Wreck This Journal (by US Postal Mail!) Project Contribution from Cascadia ArtPost!

[Minneapolis Gnome]

Within 24 hours of mailing his contribution to the Wreck This Journal collaborative art project from Washington, it arrived at the Gnome Home in Minneapolis!  Photos of the envelope and postmarks at the end of this blog should convince even the most suspicious minds that 24 hour delivery has indeed occurred!

As you look at his first page, #37, I'd like everyone to notice that in addition to the shower water falling plentifully down it, there is a gull sculpture permanently affixed to the page at the very top.  This gull's body, beak to back feathers, is shorter than a grain of rice.  Here's a closer look:

See it now?  This gull is 1/87th the size of it's living, flying counterpart, and it brought news to me that Cascadia has it's own 1/87 scale miniature town!  You read that right, too!  It sounds like a big, art & culture filled place in a small space to me. I've been writing back and forth with the artist now and learning more about it - it stimulates my brain and imagination in all the best ways and I'm so excited to find out more - thank you, Jack!

Above is page 38, which our artist has attached a string to in preparation of talking it for  a walk.  See the end of the string?  I am wondering if this tiny bottle is what one stores 1:87 scale sculptures in....it's just a thought.

Page 39 has had much more special treatment than a mere dirt rubbing!  Attached is a small jar of seeds to grow gourmet greens...and I got permission from the artist to remove these seeds, grow them in our garden and report back this spring about the "Salad From Wrecked Journal."!

Page 40 holds a snazzy jazzy hand which artfully tests out many vibrant colors!

I like the bleed through of the markers on the other side of the page, because the colors then do double duty brightening the view when we see page 41.  I admit that I like Cascadia ArtPost's take on dripping paint and closing the book on it more than how I did it in my solo Wreck This Journal.  Mine looks like a Rorschah test and Jack's is light, airy and visually stimulating. It's beautifully abstract!

Opposite of page 42 the bright colors do double duty again while we get to admire the ArtiStamps sewn to the page.  These stamps look so professional, crisp and are beautifully designed.

On 43 I read about a smart young person making a device that helps protects warehouse rooms full of tomatoes from spoiling - and now that I've "heard the news" I'm certain many fewer tomatoes will "go in the trash".

Okay, here is the envelope that was so official and bright looking in my hand this freezing morning that I could almost hear bugles announcing it's triumphant arrival!  Mailed: 1/18/2022.  Arrived 1/19/2022 first thing in the morning.  Covered in ArtiStamps and hand cancellations from Cascadia ArtPost, so many that the US Post Office didn't even bother canceling their official US Mail stamps!

Even the back of the envelope gave the appearance of being world traveled yet crisp and clean as a whistle. 

Thank you, Cascadia ArtPost!  I'm loving your contributions to the collaborative 'wrecking' of this journal!!!

[Minneapolis Gnome]

AWESOME!  I'll email anyone I haven't heard back from to make sure it's ok with them before I make the video, plus we'll have to wait for all the pages to be returned, but I just think it's going to be a great way for everyone to be able to almost be able to 'hold the book in their hands' and review the entire work via video!

[Amy Kiessling]

I love the video idea! Hopefully you will receive my pages soon, they mailed out on Tuesday 1/18. 

[Crystal Kayh]

I am also admiring those Cascadia stamps..... <3

[Crystal Kayh]

This is outstanding, so far!  I am loving seeing all the pages.  I need to get to it this weekend for you (and all of us, too!!)  I think a video would be fantastic!!!

[Carien van Hest]

That seems like a great idea, MG.

[Minneapolis Gnome]

Thank YOU and all of the other artists for making this journal with me, Carien!  I wanted to see other artists take on this book SO MUCH and this project is fulfilling all of my geeky WTJ desires completely.  I love this project and had no idea how much excitement, involvement and personal joy it would conjure up in me. 

What do you and the other contributing artists think about me making a silent YouTube video of paging through the completed, glued/sewn back together journal slowly, then putting a link up here on IUOMA?  I was considering that doing that would make the experience of seeing the finished book feel more immersive, as though the watcher is holding the book and looking at each page themselves?  A viewer could always hit pause to gaze at individual pages that way as well.  It's something that I would want the artists permission to do, since it would go outside the IOUMA realm.  I think a video of that size might be too much data to burden the IUOMA website with, which is why I was thinking about YouTube and a link.  

[Carien van Hest]

This Journal is great fun to read. Thank you for this inititive, MG!