 

Que lo disfruten....

 

Samuel

[Samuel Montalvetti]

Ante todo muchas gracias por estas palabras De Villo Sloan. suena a exageración

Hoy me importa hablar de Graciela Gutierrez Marx, pues ella, que aun esta VIVA!!, tiene una larga historia como arte correista, poeta visual y artista conceptual. Ella es de la ciudad de La Plata,Bs As Argentina, trabajo un tiempo con Edgardo Vigo, y los trabajos resultantes de esta unión llevan la firma MarxVigo. Es una mujer muy comprometida con la situación social, y de mucho trabajo junto a nuestras madres de plaza de mayo, aun buscamos a Anahi, una nieta desaparecida de una amiga de ella. Tengo el placer de conocerla y de que me trate con mucho cariño. Quiero que sea muy reconocida ahora, cuando aun vive y no que se hable de ella cuando ya no este en este mundo tal como ocurre con Edgardo Vigo, quien introdujo el arte correo, la poesía visual y hasta el libro de artista en estas tierras. Creo que debo hacer un grupo y llenar de informacion sobre ella en esta pagina

Saludos a todos

Samuel

[De Villo Sloan]

Yes, people seem to think of me when they think of trash. Some people have m-a archives filled with really nice art. Mine looks like a dumpster. I have trash from every continent, you know. And the shredded cereal boxes. I doubt any collection can match mine.