tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15400679466132483492024-03-16T11:52:12.622-07:00Jon Foster - Mail Art - North CarolinaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger328125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-69356533951838090012024-03-04T07:59:00.000-08:002024-03-04T07:59:43.556-08:00Education Without God Makes Crafty Devils "Thing"<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Since I write most days,
and have done so for over 20 years, I’ve amassed a lot of words, too many
words, like way too many words. Most of them deal with the boring minutiae of
my day to day, or thrift store encounters. Most of what I write equate to doodles
in words, you know…aimless writing. Sometimes things come together to form a
proper structure. Sometimes this just randomly happens and other times it’s intentionally.
The joy of having a large archive of words, no matter their reason for
existing, is that you can always plumb the depths of your doodles to create
something new. Being these doodle can be searched with a basic keyword, you can
have a loose, theme in no time. Keyword “teaching” or “school” produces dozens
of returns. Put those returns into a long list and you have something that is
almost cohesive. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRoSO1ACelagIIuCJLRQrZ5US3RODU4KZNc-Lq_ru07fVkOkwUEuaxhTuBr6pXdINPDRU7u_l7dd7tbgEjcgXOWwQmY9PE4a4fcV3iyQHZF13MVg24m34WvNMLpZGeHr4oMvr5vIEhaJM8o3_ACinToJkoD-YtCJ8SSDEcACULc0pPsUCL4yhv0ZpdrpGp/s960/Book%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="801" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRoSO1ACelagIIuCJLRQrZ5US3RODU4KZNc-Lq_ru07fVkOkwUEuaxhTuBr6pXdINPDRU7u_l7dd7tbgEjcgXOWwQmY9PE4a4fcV3iyQHZF13MVg24m34WvNMLpZGeHr4oMvr5vIEhaJM8o3_ACinToJkoD-YtCJ8SSDEcACULc0pPsUCL4yhv0ZpdrpGp/s320/Book%20(2).jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cover made from a recycled thrift store book image. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table>So yeah, that’s what I did.
I took all of my notes and put them into a long and meandering text connected
through the keyword of “teaching.” It was a lot of words, initially over 100
pages, a “thing.” I can’t use book here, zine seems somewhat wrong, so thing it
is. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I put all of this together
a couple years ago, not sure what I wanted to do with it or even sure I wanted
people to see it. If the “thing” feel into the wrong hands, I might have to
answer some questions I didn’t want to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’d start playing around with it, and then feel like I needed to abandon
it. This happened a handful of times. A couple months ago, I found the file and
started playing around. I started whittling out uninteresting doodles and references
to anyone or anything specific. Does it really matter? After making a lot of
things like this over the course of years, I knew no one really cared. I knew
only a few people would ever read it, and I doubted any of those people would be
bothered by my interaction with a student from a decade ago. I’m fascinated by
people, and the weirder the interaction, the more I’m drawn to it, and then
better chance I’m going to write it down. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-BPBlTZHbD2-RhM7O6ARtMK48Y1is_A9Kpj-2vkYk2g4yzxsdqZDPE-7vpKImrBuP8BN3ZGzbHAuPxB6l1QrWcxM-TeADzvUknhDmHuEjxQwkDHWvuDuT8aGLNdA984dX9Dlt5CMZCIsW7dgwoD9ut1QWZiM4cW8rmsLs_CuJvdReMM0XmGCaOUPHJn2/s2048/Book%20(3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1223" data-original-width="2048" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-BPBlTZHbD2-RhM7O6ARtMK48Y1is_A9Kpj-2vkYk2g4yzxsdqZDPE-7vpKImrBuP8BN3ZGzbHAuPxB6l1QrWcxM-TeADzvUknhDmHuEjxQwkDHWvuDuT8aGLNdA984dX9Dlt5CMZCIsW7dgwoD9ut1QWZiM4cW8rmsLs_CuJvdReMM0XmGCaOUPHJn2/s320/Book%20(3).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pulling teeth for money. I don't like this part. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Without thinking too much
about it, I finished up my mild edits, and ordered 25 printed copies through a
self-publishing / printing place. I guess it’s published if it has an ISBN and its
printed if it does not. 25 sounded like a good number. I didn’t expect to sell
that many, but I know I could definitely mail off that many. When they arrived
at my house, they were larger than I had expected. They were magazine sized
when I thought they were going to be trade paperback sized. The difference
means more postage which means I lose more money. Over the next couple of
weeks, I tried to see who was interested in a copy, and then pulled teeth to
get them to send me the ten dollars, which barely covered the print and
postage. In trying to sell them, I didn’t want to eat the whole cost, just a
portion. It was more important they exist than I make money. Surprisingly, a
lot of folks came through with the monies, making it a viable thing. I’ve sold
more than half and given the rest away. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_7MXp5mC0azXTIOpU5GCuCIbAeewDuPnPaTFomDhUpGxQH90muAZ6yeHGlyT2mKht0Il_os16XhXIGVcl4tQMGUt1pNvavtJx0sVNHrxzV1Y8ZNXrBH5HV7xtaCuw4UfYA_tEVZVZjqIDsUVbCjkOBcTZ2fds4okaZXMppevF4PDUacG6uxrqHdIH6PU/s1124/Book%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="843" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_7MXp5mC0azXTIOpU5GCuCIbAeewDuPnPaTFomDhUpGxQH90muAZ6yeHGlyT2mKht0Il_os16XhXIGVcl4tQMGUt1pNvavtJx0sVNHrxzV1Y8ZNXrBH5HV7xtaCuw4UfYA_tEVZVZjqIDsUVbCjkOBcTZ2fds4okaZXMppevF4PDUacG6uxrqHdIH6PU/s320/Book%20(1).jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They exist, 3-D and all. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Now that I’ve done this
once, I know I’m going to do it again. I’ve actually gotten a few ideas lined up
for the next few editions. The next one is just going to be broadsides, no
reading. The one after that I want to be a large collection of writing and
images, a best-of all the garbage I’ve mailed over the years. Maybe one on my
Richard C. collections and writings, but that’s way into the future. </span></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-3425654193998478982024-01-12T07:05:00.000-08:002024-01-12T07:05:49.942-08:00Children's Block by Block, Glueing It All Together<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The amount of paper I
have upstairs (where I do most of the makings) is staggering. It’s mostly
organized, but there’s a lot, so some of it isn’t so organized. There’s the
stacks of old magazines and books, the piles of “processed” paper (paper ripped
from old books), and then there’s the cut pieces, or pieces ready to be
incorporated into a collage. The latter is the last step in a long process that
could take years. Anyone looking at these piles might not see pattern, but I
do. It all makes sense, mostly. Because things are put together in such a
fashion, I can dive into collage-making in no time, which for a very time-conscious
me, is important. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Over the past year, I’ve
focused mainly on creating paper collages. When I have an hour or two, I can go
upstairs and be making something within minutes because of my “system.” It’s
one I’ve not deviated from too much. I’ve forced myself into a pattern for more
than a year just to see how things change and morph over time. Even if you do
the same thing over and over, you’ll do it differently over a stretch of time.
I’ve forced myself into repetition. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFd1xGqh7IDvoptX5jLJGaR3-t5WpnQ-p1ZyoGOaCSGuq-lLILSBSlgwN0wZKfFWc7gDVc3Xu9n5cC6Q1gjXq2XvoyBTmIZGlE5CsMYNZiQ6QKDrrHaVWeGE34oVksbNmqmmGPFX7fzXpzzfsIkUpAVPgJl_EJTqPF5pWpxQ20_tkQpn8cwfhh2ohHvlL7/s2048/Glue%20%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFd1xGqh7IDvoptX5jLJGaR3-t5WpnQ-p1ZyoGOaCSGuq-lLILSBSlgwN0wZKfFWc7gDVc3Xu9n5cC6Q1gjXq2XvoyBTmIZGlE5CsMYNZiQ6QKDrrHaVWeGE34oVksbNmqmmGPFX7fzXpzzfsIkUpAVPgJl_EJTqPF5pWpxQ20_tkQpn8cwfhh2ohHvlL7/s320/Glue%20%20(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of old cardboard, pieces of board games, and even some Japanese money in there. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table>And then I had a lot of
collages leftover from my Christmas making period, like a lot. Most of them
went into thrift store frame destined for little libraries around the area.
Some of them were stuck to books and some were affixed to pieces of wood (children’s
blocks and toys) for no particular reason. Side note, making stuff without
purpose is freeing. When you find yourself gluing for an hour and taking stock
of what you’ve done, it’s a great feeling. Trying to identify what to do with
three dimensional objects is a puzzle that comes from repetition. No way am I
going to mail them because of heft and thus price, so now what? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Books and magazines have
a section upstairs, but so does non-paper items. These things go into two
drawers built into the side of my work space. Honestly, I don’t know what’s in
there, not really. I find stuff for free, or at a thrift store, and it gets
dumped there. Maybe I’ll use it or maybe it’ll last forever and ever in large
piles. My wife and I have been in our house for six or seven years, so those
drawers are full. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-m3Im_xTpAU4Z4wFmrYM8XgxOfLsl5oQNYgfTdHB0OdpcrXi8KLYO2_DThmdsJxA4xynOCRiWNMeymcnO5K2-Te9Nspd7CeAJPL4xkXDCrGqlxDt-LQA1RTUYri6eYmZF5_G2DQu1u0_i5WrJTMAiDiYcXJ2LImsMNzfKlbnw49ybaj0mibPBvxKUzepH/s2048/Glue%20%20(3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-m3Im_xTpAU4Z4wFmrYM8XgxOfLsl5oQNYgfTdHB0OdpcrXi8KLYO2_DThmdsJxA4xynOCRiWNMeymcnO5K2-Te9Nspd7CeAJPL4xkXDCrGqlxDt-LQA1RTUYri6eYmZF5_G2DQu1u0_i5WrJTMAiDiYcXJ2LImsMNzfKlbnw49ybaj0mibPBvxKUzepH/s320/Glue%20%20(3).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "frame" is a children's puzzle. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGeJtlH-a_Y0k9OuXJMLg1Z-r2BnD87qryyjSYJyESy_WK_fnZ5inu8-lfd6RuT302eaMjqLyxwRotTxv-7IhiSu1FtfqDnqSHeu4YqPDcr2RF2kwTcL-w6htG1altph7Jd7StEhgZ78grrWCKFtO6C1et_KgPXsukZar5mPl94B-77p50qPNvkcR1_oIC/s2048/Glue%20%20(5).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGeJtlH-a_Y0k9OuXJMLg1Z-r2BnD87qryyjSYJyESy_WK_fnZ5inu8-lfd6RuT302eaMjqLyxwRotTxv-7IhiSu1FtfqDnqSHeu4YqPDcr2RF2kwTcL-w6htG1altph7Jd7StEhgZ78grrWCKFtO6C1et_KgPXsukZar5mPl94B-77p50qPNvkcR1_oIC/s320/Glue%20%20(5).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, that's Shirley MacClaine's eye in there!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>So…I have a bunch of
small pieces of things I glued together without a plan, blocks and dice and
small bits of plastic. I went digging in the drawers and found two painted
boxes that puzzle pieces once went in. No idea how long ago these were painted,
or even why they were painted? Some of the glued pieces fit right into these
painted boxes, giving them a shadowbox feel. Think Pop Art Joseph Cornell. In a
couple of these boxes I worked in a baby doll foot, a paper collage I had on my
desk, board games pieces, and some repurposed old cardboard. I really love old
cardboard, I have a giant box of it upstairs. Slowly something started to
emerge. I went from being bored at my and desk and indiscriminately gluing
stuff, to somehow producing these objects of varying quality. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Now that things have
taken shape, I have a focus, a vision for what might come next. For me this
means a lot, namely I’m thinking about these objects during my daily routine.
This changes how I go into thrift stores. Over the coming weeks, as I try and
finish up some more boxes, I’ll think of what can be included. I’ll look a
little longer at thrift stores, especially the kids section. Taking apart
children’s games is so much fun and cheap. And I’m sure I’ll dig through the
trash a little more than I normally do. Just yesterday I bought some things
with the express idea of finishing a couple these boxes. I found some plastic
balls and tiny bowling pins and a few old board games with 50 year old cardboard
inside. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Side note. I’m fascinated
with signs, I love signs. You know signs, like the ones that give you direction
while you’re driving, I think they’re terse poetry. I’ve always made things like
these. I especially like them when they’re not doing exactly what they need to
be doing. Signs that confuse as much as clear up. Signs that play with puns
while trying to tell you something in just a few words. I’ll end up making a
lot of these with blocks and scrabble letters. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOFZJFA9zIY9llHOaizlogX0FxDkRgWVxGYcBdZZUmDUQg6i7uHcCHSYsJw5kDbTSm6FFneuWZgtxCPgEuqbM34cmGwB4m4n16ysF1HJr0AEIWesX16AO3lpzMP0_erxuQumTJrYz3iXgA2cTIoBySw8_HPKeeFTSvVqVPj0Rkes11j42jq_RpAmm29wqH/s1080/Glue%20%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOFZJFA9zIY9llHOaizlogX0FxDkRgWVxGYcBdZZUmDUQg6i7uHcCHSYsJw5kDbTSm6FFneuWZgtxCPgEuqbM34cmGwB4m4n16ysF1HJr0AEIWesX16AO3lpzMP0_erxuQumTJrYz3iXgA2cTIoBySw8_HPKeeFTSvVqVPj0Rkes11j42jq_RpAmm29wqH/s320/Glue%20%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is capital "A," art!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-178018609404164922023-09-28T04:59:00.000-07:002023-09-28T04:59:01.703-07:00Marko and the Magic Magnet <p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">First off, thanks go to Marko
Reid for sending me pictures of the solo magnet show he curated in Portland
Oregon. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Zq7eUa4OYccbgjnf8wUIoZzI4oDkRBvz610Pp9p_zvw4yX0VOFT0sFIFmIY1Iz10MWUJ2x59SXskGji4JmFTidLg-wZ5MjbxFIJx7bo7MizIgZklY__JyepzSEJCD6Q9yBEpn7eQarIVM__s5A_k_yrJ_M_tSHVgToNRFTlyEyyK6FoQ3ZNK3jgVqIcY/s2048/First%20Stop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Zq7eUa4OYccbgjnf8wUIoZzI4oDkRBvz610Pp9p_zvw4yX0VOFT0sFIFmIY1Iz10MWUJ2x59SXskGji4JmFTidLg-wZ5MjbxFIJx7bo7MizIgZklY__JyepzSEJCD6Q9yBEpn7eQarIVM__s5A_k_yrJ_M_tSHVgToNRFTlyEyyK6FoQ3ZNK3jgVqIcY/s320/First%20Stop.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Perfectly positioned on a Portland Oregon street.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>When he posted the
images, I started to think about all of the strange objects I’ve encountered in
my life, whether they were at a thrift store, or in a public space. When you
see something that grabs your attention, you generally try and make sense of
how it got there. You fill in the gaps the best you can imagine, but you’ll
never truly know. The not knowing is the excitement! My goal with this entry,
is to completely ruin that excitement and describe how my magnet ended up on a
Portland Oregon street. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And all the assholes ask,
“How long did it take you to make that?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I collect a lot of
magnets. I think a refrigerator with well curated magnets is a happy
refrigerator. You can tell a lot about a person based on the magnets on their
fridge. Since I’m always curating my own permanent refrigerator magnet show and
randomly making things, I decided to put the two together. Simple, collages
(and other ephemera) on magnets, stick them to places, and see if others would
help me move them around the world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The backs of the pieces
in this Portland collection, come from a variety of sources. One of them is a
children’s block that I spray-painted and put scrabble letters on the front. There’s
nothing more fun that taking apart old board games to see what you can make out
of them. Another piece is simply a collage stuck to a thin magnet sheet. Two of
them are those magnets you get on trips; you know the ones with a picture of
Amish country on them. Yeah, I just spray-painted those different colors and in
one, glued a collage to it, and in the other one, glued two pieces of a board
game to them. The perfectly square magnet came from a recent trip to Scrap
Exchange in Durham. They had a bunch of religious images on a magnet that I
quickly made blue when I went home. The black backing is from an off brand
dollar store in Thomasville North Carolina. They have a bunch of those thin pieces
of wood for a $1.25 that I buy in bulk. The blue image on the far right is a
description of the show, printed on blue cardstock, and then put in a premade
plastic frame with magnets on the back. I found the frames in a pile of stuff
in my makings room, I’m sure they came from a thrift store. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The collages themselves
are made up of pieces of paper picked from all over North Carolina. Chances are
much of what you see here came from the “free bin” at McKay’s in Winston-Salem.
I generally focus on religious books, out of date medical books, and in the
case of one collage, classical sculptures. I generally look for line drawings
and poorly printed images. Sharp, deeply colored images aren’t my thing. I want
what I create to look a little shitty, like it was a copy of a copy…punk
flyers. I want it to look somewhat old after it’s been freshly created. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">On the magnet, third from
the left, you see two circular images. Both of these are stickers that I
printed off on my home computer. I broke that printer this summer. One of them
is a scan of a man looking down the barrel of his gun. The other image reads,
“The Nice Price.” If you’ve spent any time looking through old records, you
will have come across this sticker. The sticker was affixed to a lot of cut out
or severely discounted records. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Over the course of many
weeks, I amassed a lot of collages made of various materials. They were
organized into piles of five. I tried to make sure there was some variety in
each show. No street could handle an art show made up of just my face on square
tiles. I had to move those around, dilute the sexiness. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I added a sheet of directions to the pile and
then put them in cheese bags I collected over the course of a couple years.
Don’t worry, I washed them out. From there I posted online that I was looking
for people to curate these magnet shows, I took down names, and then mailed to
each person who request them. Folks generously put them up in their town, sent
me pictures and video, and then I posted them to my social media. To attract as
much attention as possible, I shared the shows with multiple online groups. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFWRpGT5wZvm3-4Pj-yDEUHxRiSK2pSd3JBObwzCIUPk4L8CAqZLzJECDaCPwBBFDV_0-wwI2sOiU5suz6qhq_Xiquf2g0-K-Fj8Ia468PuI6RfJRERDoNkHJsYunn8ueEJ53v7-xkHoQiqXo-GbmZLasfLUsZ8qofyf5xzVcywWqPC-qhqxag99bGGIMm/s600/Second%20Stop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFWRpGT5wZvm3-4Pj-yDEUHxRiSK2pSd3JBObwzCIUPk4L8CAqZLzJECDaCPwBBFDV_0-wwI2sOiU5suz6qhq_Xiquf2g0-K-Fj8Ia468PuI6RfJRERDoNkHJsYunn8ueEJ53v7-xkHoQiqXo-GbmZLasfLUsZ8qofyf5xzVcywWqPC-qhqxag99bGGIMm/s320/Second%20Stop.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let the magnet hit the floor. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Marko posted images and
video from the show he put up. A few days later, he followed up his initial
post with the following photo. It seems that one of the magnets had been taken
from the show, per the directions, and deposited on the street a couple blocks
away. Someone must have taken it from its original location, walked with it a
bit, and then tossed it away. Here is where I wish I had cameras set up. So
often I do these sorts of projects that I know illicit a response, whether
confused or amused or completely annoyed, but I never get to see them. Just
knowing that they occurred makes such an endeavor worth it. Marko found the
magnet in this helpless state, face down, and by public utilities. Rightfully,
he took it home and put it on his well curated refrigerator. The magnet needed
a rest. It had traveled a long way. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5EVSqK7qAqv3ZSgW_K00qkXKiYMMDopZNTsY5kk0aUhsR3hcv8hbk5-EAAOZQY94VRoYLn3_JtpsoDKdZBXD5W69p4wWSAt5aEVG5ziLp02bzGb1EFPxZcn-A8wwn_Ff_nx882xIdFvsSm6phK1F0xqdIrHXH2BBVngvwX5OQvEhpngZT07VSQMiLIxt/s1280/Last%20Stop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5EVSqK7qAqv3ZSgW_K00qkXKiYMMDopZNTsY5kk0aUhsR3hcv8hbk5-EAAOZQY94VRoYLn3_JtpsoDKdZBXD5W69p4wWSAt5aEVG5ziLp02bzGb1EFPxZcn-A8wwn_Ff_nx882xIdFvsSm6phK1F0xqdIrHXH2BBVngvwX5OQvEhpngZT07VSQMiLIxt/s320/Last%20Stop.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home on a happy fridge. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table> So yeah, it took some
time. </span></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-87372072487219603192023-09-14T05:24:00.000-07:002023-09-14T05:24:00.624-07:00Oh, the Places They’ll Go: The Afterlife of Paintings and Mail-Art <p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
was walking around the Jonestown Goodwill in Winston-Salem, when I spotted a
painting I immediately recognized. Well, I didn’t recognize the specific
painting, but I recognized the style of the painter. It was a large, square
canvas. A quick “finger scrape” across the corner (to test if it was painted
and not printed) confirmed it was real. No signature. The painting was an up
close perspective of a bespectacled man playing the piano. Thrift store
painting of a musician and a four-dollar price tag meant it was going with me.
Strangely, Goodwill paintings, real paintings done by actual humans, are much
cheaper than printed stuff you put on your walls from big box stores. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEqQnhxbHc4txaPO27b5q4MD2e0DS-Wx4-DGCVQDAzmn4ZBM7YSlTBUXEfowaQDFJCGwcZao2sWMmqs6jcGZAD7M-xx4GnIdMDYlyUl4M_GaUQ5M3zfF8TsLL4J0go3UHZXq3D5l3_secA68WbJhljlVRJOJllFO6YtQSA2Eq2C27tZDSHbeoA5tRNinf/s1920/Found%20Paintings%20%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEqQnhxbHc4txaPO27b5q4MD2e0DS-Wx4-DGCVQDAzmn4ZBM7YSlTBUXEfowaQDFJCGwcZao2sWMmqs6jcGZAD7M-xx4GnIdMDYlyUl4M_GaUQ5M3zfF8TsLL4J0go3UHZXq3D5l3_secA68WbJhljlVRJOJllFO6YtQSA2Eq2C27tZDSHbeoA5tRNinf/s320/Found%20Paintings%20%20(1).jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://thepatrickharrisgallery.org/" target="_blank">https://thepatrickharrisgallery.org/</a></td></tr></tbody></table>When
I got home, I sent a quick message to the potential artist to do some digging. He’s
someone I sort of know from around town. I love doing this sort of thing. I
like finding things and then trying to get a story out of it. Not that this has
worked well in the past since people rarely respond to my inquiries, whether
they’re in N.Y.C. or South Africa. In both of those instances, I had tracked
pieces directly to the artist. One of paintings was from the late 60’s. Even
more impressive, that person had been selling their work ever since. I had
something of theirs from their early days, something I would have gladly sent
them but they didn’t respond to my messages. This leads to another thing I’ve
learned, creative types love complaining about not selling their work, but are
just bad at it. I contacted someone last week about buying a book, and they
told me to attend a lecture in N.Y.C. to buy it. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Anyway,
back to the piano man. The painter is named Patrick Harris. The painting in
question, was made to be sold. I sent him a message along with a picture of the
painting. This is what he posted on his Instagram page about what I found. “As
a fan of thrifting, I always wondered what it would feel like to find one of my
pieces in Goodwill. I didn’t find this one but someone who knows my work did
and bought it real cheap and then offered to trade it back to me for a
different piece. Feels like the art business isn’t really for me.” In our back
and forth, he was somewhat sure who he’d sold the piece to initially. The
painting was of Vince Guaraldi.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">From
his tone, he wasn’t clear how to feel about where the work ended up. It might
be akin to a musician finding their record in the clearance section of their
local record store. Honestly, I was surprised he hadn’t seen this happen
before. He’s quite prolific and public with his art. Just on a hunch, I asked
him if he had painted another unsigned piece I had hanging upstairs. He had. I
didn’t tell him how I purchased that one for. He suggested I have an art show
of paintings I’ve thrifted, which sounds like a great idea. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Personally,
and this is something I’ve written about before, (maybe too much) I don’t mind
seeing my things in thrift stores. I’ve seen them before and I’m sure I’ll see
them again. Some of the pieces I made were made for specific people. While I
don’t mind if they ended up in a thrift store, I only wish they would have
given me the frames back. Actually, I tell people that when they’re done with
something, I’d prefer them to give it to a thrift store. In my estimation, it’s
better it lives on those dusty shelves than tossed in the trash. Whenever I’m
going through frames at thrift stores, I look to see if something I made was
there, and I look for other people’s work. Over the past 25 years going to thrift
stores, I’ve amassed an extensive collection of paintings, prints, and various
things in between. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Patrick
isn’t the only area / local artist I have multiple thrifted pieces from. Over
the years I’ve collected things from Laura Lashley, the last of which was quite
large, and had handwritten mounting instructions on the back. In my current
house I’m not sure if I have a wall big enough to display it. Maybe I’ll put it
in the beach house? Figuring “why not,” I sent Laura a message about finding
her work at thrift stores. She wrote back, “I LOVE finding treasure at thrift
stores so it makes me happy. There are some paintings I would rather people
give back to me rather than donate, but those are usually much larger ones that
were commissioned. My smaller things may have been given as gifts and not
everyone can keep all the gifts they get, and when moving I have donated art
before.” </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QNUN8tBtEjBXyR6pTERsky_H_lEMsTSQdd2SF7SUvYMoCqcUuOlp0OGzCcQPLva3GfyuKOOY3Z8IUhpyuDZZ3Jvxg9VLNWQK4lZIHYpBzX7Nq_5p1LUckY9J_6rwxcCx8FmgjvLGijObgelIL70xeYSwZsicUP8mZbhV_e7anq8Gp-ebmvT_zKtSVeCG/s1920/Found%20Paintings%20%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QNUN8tBtEjBXyR6pTERsky_H_lEMsTSQdd2SF7SUvYMoCqcUuOlp0OGzCcQPLva3GfyuKOOY3Z8IUhpyuDZZ3Jvxg9VLNWQK4lZIHYpBzX7Nq_5p1LUckY9J_6rwxcCx8FmgjvLGijObgelIL70xeYSwZsicUP8mZbhV_e7anq8Gp-ebmvT_zKtSVeCG/s320/Found%20Paintings%20%20(2).jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/lauralynnlashley/?hl=en" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/lauralynnlashley/?hl=en</a></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">All of this is somewhat
divorced from what I do. Although I try and sell stuff to get stamp money every
now and again, this is a hobby where I expect no financial reward. Some of that
is mail-art ethos and some of that is disinterest. When people say I should
sell stuff I ask them directly, “How?” Not that I would be good at marketing
myself. Not that I’d want to take away precious time for making in order to
sale. So…I give it away, or at least try. The people I continually give stuff
to don’t seem too interested in coughing up money. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get it, I don’t think I’ve ever bought an
artwork from someone at full price. Price tags on most art seems astronomically
high anyway. No, I don’t want an $800.00 painting to go with brunch. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And then I ran across
something I made selling on eBay. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Here’s the divide between
someone making a piece to be sold, and a mail-artist sending a “gift.” Something
I had recently sent less than a month ago to one of my correspondences, was
listed for sale. It was in a lot with work form other mail-artists, most of
which had been in the game a lot longer than me. I’m honestly not sure why the
seller would have picked my piece in the first place. I don’t have any market
value. Send me your address, I’ll mail you something for free…actually it’s
worse than that, I’ll pay the postage. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The item in question was
an envelope book with a collage glued to the front. The front and back cover
was made from a cereal box and then spray-painted. Each page was a recycled
envelope I had stapled to the much harder front and back cover. Over the years
I’ve made dozens of these. The assumption was the recipient would add something
to the book and then mail it to another mail-artist. That’s the idea, even if
it doesn’t work that well in reality. Some people keep these things and never
send them on, that’s just part of it. Some of them sit on desks or in piles for
years, but never have I seen them for sale. Selling gifts is weird. Selling
mail-art is often seen as the one rule a mail-artist shouldn’t violate. Selling
mail-art is a maxim of this whole maligned network we continually pay tribute
to. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcBTWXQkg7xbJCyaooNFHUhux_ZMJ5I58VzYQt1gZOxQ6WUMaGv6K5ZGleqfpf_lX6v3Lq7zLWWYoub_98N9eUHKjA8G3SGzPElh5dy_wisarCXSHfMPCUbwU2eTj_vbPvKT2I2292GTrD_If__nrgtXWmsDifjb9Ye016IfHBp4qdPjfbMnFOFsQWbAmA/s787/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="787" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcBTWXQkg7xbJCyaooNFHUhux_ZMJ5I58VzYQt1gZOxQ6WUMaGv6K5ZGleqfpf_lX6v3Lq7zLWWYoub_98N9eUHKjA8G3SGzPElh5dy_wisarCXSHfMPCUbwU2eTj_vbPvKT2I2292GTrD_If__nrgtXWmsDifjb9Ye016IfHBp4qdPjfbMnFOFsQWbAmA/s320/2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sent in late August, 2023. For sale in September 2023.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTrXsHFHjO98UqBKykRofTaL2B4y40mn9_eZnOvHhtThGZMOtj1Kg766ckO3qYc3BVI0TBQf9KpCdwCmU5xFTxf_X959kCLk4fvdwYAjgrh9Wew-RrHwv-Yvmtp4xdhmm0tZi3ji7k8cQE2DZdqQUlEdHR_PIwgnEE_ovICWwfJiUZFyNVdmV8tqGxlEUD/s439/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="337" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTrXsHFHjO98UqBKykRofTaL2B4y40mn9_eZnOvHhtThGZMOtj1Kg766ckO3qYc3BVI0TBQf9KpCdwCmU5xFTxf_X959kCLk4fvdwYAjgrh9Wew-RrHwv-Yvmtp4xdhmm0tZi3ji7k8cQE2DZdqQUlEdHR_PIwgnEE_ovICWwfJiUZFyNVdmV8tqGxlEUD/s320/3.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The front cover collage. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">While selling mail-art is
seeing as a serious violation, I don’t really care that much. I don’t get bent
out of shape about what mail-artists do. In my 14 years of seriously sending
mail-art, I’ve only cut off one person. Even this guy I’ll continue sending to,
although my content will be altered. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This isn’t the first time
I’ve had a similar interaction with the seller. A couple years ago, I saw one
of his mail-art listings and started thinking about the choice of selling
mail-art. I tried contacting him but he didn’t respond. I wasn’t going to tell
him what to do. I didn’t want him to shut down his shop, I was simply
interested in his motivation. Nothing. I did, however, contact some of the
mail-artists that he was selling. While I didn’t have an agenda about the
selling of mail-art other than it was weird, it got complicated quickly. I
didn’t post the piece I’d written because someone asked me not to. I didn’t
want to hurt that person’s potential to make a few coins (I think they had a
deal worked out) off their creations. But…that was when their work was for
sale, when I saw my work for sale, I knew I had some thoughts to share. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFywGGA8M0znD5d4-GsXxUUtGJKVcO2UpBYULwjuNzG2VOLahBOni_O96S5P8-n81P2PfJgmvxjx5T-Yd2WGAV-I2G1kttx650XSY7CBEV7PQl6ykrwSdtiW9RvwIy6r_V6zsKj4xyM1Sh4qaY4W4gIHamFzxmagJc6ub8VxmOVSu_xUlN5pwxf7tRJnOu/s1233/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="1233" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFywGGA8M0znD5d4-GsXxUUtGJKVcO2UpBYULwjuNzG2VOLahBOni_O96S5P8-n81P2PfJgmvxjx5T-Yd2WGAV-I2G1kttx650XSY7CBEV7PQl6ykrwSdtiW9RvwIy6r_V6zsKj4xyM1Sh4qaY4W4gIHamFzxmagJc6ub8VxmOVSu_xUlN5pwxf7tRJnOu/s320/4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Content description on the eBay listing. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Intention and
expectation. When we sale an artwork we expect the person to continue to love
it. When we mail a gift to another mail-artist we want someone to physically
interact with it. We want them to add to it, we want them to pass it along, we
want them to make it into something else. When the expectations of that
relationship, whether in a purchased painting or a gifted mail-art piece is subverted,
the creation becomes something else. The painting exists without context.
Mail-art loses part of it’s identity when the recipient decides to sale. In
other words, the relationship has been broken and the item exists in a world
well outside of our control. Some find this thrilling, others annoying, and in
the case of mail-artist, it’s a contractual break. At least when someone
donates a painting or sales a piece of mail-art, it continues to exist. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I decided not to contact
the seller this time. I figured my response could be a little different.
Instead of getting his thoughts directly, I figured I’d try and force him into
selling really peculiar pieces of my mail art. From here on out, I’m going to
mail him progressively weirder collages of myself. If he can find a buyer for
those, I will praise him extravagantly. </span></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-55853941130599077612023-08-24T06:21:00.000-07:002023-08-24T06:21:06.673-07:00Mail Art Zooming / ZMAG is Meeting / Here's My Notes <p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQY0wKU9Bf_5Iqgz1At5H4xZGnXPjWfr6cYcbjEass0uPK1SgLXw-kOkQSRIslpCmbDRGPR4Jj9XDt7PKkaoI3Vuz2FEs6isFhY9cvzqNW51LEOTfCLp5zb_Ry7AF1OZ4vLaAvUxlgFlYZJSZyKmoaTMFofiCWD6FpyWeTZyUGdqIXB5Fdp7RqYo6mdQuV/s1708/7.7%20(5).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1708" data-original-width="1384" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQY0wKU9Bf_5Iqgz1At5H4xZGnXPjWfr6cYcbjEass0uPK1SgLXw-kOkQSRIslpCmbDRGPR4Jj9XDt7PKkaoI3Vuz2FEs6isFhY9cvzqNW51LEOTfCLp5zb_Ry7AF1OZ4vLaAvUxlgFlYZJSZyKmoaTMFofiCWD6FpyWeTZyUGdqIXB5Fdp7RqYo6mdQuV/w324-h400/7.7%20(5).jpg" title="You guys want to talk about mail-art on a Wednesday?" width="324" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You guys want to talk about mail-art on a Wednesday. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In
early December 2022, Joel Cohen in New York sent me an email. He wrote that he
led a group of people gathered on zoom to talk about mail-art. This group had
been meeting for about two years when he contacted me. He said my name had come
up in previous meetings. Joel also informed me that part of the meetings
involved members doing presentations along informal chats and a little show and
tell. 10-15 people regularly signed on. Considering that I never talk about mail-art
with other people, this was a wonderful opportunity. I, of course, accepted his
offer. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Ever
since January 2023, I have attended every monthly meeting except one. They’re a
lot of fun and I’m learning a lot about these folks. In some cases, I’ve mailed
to the people on the screen for over ten years. Many of the people I’ve never
heard speak until we were in the zooms together. A good portion I had never even
seen before. Being able to put a voice and a face to an artistic style is
enlightening. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In
the third meeting, I presented my board books. It wasn’t a high tech
presentation. I simply held up some examples and talked through my process. A
few people in the group had participated in mailed these around, but not
everyone. The next week I mailed examples to the mail-artists I wasn’t that
acquainted with. My presentation was just, OK. So far I’ve listened to great
presentations about using A.I in creating art, a ton of presentations about
current mail-art projects, a personal tour of someone’s museum-like house, and
a presentation by an artist in Spain about their DIY art space, among many
others. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Seriously,
I’ve never talked so much about mail-art before, never interacted with so many
people that actually care about it. I’m about 15 years in (consistently sending
most weeks) and there’s no one that I talk face to face about this stuff. I’ve
met a few mail-artists, but no one lives anywhere near me. No one cares. No one
has a context for this silliness. Being in that group solidifies my motivation
even if I’m quiet while it’s happening. During the meetings, I don’t have that
much to say. I mostly sit and listen and try and find ideas to steal for my own
work. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">While
listening to the presentations and random conversation on August 16<sup>th</sup>
2023, I jotted down a few things I wanted to expound on. What follows are
random thoughts that occurred to me during that meeting. Consider this me
speaking up. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .25in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Other Z.M.A.G. folks (that’s what the
group is called) feel free to add your thoughts about the group, or not, I
can’t force you do to anything. </span></i></p>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I never know <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that
important</i> mail-artist, yeah you know…that person</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Someone
needs to make a list of the “important” mail-artists along with all the
“important” mail-art projects. You know, a who’s-who of past projects. I feel
like everyone else knows the important works by this person or that person, but
not me. “Oh yeah,” someone might say, “You haven’t heard of Bob? He sent rubber
stamp copies of all his tax returns in the mail…it was great. He did it for
decades.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I love trying to match on screen identities to what
they create. </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Many
of the people in the meetings I’ve sent to for over a decade. In that time,
I’ve developed a short hand of what I thought they were like as real human
people, not a name attached to an envelope. In the meetings, I like to
challenge those assumptions based on how they present themselves during the
zoom meetings. Often the person they appear to be in their mail, feels like the
person they are on a tiny screen. You know, someone that’s a little wacky in
what they create, seem like an equally wacky person on screen. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">What
I’ve been most surprised by are the people that come off quite serious in the
meetings, even though their creations are dynamic and colorful. </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Political mail-art isn’t my jam.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As
much as I admire folks willing to do what they feel is important, I often think
of that Patton Oswalt observation. You know that bit, the one where he mentions
how the world’s biggest finger painting cannot change the powers that be. </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ve never built strong mail-art relationships </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">There’s
that cliché, the one where people come together in groups and forge strong
relationships. You learn later, or at least feel, that everyone in that group
is super close, that they talk on a regular basis, and even have a covered dish
dinner every other Sunday. But they’ve never invited you to that casserole
laden party. I kind of feel that way. Although I’ve sent thousands of things,
and corresponded with hundreds of people, I don’t feel like I know any of those
people as well as I should. If I lived in L.A. or San Francisco, (one of out
every ten mail artists are from S.F.) I might not feel better connected. I
don’t even have a go-to dish I’d take to the party. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">At
the same time, I do love the quick conversations made possible through
mail-art. Just this morning I talked with someone in Hungary as I had my
morning coffee. We were sharing thoughts about a piece of mail art sent to him
from someone in San Francisco. It was quick, but invigorating. He went back to
his job in Budapest and I made the drive to work. </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">No matter the context, “Please mute your microphone”
will be uttered. </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Zoom
meetings, whether intended to be fun, or contractually done through work, often
have the same technical glitches. No matter what the context, someone will have
their microphone on when they shouldn’t. No matter the context, someone will
comically fumble around with the buttons before muting themselves. </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Joey P. is my guy</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You
know those people in school that would get you in trouble because you two made too
much noise, created too many distractions…yeah, I feel like if Joey and I were
in the same room, the teacher would separate us. </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ve never thought about supporting or denouncing
major art institutions. </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
think of what I do in terms of punk rock. I think of my creations like punk
shows performed in small basements in say…Madison Wisconsin. When I think of
attacking (critiquing) MOMA or some similar institution, it feels like I’m critiquing
arena rock shows at Madison Square Garden. I don’t think we exist on the same
planet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’m not art ambitious. </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
can’t sell my work. I can’t even give it away. All I want is to be able to see
my ridiculous ideas appear in the world, that’s it. Would you like to put a
magnet show in your town? Of course not. </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The age of most mail-artists is a problem. </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ve
been consistently sending things since 2009. At that time, I was 28 years old.
When I was 28 I noticed the age of most mail-artists was quite high. Now that
I’m in my 40’s, I’ve slowly started to become part of the problem. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So
many of the people I’ve sent to over the years are in their 60’s, or 70’s, and
even their 80’s. While many have stuck around the whole time I’ve been sending,
I don’t know that others have filled in the gap. So often younger folks pop up,
make a strong impression and then disappear. These are the folks that we need
to stick around and engage everyone. If I have any worries about this whole
project, it’s this. </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My hair never looks great on Zoom. </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">By
the time the meetings take place at 7:30 pm, my hair has been through a whole
day of challenges. It’s been somewhat de-poofed. My face is always there in that
tiny rectangle, reminding me of my follicle mishaps. </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I love watching people making things during the
meeting. </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">When
people are talking, I’m mostly watching their screen. If things are going on a
little too long, I’ll start clicking on people’s little rectangles. I
especially like it when people are clearly making things as they’re listening.
The past couple of times I followed their lead by putting together a few
collages. The next day I went upstairs and cut up what I created. I ended up
with four new things. I felt like I was getting away with something. </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’m firmly pro-DADA. </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Mail-artists
seem to align themselves with some third party. Some folks are all about Fluxus
and whatever that means, others seem to be devotees of Ray Johnson. I’m firmly
pro-Dada. I’m a pro-DADA / punk. My jokes are clearly jokes and they’re often
done on monochrome xerox copies. </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Mail-artists love artist stamps. </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Maybe
it’s just Z.M.A.G. but so many mail-artists love artist stamps! I rarely think
about them but these people are totally immersed. I’ve received hundreds of
stamp sheets over the years, but I’ve never thought about making them myself.
At one meeting, we were alerted to a company in India that was making the stamp
perforating devices in 2023. Everyone in the group seemed to know the name and
year of their own perforating machines, a device that would be completely
useless for 99.9% of the world’s population. This sort of thing, the focus on
the minutiae, the specific devices and applications used to aid creating
things, I love. </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Still, like always, no one likes add and passes. Me
neither!</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">For
a while I glued a piece of paper to the back of my large envelopes. The paper
read something about how the collages were THE thing. It was the main event;
the other stuff was just as important but not what I was proudest of. That other
stuff was often stickers, smaller broadsides, and of course add and passes. I
put the note on the back because I was annoyed at how people would only see the
add and passes when they looked through everything. It was like they opened the
envelopes, which were sometimes filled with over a dozen things, and would pull
out the add and pass as evidence that they were all I made. I imagine them
tossing everything else in the fire and holding the two add and passes and
saying out loud, “See, he’s an add and pass guy.” No the fuck I’m not! It’s
only one of the things I create, and not all of the things I create. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
make add and passes because they’re somewhat fun and I can create them and then
print them at work. During the summer, when I’m able to work at home, I end up
making more collages. Once I’m back at work (I’m a community college
instructor) I end up writing more, printing broadsides, and making the
occasional add and pass. Right now, as in August of 2023, I have not made a new
add and pass this year. The only add and passes I send are the 4x4’s that I put
in large envelopes. The 4x4’s will continue indefinitely as my longest running
mail-art project. </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Bold mail-art statements are routinely met with open
hostility. </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Of
course, many people like add and passes. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">When
a network such as the mail art one has no central body, no particular rules,
folks are scrounging to create a structure. Many try and defend some portion of
this thing simply because they have a stake in that unique part of this weird
universe. Fine, do your thing. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
make stuff and then send stuff, that’s what I care about the most. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-64532888374903718682023-08-10T10:49:00.000-07:002023-08-10T10:49:08.727-07:00Magnet Art Shows Coming Near You<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">There’s
that story about Keith Richards writing most of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
in his dreams. You know that story, it’s one that’s popular with musicians and
artist types. In the middle of the night they have a great idea that is so
strong that it wakes them up. To be ready for such inspiration, there’s always
a tape recorder or pen and paper conveniently beside the bed. The idea is so
good that it wakes them, they document it in some way, and then the next
morning they create a piece of art that changes humanity. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">That’s
exactly how the idea for the magnet shows came to me. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">To
be honest, it was nothing like that. I have no paper beside my bed or a tape
recorder. If I do any late night changing of humanity, I generally do it before
I sleep; that short period of time when I’m unable to sleep and my mind is
drifting. When it’s a good night I fixate on things to make the next day, but
most of the time it’s just garden variety anxiety. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfdbfcHwTzV8evDNyy7QP0JAG2M31tMMxcxfRQlsCVEbtK2MSvyAjs42vARSmC-b3PLrvKAfIrL8z0MDE3rCzYlaXfDZUdWm9gCYAHkKv7ZXJFC_u9vz380jyuHUvX3D7Vjt3tsQmvocyqtmcBnULyCehRmUqQjh4hH22FaA1LExjo7sJFYXlc8uBZlNma/s960/Greensboro%20NC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfdbfcHwTzV8evDNyy7QP0JAG2M31tMMxcxfRQlsCVEbtK2MSvyAjs42vARSmC-b3PLrvKAfIrL8z0MDE3rCzYlaXfDZUdWm9gCYAHkKv7ZXJFC_u9vz380jyuHUvX3D7Vjt3tsQmvocyqtmcBnULyCehRmUqQjh4hH22FaA1LExjo7sJFYXlc8uBZlNma/s320/Greensboro%20NC.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greensboro North Carolina magnet show. Low odor.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Also,
it’s not a new idea to create something and then unwillingly foist onto the
public. This sort of thing has been around for decades, nothing new. It’s well-meaning
littering at worst. I’m sure other folks have done exactly what I plan to do. I’m
sure Ray Johnson did it in the 1970’s and theirs some fancy name for it.
There’s always someone willing to point out how an idea isn’t new; I’m just
waiting for that part. Collage isn’t new and neither is mail art. But guess
what, it’s an idea that’s new to me so why not make it happen. I doubt I’ll
ever create the visual equivalent to “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” but I’m
sure I can come up with a decent “Sing This All Together.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So
far I’ve put up seven different magnet shows. I’m calling them magnet shows.
I’ve put them in parking lots in Winston-Salem, near a marsh in Carolina Beach
North Carolina, as well as both triad creative reuses stores. Some folks have
even been nice enough to volunteer to put up shows in their towns. I’m going to
send shows to people in California, New York, Illinois, Virginia, and Asheville
North Carolina. If I can find magnets that are light enough, I want to get them
overseas. Either the magnet has to be very light or the art has to very small. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’m
also doing group magnet shows. I have the first one ready to go. Each show,
whether consisting solely of my work or others, is done in editions of five. No
reason for this number, just sounded like a good one. Group submissions have
showed up from folks in Nevada to The Netherlands. I’m going to pick “better”
spots for the group shows. You know, put them up in places that are visually a
little more arresting than attached to the bottom of a light pole in a Food
Lion parking lot. I know where the first group show is going to go, I just want
to put it up at the perfect time. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhia0GG2JOA-50ZZ4MP3kH8QoJ5Y4-Gk0zo5vHJhuocP0CtgI-mhrcXc_rDC3Y46Dcn83V86vHfJqW84TGcdqfTMZ7fpHlDgGBNlbfzh3DXzkMBi1o67b_5Av-gCXOftN_SiliMjj_qicADUtiO--D1IRXVp5nGOrPzdboXn9pxnuEJ40L9UQ4iuI3Z84SV/s960/Carolina%20Beach%20NC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhia0GG2JOA-50ZZ4MP3kH8QoJ5Y4-Gk0zo5vHJhuocP0CtgI-mhrcXc_rDC3Y46Dcn83V86vHfJqW84TGcdqfTMZ7fpHlDgGBNlbfzh3DXzkMBi1o67b_5Av-gCXOftN_SiliMjj_qicADUtiO--D1IRXVp5nGOrPzdboXn9pxnuEJ40L9UQ4iuI3Z84SV/s320/Carolina%20Beach%20NC.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carolina Beach North Carolina. Saw a guy take the Nixon collage live. Low odor. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Each
show comes with a small sign saying what people are looking at, and that sign
encourages people to take the art with them. I saw a guy do the latter with the
show in Carolina Beach. He took a collage I made glued to wood disparaging
Richard Nixon. All shows will be documented on my Jon Foster Mail-Art Makings
page through Facebook. </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/340183173043813/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">https://www.facebook.com/groups/340183173043813/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> A written list is ongoing. The project will continue
as long as I’m interested in doing it. If you want to participate get in touch.
Either you can put up one of my solo magnet shows or you can participate in a
group show. </span></p>
<p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-47339350667260393592023-07-20T11:14:00.002-07:002023-07-20T11:14:12.704-07:00My Pre-Mail-Art, Mail-Art Phase <p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3--uZULctkHzZHjqufiP__30mqcrNZV9BRC3u61lJpd8JIwokhvnaCyHk1A7Zp9SFMnJZDwXoSDP3aL-zO7jDyuxeCOGJCzoAPMIXEPsxdYiqjj_nsDg8Zwso5RR3ngzTeVV7khZyZGhgtSnb2bfBrL_JlLHXRsEjVmxqdZ7QwPVYth0OH3bgXTosaWBK/s2353/Me%20Truck%20True%20Love%20Lasts%202008.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1162" data-original-width="2353" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3--uZULctkHzZHjqufiP__30mqcrNZV9BRC3u61lJpd8JIwokhvnaCyHk1A7Zp9SFMnJZDwXoSDP3aL-zO7jDyuxeCOGJCzoAPMIXEPsxdYiqjj_nsDg8Zwso5RR3ngzTeVV7khZyZGhgtSnb2bfBrL_JlLHXRsEjVmxqdZ7QwPVYth0OH3bgXTosaWBK/w400-h198/Me%20Truck%20True%20Love%20Lasts%202008.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, the red truck, and Winston-Salem in the background. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ve
officially been making mail art since 2009, that’s 14 years. I’ve been
consistent throughout that time. It was rough going those first few years since
I hadn’t really found my voice. I did a lot of terrible things, awful
creations, and while I still make terrible things, there’s some good in there.
In the past ten years I’ve sent hundreds of things each year. Projects come and
go, and I simply move from thing to thing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">How
to Draw a Bunny is where I learned the phrase “mail art.” I didn’t see the
movie when it came out in 2002, but I did a few years after that. I sent some
stuff around 2005 (I’m taking a guess here) and then stopped, a pattern a lot
of mail-artists seem to follow. And then, for no reason, I picked it back up in
2009. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But
that’s only part of the story. Mail-artists often have a pre-mail-art, mail-art
period. I had one of those. My mother-in-law brought some pictures for my wife.
Most were of my wives’ friends in high school. One was a polaroid with me in
it. Written in my handwriting was a note thanking my mother and law for a
chair…it was the one I was sitting in. The picture was a thank you note. A nice
and somewhat creepy thank you, but a thank you note, nonetheless. The other
picture in the pile was a little more telling, it was my pre-mail-art, mail
art. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
last picture was me leaning on my first car, a 1993 red Nissan pick-up truck.
In the bottom right corner are the words “True Love Lasts.” The picture was
taken by my friend Will Parham. The occasion was to commemorate the car right
before I bought a new one. I drove that truck for over ten years, from high
school, through graduate school, and into my first job. Will and I took a few
pictures of me in the car, some of them posed, and some of them with me
driving. It was one of those ideas probably thought up one drunken night after
playing foosball, or maybe after a night of trivia. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
back of the picture shows the print date as 2008. This was after I knew the
phrase mail-art but hadn’t officially immersed myself in the network. Clearly,
I was making mail-art before I was using the term. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
printed the pictures off at a local drugstore and then mailed them to friends
and family, no mail-artists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They didn’t
ask for them, but they got them. It was a mildly amusing photo shoot, one that
was predicated on the viewer connecting me to the vehicle. This sort of thing
wasn’t stand-alone. I’d make weird postcards for people that I knew appreciated
them for years. Whenever the phrase was applied to what I had been doing for
some time, I then became that. In no time the pool of potential viewers grew,
although the joke of connecting me to a small pick-up truck might have been
lost on them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-87258104554100171632023-03-23T08:02:00.002-07:002023-03-23T08:02:19.981-07:00Two Obsessions Converge In Dust <p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
have a lot of motivating factors that keep me going to thrift stores. I go
there to buy clothes, materials for mail-art, and various collections of
paintings, statues, and bobbleheads. It’s a pattern that has persisted for over
twenty years. This addiction was initially fed by the search for records. For a
few dollars you could fill in your musical gaps well before every record was
available. You could even make a few cents here and there. All of that went
haywire when everyone started buying records again. Thrift store records went
right into the shops. Now, all used records are $20.00 dollars at the record
store and all new ones are at least $30.00. You can get anything, but you pay
for it. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibCDj6nwIH3H3a6hMOHhpL7D-j2FYIkKBbO0q1x7QR3dP7K6t-XmBiF19Y-v3Q48jdvgoy4Af98Zp6OmuOdnDC1NLBj6eO1v2m0F2gsDEcFI-Wt8DZeTEVX_Pk6C5uRtv4oEt9zoF-sIM9mPttdAecNoF10I4pGMrZjFGaPVc2XHbK11ynCg7SLi7hMg/s1280/Circle%20Labels%20%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1252" data-original-width="1280" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibCDj6nwIH3H3a6hMOHhpL7D-j2FYIkKBbO0q1x7QR3dP7K6t-XmBiF19Y-v3Q48jdvgoy4Af98Zp6OmuOdnDC1NLBj6eO1v2m0F2gsDEcFI-Wt8DZeTEVX_Pk6C5uRtv4oEt9zoF-sIM9mPttdAecNoF10I4pGMrZjFGaPVc2XHbK11ynCg7SLi7hMg/s320/Circle%20Labels%20%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgajCXBB3XLD62-5RdeC6KkpQDXjBLBFNjMzLq6qDS6UZG21OSSP0nXIWwZP2OeCgrO84TQVYqNLCCRh62iOwB1-hqcndNHB-fe8dDFdKT0kLkCE5VBKjEHi4N3qBNqM2zJnStvUROrx73Lo177f2YWXrHdZGDeZ-zD-fTCzsgBvJ7S1DmHI_SWiroICQ/s1280/Circle%20Labels%20%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1256" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgajCXBB3XLD62-5RdeC6KkpQDXjBLBFNjMzLq6qDS6UZG21OSSP0nXIWwZP2OeCgrO84TQVYqNLCCRh62iOwB1-hqcndNHB-fe8dDFdKT0kLkCE5VBKjEHi4N3qBNqM2zJnStvUROrx73Lo177f2YWXrHdZGDeZ-zD-fTCzsgBvJ7S1DmHI_SWiroICQ/s320/Circle%20Labels%20%20(2).jpg" width="314" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gorgeous circular record stickers. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Whenever
I walk into a thrift store or junk store in 2023, and see a box of records, I
often see an obligation. I know there’s not going to be much in the box, but I
feel inclined to look. Unless they were just put out, there’s no way there’s
going to be anything worth buying. One person like me comes along and
everything of value is gone. You have to be at the right place at the perfect time
to find any gems. Sometimes I don’t even flip through the Sing Along with Mitch
records or Firestone Christmas records unless they’re elevated, sitting on a
table. Most of the time it’s not worth taking a knee. Who needs added knee pain
for B.J. Thomas’ greatest hits?
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">With
all of my current record annoyance, my interest in looking at records has gone
through the roof in the past couple of weeks. My interest in mail art and
records have converged. Not only am I using records to make mail art (post
cards, cutting up the records into strips) I’m diving more into the
peculiarities of records, namely the stickers. You know those stickers, the
ones used in old record stores to move unwanted product? The older the record
the better. The more “worked” the sticker the better. The vast majority of
these stickers are for pricing, $3.99 etc. Some stickers tell us the record is
promotional material. Some tell us about the actual record inside, the singles,
the hits, and what not. Some stickers even advertise random concepts about
music. A recent one I found was a circular sticker that read, “Music, the gift
that keeps on giving.” Looking for these stickers clicks a lot of boxes for me.
It gives me pointed reason to go to a thrift store and most importantly it provides
me with ephemera I can use in my mail-art. Also, I like searching for things. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Jk-hPIuYnXQE8pmRajs4im3gxOBazO-tecw86Gck8ycuMndQcsyR_0aSlyFpdYkipG1-gpRMQ5jl8V1CUViYIpNTJXK7UNJMu4jL-4l3HOXzHre7-IEgPB_yFMKVBhbuoTbV8c7MV9BFLu3oW8tAtNuSNuCuH0T4eGxHxBvAXnlluf4I0nENJQIotA/s1280/Retangle%20Labels%20%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="651" data-original-width="1280" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Jk-hPIuYnXQE8pmRajs4im3gxOBazO-tecw86Gck8ycuMndQcsyR_0aSlyFpdYkipG1-gpRMQ5jl8V1CUViYIpNTJXK7UNJMu4jL-4l3HOXzHre7-IEgPB_yFMKVBhbuoTbV8c7MV9BFLu3oW8tAtNuSNuCuH0T4eGxHxBvAXnlluf4I0nENJQIotA/s320/Retangle%20Labels%20%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzodk3Gm1c5ASbc_0OusrsN3i5VQRPrkCJRCa8lS9W1MCPLzVOnzPU0mJEPzUrAEA4blaT8JcfZaeJrzBv7jrIAdIkW-6BgwJKrnEQeLw2KDU73VLCTwsBCdes7kf4Uq9Qvq21G4H9kbwy1tJvliQNUP3hpRO960BapcuvED3ySje2LQ-SK2PCv2uKw/s1280/Retangle%20Labels%20%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="1280" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzodk3Gm1c5ASbc_0OusrsN3i5VQRPrkCJRCa8lS9W1MCPLzVOnzPU0mJEPzUrAEA4blaT8JcfZaeJrzBv7jrIAdIkW-6BgwJKrnEQeLw2KDU73VLCTwsBCdes7kf4Uq9Qvq21G4H9kbwy1tJvliQNUP3hpRO960BapcuvED3ySje2LQ-SK2PCv2uKw/s320/Retangle%20Labels%20%20(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_SNuhA_xAa1pB6MLrswTTWfv2P99NgEK8LNOHNZxrslv1tx7FhHyvAU5pHb1tqCO9tNBRLhcxXf29h9kMhCFyJK7t5fxkp7KSUQQ3kAUOH1-1oijviJUx2nbNUTI72ETLi72PQSsaz6IeVSc8xA38vJO3kwX21G25a3jEnL68idM90MjmM-WNZ2wUA/s1280/Retangle%20Labels%20%20(3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="1280" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_SNuhA_xAa1pB6MLrswTTWfv2P99NgEK8LNOHNZxrslv1tx7FhHyvAU5pHb1tqCO9tNBRLhcxXf29h9kMhCFyJK7t5fxkp7KSUQQ3kAUOH1-1oijviJUx2nbNUTI72ETLi72PQSsaz6IeVSc8xA38vJO3kwX21G25a3jEnL68idM90MjmM-WNZ2wUA/s320/Retangle%20Labels%20%20(3).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rectangle label style stickers. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Here’s
my process for collecting stickers from thrift store records. Most stickers are
found on old records, the older the better. They’re almost exclusively found on
records still with their cellophane protecting their cardboard covers. Most
stickers seem to come from local record stores and sometimes, big stores like
K-Mart. There’s record store history with these stickers. I’ve seen the names
of many obsolete stores (Corvette’s, Peaches, Marty’s) flash in front of me, a
lot more than the big stores. The ubiquity of regional record stores was a big
surprise to me, I never realized how big Durham’s The Record Bar was in this
area. I have so many of their stickers from across many decades. The story that
starts to appear is as much fun as looking for the stickers themselves. Fun
fact: Did you know that The Record Bar was bought by Blockbuster and rebranded
as Blockbuster Music in 1993?<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Anyway,
so back to the lecture at hand. When I find a good sticker, one that is unique,
colorful, and fixed in time, I take a picture of that sticker. I usually have
to brace my arm against the shoddy thrift store racks. I take the picture and
then put the record back, no money required, not one cent. A collection that
doesn’t anything, who knew that was possible? After collecting a number of
these stickers, I edit them on my phone, only minimally. I like to keep the
scuffs and imperfections in place. I want them to look their age. I then upload
the most interesting ones to an Instagram account creatively called
STICKERSONRECORDS. No idea why I did this, just seemed like the right thing to
do. Also, in a quick spin through Instagram I didn’t see any similar accounts. Maybe
someone else is interested in the backwash of the record industry? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
main goal for the stickers is to have them come back alive, like dinosaurs in
amber from the 1993 hit movie, (the same year The Record Bar was purchased)
Jurassic Park. I’ve already started this process. I’ve printed off some of the
rectangle stickers and put them on envelopes. I’m going to do this with the
more visually pleasing circular stickers as soon as the raw materials are
delivered to my door. With a lot of organization, and a little work, I can have
the most unique record related stickers in all of mail-art. Oh how they will
honor me!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBQNKMPRxMjlwKOSdwtONNRhMJivQbnIW1vNZoKicXgks5nsdHNiOWsMCkFFHX9CmzqITV8zOvNS_xiCB0kTyw30bzVLyxl1NoH8f_rLUGV9IxPdbKwr1HiQuHb53fOGEuqrc5cBiP24yAHWKiQifpS0H1M-yLQ5CBVDO6bfeKuE8-_F-seeBGPSjzZg/s720/Printed%20Labels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBQNKMPRxMjlwKOSdwtONNRhMJivQbnIW1vNZoKicXgks5nsdHNiOWsMCkFFHX9CmzqITV8zOvNS_xiCB0kTyw30bzVLyxl1NoH8f_rLUGV9IxPdbKwr1HiQuHb53fOGEuqrc5cBiP24yAHWKiQifpS0H1M-yLQ5CBVDO6bfeKuE8-_F-seeBGPSjzZg/s320/Printed%20Labels.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My "new" stickers I printed at home. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></p>
<p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-18503230918219865322023-03-02T07:21:00.002-08:002023-03-02T07:21:28.102-08:00The Preciousness of an Address <p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">People
are precious about their address. Mail art people too, at least sometimes. I
get it, it’s your home and all of that, but it’s also the 21<sup>st</sup>
century. Most broad information can be found with just a little work. If I want
someone’s address, I can probably find it with some persistence. Yes, that’s
creepy, I get it. Not that I do this, or ever have done this, I prefer folks to
willingly give them to me. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Mail-artists
are somewhat inclined to give out their addresses. They’re less precious about
this information. I find addresses through add and pass sheets, mail art calls,
ones listed on IUOMA, and others given to me. You do have a few folks that
expect people to ask for their address. I’ve never asked for an address to a
mail-art person who is willingly trying to hide it. I avoid them not because of
any ideological purpose, I simply don’t want to send an email to get it. I’ll
find it or not, or I’ll just mail to a different person.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGCdcnFdUI_ND4FzfhGzvhvDaxEVm3Cdydh2xmd8NAanqkp0xnn_jJPi7zkHlBOSjEIeFur2pxxVOZZFTA5LmIBf-2rCSg-0YTfgSaSY5uRazBh-iDHcBE7DZcdC-2yoNJDAfwsi7RFB48vAHpsYFt4GD5KhYYvAELVGJ5VgEXnuh6ixSW5achLwAJPw/s2548/sdfaf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1572" data-original-width="2548" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGCdcnFdUI_ND4FzfhGzvhvDaxEVm3Cdydh2xmd8NAanqkp0xnn_jJPi7zkHlBOSjEIeFur2pxxVOZZFTA5LmIBf-2rCSg-0YTfgSaSY5uRazBh-iDHcBE7DZcdC-2yoNJDAfwsi7RFB48vAHpsYFt4GD5KhYYvAELVGJ5VgEXnuh6ixSW5achLwAJPw/w400-h246/sdfaf.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You always have to have a picture in a blog post, right?<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Public
addresses are different. You know, landmarks and what not. I’ve sent
unsolicited collages and random ephemera to Pink’s Hot Dogs in Los Angeles and
to Ian MacKaye in Washington DC. The Dischord house is a public address to me,
an institution. Strangely, Ian sent me something back, and has for the past
couple of years. This rarely happens. There’s not a lot of context for
mail-art. I can only imagine what people would think of something sent at
random to them, but I’ve done this for as long as I’ve sent mail-art. I’ve
directed mail to a taco joint in Lexington North Carolina for years and I have no
idea if that’s a burden, or a pleasure. It has to be better than an application
for a new credit card. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">There’s
enough mail-artists to send to, easily available addresses, to keep you
sending. Public places and famous addresses are also somewhat easy to find.
Sending to non-mail-art people you admire is a different issue altogether. You
know, artists and musicians that aren’t involved in mail-art and probably don’t
have a famous address like the Dischord house. How do you get that address? Why
send anything at all? It’s a challenge, it’s fun. I like looking for hard to
find addresses. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In
the 21<sup>st</sup> century, the easiest way to contact this low level artistic
“celebrity” is through Instagram. I’d dipped my toes in sending “DM’s” (as the
kids say) before and with some success. One random hardcore legend (not Ian, a
different one) sent me his address. I’ve been sending stuff to him for quite a
while. I was emboldened by this to have the project be a little more ambitious.
So, sitting in my basement last weekend, I crafted a short message. I
referenced that I was a mail-artist and that I’d like to send them some things,
no obligation on their part. I sent this message to at least 20 people /
groups, everyone from indie rock bands, to podcasters, to somewhat famous
actors. You have to ask, right? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It’s
been almost a week and I’ve only received one response. It was from a band I
could see responding, my favorite band, a band with a clear D.I.Y. aesthetic.
With my initial post, I didn’t prepare for the recipient’s confusion. Whoever
was writing on behalf of the band, asked me “Which member do you want to send
to?” I’d clearly not thought of this. Without a good response, I wrote,
“Whoever might seem most interested in the project.” I didn’t hear anything
back. The experiment failed. </span></p>
<p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-21917816430293924422023-02-09T06:12:00.002-08:002023-02-09T06:12:14.917-08:00Someone at a Thrift Store Priced One of My Makings<p></p><p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Finally! </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ve finally found
something I’ve made for sale at a thrift store. It’s a long time coming. Not
that I go to thrift stores looking for my own stuff, I don’t. I go to thrift
stores looking for stuff to make into other stuff, that hopefully ends up at a
thrift store. I have no idea how this item made it into a thrift store. I’m
going to guess my way through this next part. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh69Da9PkP_9Mv7q8KuUPT5dqbO8nuuYq-QfgTfHNDUzNo1Sh6OAZxHquuQ14SdFm-sSi4UyYAhBAlLTP45BAf942GZgryW4Cg-aXbdlJulcH1gL2GrAumOp9jZwuq85IdMii3sJvJMNrLE1bdFgPJlNKFyd9ALxICrbzHzDCdY0SBoYTVVBjdraBExQ/s1280/GOODWILL%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1070" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh69Da9PkP_9Mv7q8KuUPT5dqbO8nuuYq-QfgTfHNDUzNo1Sh6OAZxHquuQ14SdFm-sSi4UyYAhBAlLTP45BAf942GZgryW4Cg-aXbdlJulcH1gL2GrAumOp9jZwuq85IdMii3sJvJMNrLE1bdFgPJlNKFyd9ALxICrbzHzDCdY0SBoYTVVBjdraBExQ/w230-h274/GOODWILL%20(1).jpg" width="230" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCS3mU9xsjWYLcV2G9kswamuQ4omF7ilouiJ7RGnguL-y13i_UYiWid5WmbhPCzceOH214WI5E6gnoMjVOGRGU1WqqYXw_xY9XiBm4DgHT5qf2Smw8TnyeRsFDZWpXWTdE3PHz4K6htEWdJCTk7qQUE-jbo7vtJ17DApuNga0PpT1gUnWg_pZSInIlA/s1280/GOODWILL%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCS3mU9xsjWYLcV2G9kswamuQ4omF7ilouiJ7RGnguL-y13i_UYiWid5WmbhPCzceOH214WI5E6gnoMjVOGRGU1WqqYXw_xY9XiBm4DgHT5qf2Smw8TnyeRsFDZWpXWTdE3PHz4K6htEWdJCTk7qQUE-jbo7vtJ17DApuNga0PpT1gUnWg_pZSInIlA/s320/GOODWILL%20(2).jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I ended up making five or
six of these mirrors, mostly by request. They’re nothing more than the back of
an old book, some Scrabble letters, a plastic mirror, and some string. For a
while I really got into gluing letters to things. I like signs. I like language
that tries to produce a clear result but fail. I like signs that confuse. The
“Good Enough” mirror could confuse. It could be an affirmation that the person
in the mirror is actually “good enough,” or the sign could imply just enough.
You know…fine. I think most people who wanted one of these thought of it as a
positive affirmation, which I did as well, but there’s the other side. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Of the five or six I
ended up making, most of them went to specific friends. I might have had one or
two left over from the pile. These inevitably would have been dropped in
various little libraries around Winston-Salem. Although I almost exclusively
drop my makings at the little library in front of Acadia Foods, I used to drop
most of them on Academy Street. That little library disappeared one day and
with it, the place where I easily got rid of my somewhat creative clutter. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Since I made the “Good
Enough” mirrors around two years ago, well before that library went away on
Academy Street, it probably ended up there. (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maybe it was one I made for a friend, I have no way of knowing</i>).
What’s amazing about this is that someone probably picked it out of the little
library, had it for a spell, and then saw fit to donate to a thrift store. It
wasn’t something to immediately throw away, it was something they thought had
enough value to donate. Someone else might enjoy this thing. That I like,
that’s what I’m focusing on here. They could have easily have thrown it away,
they didn’t. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Side note here</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">.
This is what I want done with all items I’ve made that people no longer want.
Well, something in a frame, something that takes up a little more space than a
small envelope filled with my nonsense. Give it to a thrift store, let it live
again. Also, I don’t mind using the frames again, so give it back…I’ll cut up
or repurpose the making as well. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’m not sure all people
who make stuff, want their work to end up in thrift stores. It’s like seeing
your record in the discount bin, maybe. I recently bought a painting at a thrift
store from a prominent Winston-Sale painter. It was only $25.00. It’s a huge
painting with handwritten notes on the back for how to install it in your
house. I’ve thought about contacting her about my discovery, after all, that’s
what I would want people to do for me, but I haven’t. I might have even done
this when I found a smaller painting of hers many years ago. I’m not sure if
she was thrilled. I’ll hold off on telling her. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Four dollars seems fair.
Twenty dollars would have been ridiculous. One dollar would have been too low.
Whoever puts prices on things choose wisely. A perfect price. This is the first
time I’ve noticed anything I’ve made go on the secondary market. I hope to find
more of these in the future. If you’re interested, you can purchase the “Good
Enough” mirror at the University Goodwill in Winston-Salem North Carolina. </span></p> <br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-88085001875625325402023-01-10T05:06:00.001-08:002023-01-10T05:06:29.256-08:00The Richard Canard Museum is Now Open<p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 105%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mZDbCWCXylrCWR3DSPxmPP87lh7CU4051nP8gkcwiadqi2NZBTTpSs1MxxR9y5XZaSFF8MWp1Hn2Nl654LVLxtqIb41d4CofYfZz-kLLsmyLI4GedwFnzmKddRh6zrTetyByxAtb-VNhJNA3EEQ3C8DCAp5OQ_Y4Dg0XTG0oPNGQNima2B_V-eUp0Q/s973/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="973" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mZDbCWCXylrCWR3DSPxmPP87lh7CU4051nP8gkcwiadqi2NZBTTpSs1MxxR9y5XZaSFF8MWp1Hn2Nl654LVLxtqIb41d4CofYfZz-kLLsmyLI4GedwFnzmKddRh6zrTetyByxAtb-VNhJNA3EEQ3C8DCAp5OQ_Y4Dg0XTG0oPNGQNima2B_V-eUp0Q/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Appointment Only<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 105%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A year ago I decided
to create a Richard Canard “museum.” This consisted of me making
mini-broadsides that I added to my collage packets announcing the grand opening.
Basically the piece of paper said that I was starting a “museum” and that
people should send me things to add to the collection. It was brash thing done
in a moment’s notice…like most of my projects. It was meant to be somewhat
silly, somewhat tongue in cheek, but something I knew could become something
bigger. For the first year no one sent me anything, nothing at all. No problem,
I continued to put the tiny piece of paper with my collages. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 105%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In December, within a
week, I got two large donations. I received a big package from Katerina
Nikoltsou in Greece and a couple packages from Coco Muchmore in Kansas. Now
that I had these items, I felt like I needed to give them the respect they
deserved. Both packages were beyond generous. They didn’t have to send me
anything, no one forced them to do anything. Katerina, in a quick message, said
she “</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 105%;">had
to "declutter" and down-size lots of the mail art [she had] gotten
over the years.”</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 105%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-LnteWgOIuzZwZAaWA76flc2kAamDpOnnDI4mV7XgG5Nktug_LHKRdcieoSPzlBRViCrueCaBSQfNWdgfd9iV-mmZ_25HnuhpzDukoycBqY7QXIrr-kfux8R-DZZbTJ8REtfi3aXUb1JoXv7YhhnG1SnbuG_-het48G8cm43MgExQudrfvw1Qp1McvA/s921/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="921" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-LnteWgOIuzZwZAaWA76flc2kAamDpOnnDI4mV7XgG5Nktug_LHKRdcieoSPzlBRViCrueCaBSQfNWdgfd9iV-mmZ_25HnuhpzDukoycBqY7QXIrr-kfux8R-DZZbTJ8REtfi3aXUb1JoXv7YhhnG1SnbuG_-het48G8cm43MgExQudrfvw1Qp1McvA/s320/2.jpg" width="320" /></a></p></div><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvzIp6ChTxPrNOZLMDovn1xEsmaEYtC3H6Qqe0gQcTmT8Jb_Jrx02ygw_hjL-8hZoZ--SN7KsSrCFkw7u-C81nYoS0tADfUolQNYempAjLpU-FHuO9XGU-6P0favmCD2MlxR0zbDxslqyRtrfcb_gjxJThWYyVkwPcIhxMqM6PDnMT9ac8S5yXjaFVg/s911/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="911" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvzIp6ChTxPrNOZLMDovn1xEsmaEYtC3H6Qqe0gQcTmT8Jb_Jrx02ygw_hjL-8hZoZ--SN7KsSrCFkw7u-C81nYoS0tADfUolQNYempAjLpU-FHuO9XGU-6P0favmCD2MlxR0zbDxslqyRtrfcb_gjxJThWYyVkwPcIhxMqM6PDnMT9ac8S5yXjaFVg/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a></p></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p>The first donor wing of the museum. </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 105%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The motivation for
setting up a “museum” in honor of Richard C. was simple. Through his consistent
and thoughtful work, he provided me with a mail-art framework. Basically, how
you interact within the network. I chose to follow his model even if our ways
of creating mail-art were very different. I wanted to be supportive and
enigmatic. Somehow in all of this, I started having some face to face hangs.
First at a coffee shop in Winston-Salem and then at various storage units in
Thomasville NC and Charlotte NC. He handed over wonderful items from his
collection, some of the pieces dated back to the 1960’s. This was in addition
to the mail he had sent to me, mail that I meticulously put into plastic
sleeves and then sat on a shelf. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 105%; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 105%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Clearly the “museum”
will look a little different than other museums. It’s not going to be a museum
with ropes and entry fees, it’s going to be at my house. Visitation will be by
appointment only. No fee taken! I will take you through the collections
scattered around my home. If the idea grows, if people send me more things and
I collect more things (I once found an original Richard C. artwork in a thrift
store) the museum will add new wings.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 105%; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 105%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The goal is to
continue to spread the word about the “museum” through my mail-art. I made new
broadsides and I even put together a short video showing parts of the
collection. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 105%; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 105%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you’re so inclined,
I’d love to have your Richard Canard items. I can understand people wanting to
hold onto them, I wouldn’t ever get rid of mine. But if you can, if you feel
the project is worthy, your donations will be loved. I will mention your name
as a contributor. I will respect your items and will gladly show them to anyone
who wants to see them. So yeah, I guess that’s a museum. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 105%; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 105%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_r94MEYfthnz80SH1uj10xGtl9Qbd7QUouMed58xuBTzPNdkcmCn1GR8_lSOg-r3WajkvYU5GThrUJfWBRzmvljcGh1T7ms-1a61b8IAZe-rTIoFKG2-DX8__YUUUB17y8-5CuFDjGgXe9XHL8rS0Q1KIk7MXaiDaLmR6THIUo3nyBgMHlm8xFTpN1Q/s977/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="977" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_r94MEYfthnz80SH1uj10xGtl9Qbd7QUouMed58xuBTzPNdkcmCn1GR8_lSOg-r3WajkvYU5GThrUJfWBRzmvljcGh1T7ms-1a61b8IAZe-rTIoFKG2-DX8__YUUUB17y8-5CuFDjGgXe9XHL8rS0Q1KIk7MXaiDaLmR6THIUo3nyBgMHlm8xFTpN1Q/s320/4.jpg" width="320" /></a></p></div><p></p>
<p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-52386559351708774032022-10-28T08:12:00.002-07:002022-10-28T08:12:40.542-07:00The USPS Will Scan Your Mail For Free!<p> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Part
of the joy of mail-art is not knowing what you’re going to get when you go to
the mailbox. That surprise is a big motivator. Unfortunately, you’re not always
surprised, not really. It’s never really random since most mail-artists send to
people that already send to them. I know if I send a bunch at the start of the
month, I’ll probably get responses from many of those folks around the middle
of the month. This is in addition to the regular correspondents that send at
will. On perfect days you get an avalanche of mail from people you’ve never
corresponded with before.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9cjEmxk9evuvkmtA_En3qyRF80Q1jwqg62dXbmm0MSomrhSS_3FM8qpB55eV56OQdzGVEK3PJeXBXRAbyXu20QhBASyRfuu65avyumGgMnHl6HlG4Q21dfma39MwS0jKQAx1fs0ZedYXvWINopthSqXgx7l1CShsWD4OtnT57t7XVT89qyAPmc9Wmw/s712/thumbnail_1006283870-028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="712" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9cjEmxk9evuvkmtA_En3qyRF80Q1jwqg62dXbmm0MSomrhSS_3FM8qpB55eV56OQdzGVEK3PJeXBXRAbyXu20QhBASyRfuu65avyumGgMnHl6HlG4Q21dfma39MwS0jKQAx1fs0ZedYXvWINopthSqXgx7l1CShsWD4OtnT57t7XVT89qyAPmc9Wmw/s320/thumbnail_1006283870-028.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holy Cow you know it's Joey P. in your mailbox. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Any
surprise is gone now courtesy of the USPS. Some months ago my wife told me about
this thing through the postal service. Basically you put in some information
and then every day, you get emailed images of what’s coming to your mailbox
that afternoon. I immediately signed up for no particular reason. When I did
this I wasn’t thinking about how it might change my response to getting
mail-art.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
images are rough scans of the envelope. Packages or larger pieces don’t show up
in the scans. Most of the scans are of junk mail, which I routinely use in my
mail-art. I like seeing what’s coming since I normally get that email while I’m
at work. Along with complaints from students, I get to check and see if I’ll
have a new card from R. Canard in the mailbox. It helps me get through the day
even if it dissipates some of the excitement later. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiswVyui6WebIf9JL1NutDQB7gQfJTYMs5EbvSrDt-1qbR7hoYrOAdkukKd8Mlj6n0aTlqpljzrnox2UdgSZEX6xslKGguGu0SUG6ynw8NFjay8aKo0w0enaEokbBfPculvClwIWof5I3560RTloTFeFkdn1vyZgY2W8U_3_QuEh1KXGur1LwtAB2kehA/s696/thumbnail_1032315836-031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="696" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiswVyui6WebIf9JL1NutDQB7gQfJTYMs5EbvSrDt-1qbR7hoYrOAdkukKd8Mlj6n0aTlqpljzrnox2UdgSZEX6xslKGguGu0SUG6ynw8NFjay8aKo0w0enaEokbBfPculvClwIWof5I3560RTloTFeFkdn1vyZgY2W8U_3_QuEh1KXGur1LwtAB2kehA/s320/thumbnail_1032315836-031.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">News from Japan from Ryosuke Cohen. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Because
I’m a collector, I like to make more work for myself. I keep everyone of those
scans since they come as JPEG’s in a folder on my computer. I hundreds of these
images, mostly of my address and the return address. If only you could see
through the envelope to the “main event.” Although I’ve routinely collected
these images for more than a year, I have no idea what to do with them. I know
I can do something with them, just not sure what? This post, by far, is all I’ve
used these images for. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’m
not sure I should have ever started doing this. I feel this way because I’m
most excited about the mail that arrives that has evaded the USPS
super-scanner. That one that slipped through, that one that’s a surprise is
always the shining jewel in the bunch. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Do
you get scans from USPS? Have these scans changed your relationship with the excitement
of collecting the mail? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWzX8KBZqb3_jZClsmPlC-gNUpeDyeMMnvm7t__FfPg0ouFwxYX-AIAPp38fvmHYAQCA3aDgpkq5Y-9TScKj26W-ecnwy5KVvvx7zgHpC6PXJxVnGA9zmG0WagX2eO85Md6c2bib4J-R2Fl-yRit1CmT_-sjZPePmzCwdhJRX_GkwWlYYXPrInD-CF_g/s664/thumbnail_1014251064-028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="664" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWzX8KBZqb3_jZClsmPlC-gNUpeDyeMMnvm7t__FfPg0ouFwxYX-AIAPp38fvmHYAQCA3aDgpkq5Y-9TScKj26W-ecnwy5KVvvx7zgHpC6PXJxVnGA9zmG0WagX2eO85Md6c2bib4J-R2Fl-yRit1CmT_-sjZPePmzCwdhJRX_GkwWlYYXPrInD-CF_g/s320/thumbnail_1014251064-028.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seeing the bad news immediately. The sadness of returned mail. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></p>
<p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-57907790501370821312022-10-03T08:56:00.003-07:002022-10-03T08:56:29.576-07:00Miles The Baby Muse <p> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I like figures in my
collages…you know, people. To quote Arthur Lee, “I think people are the
greatest fun.” That makes sense, right? Either way, I like people and I like
faces. I especially like people with faces and personalities that show up on
those faces. Because of this, I have a lot of people in my collages. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Some folks, like Ringo
Starr or Richard Nixon, tend to appear over and over again. Noses? Do noses
connect those two characters? Nixon surely wasn’t a drummer. Nikita Khrushchev
gets used often and boy does Khrushchev have a face and eyebrows…boy does he
have eyebrows. Other than those few characters, not a lot of people get used
over and over. No Shelley Duvall! (How about that obscure reference, do you get
it?) When I’m picking out pictures to use in collages, I like to see the
personality, I like to have a pun in there…a slight joke. Unfortunately, I’m
limited to what I can find. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I tried to rectify this
problem by using my own face. I’m not that vein, I just know I can make fun of
myself and no one get too mad about it. Best of all, I can express the emotion
I want because I’m creating the picture. I went so far with this that I had a
photo shoot where I posed in as many configurations as possible to later drop
into collages / broadsides and random manifestos. Contrary to that one
statement I read about myself years ago, I’m not interested in becoming the
next Cavellini. I don’t have the money for that. Who knows what that guy was
doing? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">What I’ve come to say in
this blog, is that I have a new muse. His name is Miles, he’s not a year old,
he has six teeth, and falls down a lot. Miles is my son. He’s a lot cuter than
I am (cuter than Ringo, Nixon, and Khrushchev) so it makes sense to use his
visage in my collages and random projects. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQfP133FhqIA_uX_2K8SRavMsEfrc-1enuRxvKhbyIbJKRbtbHw0rS1iR9k4xb0IFOnpmXYSBxYol9xJKzDweLJj0Lj6yTVdv0rlklWKn85h1RMVmLxD1aseA8RuZR3dW-IPOd6HFpzmyGE-Zu_OA0TfNbxiSRv-_SZADcfBlay__gut7jcxXFTbWpmQ/s720/Miles%20and%20Mail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQfP133FhqIA_uX_2K8SRavMsEfrc-1enuRxvKhbyIbJKRbtbHw0rS1iR9k4xb0IFOnpmXYSBxYol9xJKzDweLJj0Lj6yTVdv0rlklWKn85h1RMVmLxD1aseA8RuZR3dW-IPOd6HFpzmyGE-Zu_OA0TfNbxiSRv-_SZADcfBlay__gut7jcxXFTbWpmQ/s320/Miles%20and%20Mail.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miles in his "cage" with some newly returned mail. His favorite flavor is manila. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">When he was first born, I
would take random pictures of him with an instant print camera. It would spit
out a rectangle picture that was a sticker. I’d stick that image to a painted
bingo card with some words and the date on it, and send it to family. It was a one
of kind postcard and I made dozens of those. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Lately I’ve been making a
lot of paper collages of him. I print off pictures of him on random colors of
paper. Sometimes I copy and copy them to reduce the quality of the image. I add
his image along with a random phrase or sentence to some sticky paper. From
there I build a collage (he’s the focus for sure) around him. Some of them are
funny, some of them are weird. Most of these I’ve mailed to friends and family.
Not sure if a random person from Belgium would understand the project, or any
of my projects? I guess I should send to whoever; it doesn’t really matter. Since
I can make these on the couch in the evenings, I’ve made at least a hundred of
them. Most I’ve mailed away, but I’ve kept quite a few of my favorites in a
binder.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSKjPDRh5I8UkRTKI8hAwwMnFUSGn_B9v0NEg7NdBsFnrpaU1lUXQ2IeIZ4S6yUo4zn7RGI7AHmH2QFowim-7C2oSDhr_NxQBQ4pS4iT0UQBOuIXBZ5wY2WwACfulTXfXTQtT_eaukdSLE_KdDiFBsYXyOx6XT3Glnro2AQz2cnaIL7oodnIbK-_P6Zg/s2002/Miles%20in%20Collage%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2002" data-original-width="1522" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSKjPDRh5I8UkRTKI8hAwwMnFUSGn_B9v0NEg7NdBsFnrpaU1lUXQ2IeIZ4S6yUo4zn7RGI7AHmH2QFowim-7C2oSDhr_NxQBQ4pS4iT0UQBOuIXBZ5wY2WwACfulTXfXTQtT_eaukdSLE_KdDiFBsYXyOx6XT3Glnro2AQz2cnaIL7oodnIbK-_P6Zg/s320/Miles%20in%20Collage%20(1).jpg" width="243" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original images came from our first beach trip. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMaGcDaXSRskcSgblkHXlb-y1P_dlCVsMLjD5Rz85_54nNw895a3Dh9hrRezjC-I3ZkZdBbgYUasSWiDD23s_Whmrtrfx8WkuvP1SFaaKPtAMFQvQyYh7x7F5cWumrKVFwMY5mKwbULv7UkjJ9vXVs5X6M9yP3bdNQz3OF6YxtJxqZtB_C_k4IQQ7bQQ/s2048/Miles%20in%20Collage%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1462" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMaGcDaXSRskcSgblkHXlb-y1P_dlCVsMLjD5Rz85_54nNw895a3Dh9hrRezjC-I3ZkZdBbgYUasSWiDD23s_Whmrtrfx8WkuvP1SFaaKPtAMFQvQyYh7x7F5cWumrKVFwMY5mKwbULv7UkjJ9vXVs5X6M9yP3bdNQz3OF6YxtJxqZtB_C_k4IQQ7bQQ/s320/Miles%20in%20Collage%20(2).jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First class male. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The projects keep
growing. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">One day I printed off a
lot of images of his face on sticky paper. From there I asked mail-art friends
if they would put the stickers up somewhere in their town and then send me
evidence of it. It was a way for Miles to do a little traveling before he
consistently wore shoes. This project will go on for a while, or at least until
I’ve gone through all the mail-art friends that would do me such a kindness. So
far Miles has traveled to Greece, Canada, Germany, Australia, and even Kansas. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxSbOHjBaOAsPnjuV6ZiLLct_GaYJGzs3aJRfdDtsirQv-kHqCOELeBzmnMSMSYwx65Z5Qt29C09Xpmsj_KrIf1Sfl6Ruf9WD-wkb6iy4QYVnXWVWmz-dVQh6BAzSnEDBerlP-p43y_RsNQnmj_E6fvcTwDjGFcoaB8ollm6EGTXkoZgrULIeehc2TFw/s843/Vizma%20In%20Australia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="843" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxSbOHjBaOAsPnjuV6ZiLLct_GaYJGzs3aJRfdDtsirQv-kHqCOELeBzmnMSMSYwx65Z5Qt29C09Xpmsj_KrIf1Sfl6Ruf9WD-wkb6iy4QYVnXWVWmz-dVQh6BAzSnEDBerlP-p43y_RsNQnmj_E6fvcTwDjGFcoaB8ollm6EGTXkoZgrULIeehc2TFw/s320/Vizma%20In%20Australia.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vizma and Miles in Australia.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Who knows what the next
project will be? Maybe a staged Christmas card? I no idea if he’s going to like
these when he’s older or if he thinks I’m creepy for creating them? Either way,
he’ll have a lot of material to look at. He’s cute, his face needs to get out
there more. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-56046499273343113782022-05-02T08:11:00.001-07:002022-05-02T08:11:39.747-07:00How Many Collages of Ringo Starr is Enough? <p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ringo has always annoyed me and I don’t know
why? There’s just something about him. I don’t have problems with his drumming
or what I know about him personally. He has an idiosyncratic but interesting
way of playing. Compared to his band-mates, you can’t look at his personal life
and call him a “dirt bag” like you can the rest. But…he is a bad singer! If he
sings lead on a Beatles song, I always fast-forward though it, but he doesn’t
have enough songs on record for that to be my main problem with him. The other
Beatles knew he wasn’t a singer or a songwriter…they knew it. We all know it. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My annoyance with Ringo grew over the years. My
annoyance has been well documented. That annoyance thawed whenever I watched
the 78 hour Hulu documentary a few months back. It showed him as kind and
compassionate. He was there for everyone. He was funny without being constantly
annoying like John. John tried way too hard. Ringo got to the sessions on time
and listened. It was clear that Ringo wasn’t the problem. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I first made stickers as a way to formally (I guess
that’s formal) apologize to the man. I’m not sure if he saw them. When I
started playing around with sticky tape and paper for collages, I noticed a
book of Beatles pictures in the corner of my upstairs room. I ripped out all of
the Ringo images I could find and started folding him into my collage work.
Although I was kind of honoring the man with my collages, I still felt inclined
to take small jabs at him. If I know anything about Ringo, I think he could
take it. I think he might even join in. I’m sure he’d toss up a peace sign. But
yeah, it’s fair to say he truly knows nothing about cephalopods. </span></p>
<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpBC0Hd1haihyoPEjhvqYmTio90GN56coprA0C7iZEadX-yehCHJX5dPNfAv-ca1brpzhIblTDWvNIvTmy5cM_yAZusd0PrJcIkHtRKCxhHXnt_rYNTu7QF8ChvwisDwn0vBSESeC4W1XUB2nlQuQjz4bUBEosK2g0FRCJE3uKg5gYuW4xYeJKDwgLQ/s2895/Photo_2022-04-30_111641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2895" data-original-width="2145" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpBC0Hd1haihyoPEjhvqYmTio90GN56coprA0C7iZEadX-yehCHJX5dPNfAv-ca1brpzhIblTDWvNIvTmy5cM_yAZusd0PrJcIkHtRKCxhHXnt_rYNTu7QF8ChvwisDwn0vBSESeC4W1XUB2nlQuQjz4bUBEosK2g0FRCJE3uKg5gYuW4xYeJKDwgLQ/s320/Photo_2022-04-30_111641.jpg" width="237" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqlfQ_9dRWTetk_6O0U6dIaTXy-2sZwzfO56ova9NX4JF8mZ5D2ocoOGqtHPV3o5bK0qp8HGX8Pgk-bhIyWWi-yzyUElECV5XlHRvPCY91Q62P12haFxKSrMvYTY-eEsUj00hcbxOMLXjYiEKqqAnfamVChfCi_LrmO7ul1oSI0sNFz49g84GbcfKVng/s3106/Photo_2022-04-29_154935.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I hate it when mail gets
returned to me. It doesn’t happen every week but I’d say about once every other
week. Considering the volume of mail, I send out, it’s not surprising that some
comes back. Maybe 1/25 comes back. They come back because of a long list of
reasons, most notably someone has moved. At least I think that’s the main one.
I can also put in the wrong address, which happens a lot. One illegible number
and it doesn’t hit its mark. Printing a “one” in the European fashion is a
must. Who knows how many are lost in mail purgatory forever!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">For four or five years
I’ve collected all of my returned mail in one large plastic bin. There’s a lot
in there, maybe one hundred items. Each one was at least 58 cents to send,
sometimes $1.30 and sometimes packages make their way back. It adds up! My policy
is to keep them. I’m not going to try and send them back to the person that was
initially supposed to receive them. Returned items become mine. I don’t open
them I just put them in the plastic bin. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xhl35MVRz1tp_b3lDaN6L2Y5q6eU7F0Uh1AcCcJH1PmTuALHhm1QubwjvTYUl1X4w1I8H0pumKGptF7b3ZBoQcO83zVT3zPe6PodTCkFDmyITltHBi-hU6xoOznnA5MAOlFinOqGZWykSKQYNtsxnzdKL2kH4pKyQ7zHB6mryMAtlDbYgsTmQLgtWw/s1255/thumbnail_IMG_2677.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="845" data-original-width="1255" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xhl35MVRz1tp_b3lDaN6L2Y5q6eU7F0Uh1AcCcJH1PmTuALHhm1QubwjvTYUl1X4w1I8H0pumKGptF7b3ZBoQcO83zVT3zPe6PodTCkFDmyITltHBi-hU6xoOznnA5MAOlFinOqGZWykSKQYNtsxnzdKL2kH4pKyQ7zHB6mryMAtlDbYgsTmQLgtWw/w320-h215/thumbnail_IMG_2677.jpg" title="Returned From Germany" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Returned From Germany <br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Quite often they return
with fun stickers from around the world, often in foreign languages. I’ve
scanned and then printed some of these stickers to use in my own work. Basically
me and a foreign post office are collaborating on a project they have no idea
about. Hell, it’s easier to get unknowing foreign post offices to come together
on a project than other mail-artists. Some of the envelopes look amazing.
Amazing enough that I decided to put the more interesting ones in plastic and
collect them in a binder. The ones that have the most additions to them are my
favorites by far. Who knows what’s in there, but they sure are pretty. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Picking my favorites for
the binder leaves a lot leftover. I already have too many plastic bins filled
with mail-art and shelves filled with special collections, another project that
could go on forever isn’t needed. One day, while uploading images of thrifted
t-shirts to sell on eBay, I got an idea. Why not sale some of my returned mail? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjALTtVTBuCMxT2mzvnYULdOYvBEO9AWQeh_5y7fokIige1G3TlCS7Ug1X-8Yf6qUAt-sN3IVsOF-Mr5ZW373YaF-PqnLWiNEhvp2pAU3ZozwnN0m0aW7mk4-YC7-1e9Ibj1__1TH6pIvDS_ilbC9wfx0hY4jgyySnfLr5tIvJtRWRKO8PCo7phjIW7ZQ/s1085/thumbnail_IMG_2679.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="751" data-original-width="1085" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjALTtVTBuCMxT2mzvnYULdOYvBEO9AWQeh_5y7fokIige1G3TlCS7Ug1X-8Yf6qUAt-sN3IVsOF-Mr5ZW373YaF-PqnLWiNEhvp2pAU3ZozwnN0m0aW7mk4-YC7-1e9Ibj1__1TH6pIvDS_ilbC9wfx0hY4jgyySnfLr5tIvJtRWRKO8PCo7phjIW7ZQ/s320/thumbnail_IMG_2679.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Returned from Japan <br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">If you’ve been around
mail-art for more than a couple years, you’ll have a response to the idea of
selling mail-art. The original tenants of this non-exclusive club says you
should not sale mail-art. “Send as good as you receive” but “don’t sale.” For
most of us this isn’t much of a problem because there’s no market to sell to. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As I’ve dug deeper into
the network a few names popped up that that were able to sale their work. Being
an interested person, one who likes to write and mildly investigate from his
work desk, I wrote a thing about this a couple years ago. I asked questions to
a few folks and wrote up a big thing about it all, something like this. There
was no value judgement in them selling, I just wanted to think through mail-art
maxims. Not to ruffle any feathers, or to hurt anyone’s chances on the open
market, I never posted my hastily constructed story. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghysvwB1EvsLUdIMIlahtyqZ0yZY00QSOuytP3guNqhe6F7BAUzcOujm2obpwNl4fTzynJZ0dCyNP48f8xbdCjrIoFzh69oA4rpNGxWaWkA9Gy7fcsqso-bgahZOkmTDiObMKwzR0M0qHz6p3-J3qMYDxB8O7Hff2AZP_S4SJihD8pZO_ON-K7eb-aDA/s1177/thumbnail_IMG_2681.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="1177" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghysvwB1EvsLUdIMIlahtyqZ0yZY00QSOuytP3guNqhe6F7BAUzcOujm2obpwNl4fTzynJZ0dCyNP48f8xbdCjrIoFzh69oA4rpNGxWaWkA9Gy7fcsqso-bgahZOkmTDiObMKwzR0M0qHz6p3-J3qMYDxB8O7Hff2AZP_S4SJihD8pZO_ON-K7eb-aDA/s320/thumbnail_IMG_2681.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Returned from Germany <br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Sale or not, I don’t
care. Right now you can get some Al Ackerman stuff on EBay for next to nothing.
I’m not bidding, but you could if that was something you were interested in. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I have no cache in the
mail-art world. There’s no market for anything I make. I find it difficult to
even give away things I make. No one is interested, and that’s fine…most of the
time. When you’re proud of something you’ve made and no one cares, that sucks.
That takes the wind out of the sails for a short period. So…you take the thing
and put it on an ever growing stack of past creations. Stickers, people always
like stickers. Make a sticker and people will seem interested. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Because no one is interested
in my free works, I decided to sale some of my returned mail on eBay. You know,
establish my real worth on the open market place. After hanging out in thrift
stores for the past twenty years, I’ve come to learn that idiots will buy anything.
Why not get an idiot to buy something I made? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I posted four different
envelopes that had gone to another country and returned. I put the initial
bidding price as $1.30 and the shipping as $1.30. One for the stamp that was
initially used and one or the second stamp. Clearly, I was doing a thing.
Clearly I was trying to illicit a response from people. Unfortunately, like
usual, whenever you get excited about something and think it’s an original idea
that might get a conversation going, it doesn’t go that far. I was convinced
that my wittiness would be met with overwhelming praise but only a handful of
people seemed to realize that it was all a type of bullshit performance. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Of course Richard C. in
Illinois got it. He wrote through he IUOMA website, “28.03.21 Dare Mister Jon Foster
& Mister Adam R., ....I think it was the mail artist Lon Spiegelman who
stated eons ago that "Money & Mail-Art don't mix." ---but I in
turn ask: Does that mean it is worthless or priceless???<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Not to mention that I highly value my
meager collection of Spiegelman [as well as my equally valued Foster & R.
collections]). ......................I've often thought that a
"Mail-Art" subscription service was a practical solution to any &
all that might wish to be involved in mail art (each mail artist setting his
& or her rules for involvement [well, maybe a standard agreement might
work]). .... & I've tried it, but only as a result of a charitable
contribution on my part with no reimbursements coming my way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suspect that I'm not really confident of
any sustained interest in my offerings & also, my lack of entrepreneurial
skills are the reasons I haven't pursued this notion. SinCelery, Richard Canard
......Post Scriptum: Go, Jon, Go!!!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Adam R. in Minnesota went
a little further and actually bid on one envelope. He wrote, “I am definitely
going to resell it Jon! We just need to drive the price up more in order to set
a new industry standard for mail art sales, at the very least a standard that
accommodates the current rate of inflation. I am going to sell it for a dollar
more than whatever I purchase it for though l, because well, i am only in it
for the money anyways!” As the kids say, Adam got the assignment. In the end,
Adam ended up winning that one bid at $1.80. He had a mild bidding war going with
one other person that caused the price to rise slightly. A few days after that
initial bid he bid on the other three I posted. Guess what, he won all four
bids. His bill came to a little over five dollars, excluding shipping which was
$1.30 on each piece. So, for less than $14.00, including shipping, he got all
four returned pieces of mail. He has no idea what’s inside. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Of course it wasn’t
$14.00 profit for me. I had to mail all four of them to Adam at a combined rate
of almost five dollars. I tossed in a few other things to make it worth his
time. I also had the eBay fees that took money right off the top. If I wanted
to, I could also could subtract the revenue lost on the initial postage for
each envelope. In reality, I ended up making one or two dollars on the whole
thing. This “profit” confirmed one thing about mail-art to me, you can get
rich!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBoDveQYCx_rzwUue2Eeaiy84RAvfjxJFjNU1wTbQb0zsBfz1tGbvbM8ffnjlj3WkwXo5uQd7rGptSZGGbv_IwVGNXrfDEqRER4H4w41pjEQhyoOeKbjR_Go7P-GbZigqsgWSeBTPigsKbqiQ-yeT8nEFnRlLZDa79h0nXCAos1qUkhwWyUkv8NYSxNQ/s913/thumbnail_IMG_2804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="913" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBoDveQYCx_rzwUue2Eeaiy84RAvfjxJFjNU1wTbQb0zsBfz1tGbvbM8ffnjlj3WkwXo5uQd7rGptSZGGbv_IwVGNXrfDEqRER4H4w41pjEQhyoOeKbjR_Go7P-GbZigqsgWSeBTPigsKbqiQ-yeT8nEFnRlLZDa79h0nXCAos1qUkhwWyUkv8NYSxNQ/s320/thumbnail_IMG_2804.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Money, Money, Money. Don't worry, he paid. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-54597477235092322442022-03-09T07:27:00.003-08:002022-03-09T07:27:36.475-08:00I'm A Serious Collage Artist Now! <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have no proper art education, either in
history or application. I learned about DADA by writing about poetry. From that
the world opened up and I’ve tried to make connections ever since. As for
proper background, training as it were, in the physical creation of “art,” …nothing.
I doodled as a kid. Finding out about DADA mixed with the D.I.Y. ethic of punk
rock, inspired me to create stuff without any expectation. The work you create
is because you saw something through, because you had an idea and now a thing
exists. It doesn’t matter if it’s good, it probably isn’t. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi763YJyx8vmu2Iv7WxKWR7n6iGBW-g83uz9tCtqpWHZGr6RTC1s-DhXHFv4F58kpgC19-TBJGs1N6Boj1EZiEQtA67tI012IBf4BMwJfKCdwYBClqvq_lG6fGonF8IeWOfWK9Dr-_f5G2fLW06NGzM3rdbswTGzdyyKQsZ0Qz2QCm6Wxoo9dJm0Ms61A=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi763YJyx8vmu2Iv7WxKWR7n6iGBW-g83uz9tCtqpWHZGr6RTC1s-DhXHFv4F58kpgC19-TBJGs1N6Boj1EZiEQtA67tI012IBf4BMwJfKCdwYBClqvq_lG6fGonF8IeWOfWK9Dr-_f5G2fLW06NGzM3rdbswTGzdyyKQsZ0Qz2QCm6Wxoo9dJm0Ms61A=w240-h320" title="An Ode To Japanese Copiers" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An Ode To Japanese Copiers<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjR7rgxmlskme2YnUOQCA0oz7bRkJn6rY-eYqHUw3b1ev6XsJBW5tE7JNUEw4Ait-9_cvOQUZudYx3fnGiHhcl7UHhQTcIybP6qgTf_LeoKiVVLl1vqQtcclrrOXUxwoa7lZkiO0XcdBPLqWs26KSMvBs5EuljgN-qMUfoxoAbzICPRtbYRqS_jL23Bvg=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjR7rgxmlskme2YnUOQCA0oz7bRkJn6rY-eYqHUw3b1ev6XsJBW5tE7JNUEw4Ait-9_cvOQUZudYx3fnGiHhcl7UHhQTcIybP6qgTf_LeoKiVVLl1vqQtcclrrOXUxwoa7lZkiO0XcdBPLqWs26KSMvBs5EuljgN-qMUfoxoAbzICPRtbYRqS_jL23Bvg=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miles Davis and a "dancer"<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It took a couple of years of swimming in the
mail-art network before I stumbled across the tape-rip method. It just happened
one day when I was playing with old magazines and tape. You know, making tape
transfers and them putting them together over and over again. I loved doing
this. I love doing this. Not only is the activity of creating fun, but I thought
I was creating something unique. The process wasn’t new but it was new to me.
This was my creation with minimal ingredients. It was my three chord punk rock
song. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In my head I’ve wanted to expound my creating
knowledge. I thought about going through some books about collage or painting
or even drawing. I might have even bought a few at thrift stores. I’d thumb
through them and that was pretty much it. Forcing a new technique didn’t work
for me. If my process in creating collages or broadsides or board books
changed, it happened over time. A small impulse would bring about a massive
change, months later. Cut out six months of discovery and compare the old with
the new, and clearly something changed. Without consciously saying “I’m going
to do something different,” I ended up doing something different. No reason to
force it. I’m playing the long game here. I’m not going to stop making my “three-chord
images” anytime soon, even if only a handful of people care about them. I have
no ambition except to make the next thing. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Let’s back up. On social media I’d see artist
after artist sharing their collages. A lot of these fall into specific
categories. I’ve made things for long enough that I can identify their source
material and technique quickly. The most “ordered” of these paper collages were
interesting to me. I could see how they came together, I knew where they got
their materials, and could even understand their thought process, but I couldn’t
imitate them. Here I was slightly ambitious. I challenged myself to work solely
with paper to create a slick collage that someone would charge hundreds of
dollars for. Can you believe that? People actually get that much for a collage.
Send me your address I’ll mail you one for free. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjT3txvW-RtAcw_-MG2fQ8UXTM98y9DzVWUDgxl9RXqwLgdYIT6hzBognh0DtEZtRWgjKEsJWO5VVMutkP3PXkU9qGif8iRbOgbAnX5rmW8fnleNcQiPEpdlpOTJ__4UmsgMLbPReqSSLyzfEAAxWt-Lw_dhnh6DdeuKlO13A0JefKV6YSy_Frq6Q1BiA=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjT3txvW-RtAcw_-MG2fQ8UXTM98y9DzVWUDgxl9RXqwLgdYIT6hzBognh0DtEZtRWgjKEsJWO5VVMutkP3PXkU9qGif8iRbOgbAnX5rmW8fnleNcQiPEpdlpOTJ__4UmsgMLbPReqSSLyzfEAAxWt-Lw_dhnh6DdeuKlO13A0JefKV6YSy_Frq6Q1BiA=s320" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Throat punch!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkH9r5f7pa51TwRhd1ZyDQceB9DwCDPax4bt9rD2irOWMAsZcGGLxxL-I8tqhEog9N94lBWuqkjj-H09SjDACONdYV-H0B1Eq4HPlyJVzKmM97EFrR_L1kMeKOo2XjHIMTZ9em89ZuvPTPW_GpL_1c4juQpez6T7MnboA-PouVG6-bFTFgUQwK2J4xGA=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkH9r5f7pa51TwRhd1ZyDQceB9DwCDPax4bt9rD2irOWMAsZcGGLxxL-I8tqhEog9N94lBWuqkjj-H09SjDACONdYV-H0B1Eq4HPlyJVzKmM97EFrR_L1kMeKOo2XjHIMTZ9em89ZuvPTPW_GpL_1c4juQpez6T7MnboA-PouVG6-bFTFgUQwK2J4xGA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MeeMaw Hanging with Communists <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My paper collages sucked for years. They were
always too linear. Being too linear is always my problem. Nothing came together
until very recently when I felt like a had breakthrough. I made a large stack
of tape collages and then sitting beside of those, I had an equally large pile
of paper ones. It just happened. I kind of cheated since I used tape…sort of. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Every once in a while I’d run across leftover
industrial materials, stuff from stores. You know, long rolls of stickers that stores
put prices on? I put a bunch of those together and then stuck bits of paper to
them. Gluing them together never made sense, taping them down…did. I cheated.
Tape forever! Using old paper ripped from free books gave the collages that “professional”
look. Not sure how to describe what I mean by “professional.” Uh, the look of
the collage big-shots (I guess that’s a thing) who’s stuff ends up in important
places. Important places like sandwich shops in Brooklyn. Clearly I don’t have
the language to describe the “nice” paper collages I see online, stuff that
could have easily been done over 100 years ago. Braque, Hoch, etc. I did a pile
of these really quick and I think they’re pretty cool. I’m going to make a
bunch more in a similar fashion and then I’ll work to making them more in my
style. There needs to be a snarky joke in there somewhere. These are too serious,
too direct, too unambiguous. I’ll fix that. Confusion is next! </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_7aP-86ioAKUrAGT-_RQMCIaiaokbQiStGtVYlgT23ry_19w7MouSqGOVCgRwhip7mDGNGC6hVQ_VPc17cd-ZcM-7PvxkhhJ5SpoTws5LxCqJQ4NWGXNRPzU4zU39nX0838D0bTG85Mw_httisn2ncBTJ9nsMuNeutVGN3M1KkbQpOniRRhpWgs6gYg=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_7aP-86ioAKUrAGT-_RQMCIaiaokbQiStGtVYlgT23ry_19w7MouSqGOVCgRwhip7mDGNGC6hVQ_VPc17cd-ZcM-7PvxkhhJ5SpoTws5LxCqJQ4NWGXNRPzU4zU39nX0838D0bTG85Mw_httisn2ncBTJ9nsMuNeutVGN3M1KkbQpOniRRhpWgs6gYg=s320" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The family doing ATM.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-84622061676554528192021-12-09T05:17:00.002-08:002021-12-09T05:17:17.314-08:00A Famous French Photographer Took Pictures of Me in the "Makings Room"
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtuhUS75HbywrFgdfAUrFssbZYby1IQvXuJZsfYNskLM8Oww0rQHvMk9mr7K-tVfuGriwcMVMnHL6ihpx3Gcfbiqp6YbpSLjhxxhyi_wHNoXpJI3y0KxblQCy_QhAyAhsu3VzOu8IuuY7kUw7lKhPoHXSHvp6KHPKSLypinPZBFTgQumaX2GNfXgIx1A=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtuhUS75HbywrFgdfAUrFssbZYby1IQvXuJZsfYNskLM8Oww0rQHvMk9mr7K-tVfuGriwcMVMnHL6ihpx3Gcfbiqp6YbpSLjhxxhyi_wHNoXpJI3y0KxblQCy_QhAyAhsu3VzOu8IuuY7kUw7lKhPoHXSHvp6KHPKSLypinPZBFTgQumaX2GNfXgIx1A=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at all of that garbage on the walls. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table>I
got a random email from a photographer, Gill Rivard. Gill said he was a
“relatively famous photographer based in France” and was spending some time in
the US. In the email, Gill basically outlined a long road trip. On the road
trip, he was trying to get some work done. When I asked why me (this took a
couple of emails) he told me about a friend in France. This friend, someone
I’ve sent mail-art to for years, had shown him some of my work. “I looked down
on a table one visit” Gill said “and there was a pile of mail. One of the
envelopes came from you.” The mail-artist even passed along my blog address
where I shared pictures of my workspace. Gill is interested in workspaces, if
you’re fancy and French, my atelier. The emails were timed perfectly since his road
trip was coming up through Georgia and into North Carolina, as he and his
travel companion Rose, made it back to New York. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
didn’t spend too much time on giving him a “yes.” Normally I say yes to most
things people ask of me, especially if I’ve never done them before. Might as
well try. Why not say yes to making something for a book, doing a record cover,
or having a small art show at a movie theater? If things don’t work out at
least I can get a story out of it. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFfYTqFpqRWn64cXvUIi9OilzKuh4faABUpNk9D26ZeT9xCqagXL5ZX-po7hkdZE2a04Z7gMzrlXBripSaYEVwF4p_9yuK6dLgnkHujqAeE3-GhRKfqCxJMFPqZSvEWYDLcXYxr5TLwiC8_SS12jZ4nPNLqeZcRQ8qcCHZ2t5Or_OT0AguxH7OfUKPEQ=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFfYTqFpqRWn64cXvUIi9OilzKuh4faABUpNk9D26ZeT9xCqagXL5ZX-po7hkdZE2a04Z7gMzrlXBripSaYEVwF4p_9yuK6dLgnkHujqAeE3-GhRKfqCxJMFPqZSvEWYDLcXYxr5TLwiC8_SS12jZ4nPNLqeZcRQ8qcCHZ2t5Or_OT0AguxH7OfUKPEQ=w400-h266" title="Smoldering intensity...paper all around." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smoldering intensity. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Gil
and Rose showed up right on time. They hung out it in my kitchen as I poured
them both a cup of coffee. Rose didn’t say all that much. We mostly figured out
a plan for our shoot. He showed me some of the other places he’d shot over the
course of his month long trip, I was impressed. He told me the name of one
artist after the other, none of which I knew. Unless they’re mail-art people,
I’m not going to know them. The big idea was to spend most of our time upstairs
in my actual workspace. Somehow he had missed the basement garage where I also
make things. “I want to get that too” he said.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
two of us wondered upstairs. At the top of the stairs he marveled at the thrift
store paintings on the wall. He asked a few questions about where I got this
one or that one. He focused on a couple paintings I had of women sitting in
chairs form the 1960’s. “These are beautiful” he said. ‘We can get some
pictures in here, too.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It
was only a few minutes in my main space (I really need a name for it) before he
took out his camera and started shooting. He gave me a few directions but
mostly I posed in front of my desk. I also did some “fake work” at my desk.
He’d stop taking pictures for a second and then look at stuff on the walls. In
five minutes his tone started to change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was a lot more direct, a lot more serious. At first, I couldn’t tell
what was going on, but I soon started to understand. “I want you to take your
shirt off and stand in front of your desk” he told me. “You want me to do what”
I asked? “Shirt…off!” At “shirt off” is where the photo shoot ends. Didn’t want
to get wrapped up in that. No one was going to look at those pictures except
for Gill, no one! </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
started scooting him towards the door, down the steps, and into the living
room. There I told Rose they were leaving. Rose didn’t look surprised. It seems
they might have been performing the whole <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">shirt
off</i> bit throughout the lower half of the United States. At least he sent me
the pictures of the shoot. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPRZus62ARPe0QzZouMtC59PMC9bS-Q0HSyeEct-dgAWEwFB1iKTtWoiuGOf4sSmyEYfOLa18SBSpQy46jr1CAueypM37SIy9uZ__19aVSVxTCi51dREOKdRcktn72XISkgpTjpKKW1GXyVCIHBE23Wvi_b5oidNjGfLye7e51_6YRv4Q_LYhAbNaUUA=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPRZus62ARPe0QzZouMtC59PMC9bS-Q0HSyeEct-dgAWEwFB1iKTtWoiuGOf4sSmyEYfOLa18SBSpQy46jr1CAueypM37SIy9uZ__19aVSVxTCi51dREOKdRcktn72XISkgpTjpKKW1GXyVCIHBE23Wvi_b5oidNjGfLye7e51_6YRv4Q_LYhAbNaUUA=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtjVmlsQzKdJA8OzPG-gwKZZ5uiYFns4A0pb7PVvEitrWOTa3RdURfjspm5nElfokI-hnaVzsYnBbMg43-joSXOg1KUc4dlYFwS2RBTsT8ousN9JHlNTThbFyncQJXNkMq9XI4t6eMR2QKbExINf53qjWONGsaJYnWIovaT2e6P9DH94P7Qam_QRjxHw=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtjVmlsQzKdJA8OzPG-gwKZZ5uiYFns4A0pb7PVvEitrWOTa3RdURfjspm5nElfokI-hnaVzsYnBbMg43-joSXOg1KUc4dlYFwS2RBTsT8ousN9JHlNTThbFyncQJXNkMq9XI4t6eMR2QKbExINf53qjWONGsaJYnWIovaT2e6P9DH94P7Qam_QRjxHw=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are fake makings. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-6668245833389960302021-11-16T06:04:00.000-08:002021-11-16T06:04:01.449-08:00T-Shirts With My Face On Them. <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
like t-shirts. I like t-shirts a lot. Obviously I’ve made t-shirts with myself
as the main focus. I’ve done this twice. Michael M. and I made some Nostrils
shirts year ago. He screen-printed them in his kitchen. I also had a design
that read “I Learned Nothing From Jon Foster.” It came from a real student
evaluation. Those looked really good, multiple colors and printed by Jon and
James. I sold around 20 of those at cost. The problem with getting them done
professionally is the time and cost. I never want to make money on these sorts
of things, but I don’t want to lose a lot of money. Anticipating what folks
want or what size they need isn’t in the equation. Clearly people need t-shirts
with my face on them. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
was sitting on my couch when it hit me, “I can use fabric ink with rubber
stamps and make all the shirts I want.” I put the word out there that I was
looking for someone to carve rubber stamps for me. I needed others to do it
since that whole process looks super difficult to me. Maybe I’ll try my hand at
carving in the future, but until then, let the professionals do it. People need
to see every dip and valley in my face, I owe it to them. Valerie P. took the
bait. I bought her a few blocks and in less than a week she’d carved three
amazing images for me. I don’t know how she did them so fast. More importantly,
I was impressed by her talent. I loved them. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Projects
that feed my thrift store addiction tend to grow. Having a real reason to go to
a thrift store and pick out stuff is a dream. With the rubber stamps, I needed t-shirts
to complete my project. I had to go through every shirt in the rack. In just a
couple visits I nabbed a big stack at only two dollars apiece. I bought ones
that we’re blank and I bought ones that had stuff already on them. The idea of
a “collaged t-shirt” was rather exciting to me. You know, use the pre-existing
information to make something new. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
first round looked awful. I didn’t know how to regulate the amount of ink so
they ended up looking like I had finger-painted them. Even worse, most of the
ink washed off when I put them I the washing machine the next day. The
information on the can of ink said they only needed one day to dry…that was a
lie. Out of those first six I only salvaged one. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEileTFf5Zz_eQq8PqV3UQkrkPXg2LUaCvItdctwJWcxG2bW26h0UHA1VKV9xy9SsSWHoiyH8aQJ-L4xlHdIruOmi4fmiHRGxapbWs_yV9hI44-Ge4gZhlYvxm9rNqV-jwrOyBzkg5xBtfIU/s1280/thumbnail_IMG_9807.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEileTFf5Zz_eQq8PqV3UQkrkPXg2LUaCvItdctwJWcxG2bW26h0UHA1VKV9xy9SsSWHoiyH8aQJ-L4xlHdIruOmi4fmiHRGxapbWs_yV9hI44-Ge4gZhlYvxm9rNqV-jwrOyBzkg5xBtfIU/s320/thumbnail_IMG_9807.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyxzz-dSYmxpTainWfLDia0tm-zSZm8iNFyY7A6htbe3eIwytdkAc1pjAENVB1MJmrTgJabTSIb77ucrBAclwKrsFwG9_Dp59qXNJAWuwo6-grV3HjSKZgUkDcOW30yBrpkdr3K3s-0r8r/s1280/thumbnail_IMG_9811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyxzz-dSYmxpTainWfLDia0tm-zSZm8iNFyY7A6htbe3eIwytdkAc1pjAENVB1MJmrTgJabTSIb77ucrBAclwKrsFwG9_Dp59qXNJAWuwo6-grV3HjSKZgUkDcOW30yBrpkdr3K3s-0r8r/s320/thumbnail_IMG_9811.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFU5e4ednL31azyA7-lJFlogo3dhr2bv5o4ERRG6tls5PpyWrA0RoeWDpfvlT5fxlDh4eOyvxQT61d2nwKIyzQpzYKHnPOVuVcKcm3n1QelsGQ7Q2YQvJ2qsxFZl_2c4jV6HjJCny2zhJP/s1280/thumbnail_IMG_9812.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFU5e4ednL31azyA7-lJFlogo3dhr2bv5o4ERRG6tls5PpyWrA0RoeWDpfvlT5fxlDh4eOyvxQT61d2nwKIyzQpzYKHnPOVuVcKcm3n1QelsGQ7Q2YQvJ2qsxFZl_2c4jV6HjJCny2zhJP/w240-h320/thumbnail_IMG_9812.jpg" title="The first round...not so good." width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first round...not so good. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
second round I did simple research on. You know research…looking at things on
the internet. I watched almost three whole videos on the subject. They said I
should let them dry for about a week, but I didn’t need to “heat-set” them. I
did both. I pressed out my designs in the basement and then laid them on
tables. After I did the whole pile, I held the hair-dryer over every design for
a cumulative amount of three minutes. They didn’t look bad. They looked simple,
they looked punk which is what I was going for. I wanted them to look like a
CrimethInk band shirt from the 90’s. You know, like a design someone in Zegota
would have come up with after dumpster diving all night long. Simple,
effective, and most importantly, cheap.</span>
<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Giving
away the shirts wasn’t as easy as I thought. I put it out there and only a few
folks raised their hand. Whenever people are trying to avoid saying they’re not
interested in something on social media, you get less and less “likes.” It’s
like when you ask a question to a classroom and all of the students look at
their desks. No biggie, I’ll get rid of them over time. I mostly made smaller
sizes because I thought that’s what people would need. I didn’t realize that my
people were as fleshy as I am. I should have bought more larges and x-larges
instead of mediums and smalls. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">For
most of the week, while the second round was drying in the basement, I was
thinking about how to improve them. The second round was acceptable, but too
simple. The more I thought about them the more I hated them. They were too
boring, not worth giving to people. I decided to redo the whole second round.
At first I thought I could use a stencil to roll on the ink but this didn’t
work because the roller never touched the shirt. A paintbrush worked. I dabbed
as much silkscreen ink inside the stencil as I could, giving a darker layer of
ink than the rubber stamps could. The shirts that came out the best were the
ones that had preexisting words and designs on them. In effect, I was making
collages with t-shirts. The process went so quickly that I ran out of room in
the basement. I might have squeezed in another table in there but I wouldn’t
have had any place to walk. I’ve got about ten shirts I think are worthy of
giving away to people. This week I need to buy bigger shirts, wash them, and
then lay down some ink on Saturday. The only thing I don’t like about this
process is having to wait for them to dry. I can only do so many at one time. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8O-Ah7BVclAqRuHRTnpFS1RrwdOxl69F7n1JX4QzLW85UBuCHYv5sSsYl2Oa3BiTwTI1kbgveDkmw7xe-FKrLkl_jNTRp6QmQIkgKnHlWzeCbm6KmUNewl-QtmnEaNU8U6k4l-E-YCXs7/s1280/thumbnail_IMG_9945.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8O-Ah7BVclAqRuHRTnpFS1RrwdOxl69F7n1JX4QzLW85UBuCHYv5sSsYl2Oa3BiTwTI1kbgveDkmw7xe-FKrLkl_jNTRp6QmQIkgKnHlWzeCbm6KmUNewl-QtmnEaNU8U6k4l-E-YCXs7/s320/thumbnail_IMG_9945.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim9qAC5b5QT-9GmXLhnJU-R0lYT5gD5v4DHPPH4Kr6qubGMTBryfh595GcgtjlR3LFgv7rs4fAscPISIs3a-tVNP6HBgB7KDJYO-AGw36cQYzCFHA2W5uYLl1Vv7pnXoWVkLX_57mWMa4k/s1280/thumbnail_IMG_9954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim9qAC5b5QT-9GmXLhnJU-R0lYT5gD5v4DHPPH4Kr6qubGMTBryfh595GcgtjlR3LFgv7rs4fAscPISIs3a-tVNP6HBgB7KDJYO-AGw36cQYzCFHA2W5uYLl1Vv7pnXoWVkLX_57mWMa4k/s320/thumbnail_IMG_9954.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The third round might work. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-73068232224397607002021-09-23T07:31:00.005-07:002021-09-27T11:03:21.133-07:00I Went For Stamps and Met an Anteater!<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Out of the blue Sam, Y. contacted me about some
paper. He wrote in a Facebook message, “I got a large stamp collection I
inherited several years ago, both foreign and domestic stamps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me know if you might be interested.” Yes,
I was interested. This seems to happen whenever people can’t figure out what to
do stuff piling up in their houses. I always welcome such things, especially if
they’re getting rid of old and weird stuff. The older and the weirder the
better. Sometimes I get giant boxes of mildew infested paper, and sometimes
it’s a small manila envelope with few handwritten notes in there. I love them
all. In the back and forth a plan was set for me to go to his work and pick up
the items. Sam works in Greensboro at the Science Center, a place I’d never
been to. Think of it like a small zoo. Sam works in the hospital. If a fish
gets a cold he’s the guy that’s in charge of giving them cough drops. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ohEgQuZV0DLDdXHjXbRV6Edc4VawCe3Lrx1a8U_2pEYiVzSAxObiBtIDyJf5s_ZS_92RQbUbqZtqJYQY8KggD_OOvnrkNg5hvJ-0ANbwpg43J0HN_qwCDPqEXJ7MgOfAUAqaPlTQBH37/s600/The+Great+Haul+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ohEgQuZV0DLDdXHjXbRV6Edc4VawCe3Lrx1a8U_2pEYiVzSAxObiBtIDyJf5s_ZS_92RQbUbqZtqJYQY8KggD_OOvnrkNg5hvJ-0ANbwpg43J0HN_qwCDPqEXJ7MgOfAUAqaPlTQBH37/s320/The+Great+Haul+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So many stamps. Why does Poland have so many? <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMxrWdv0S1v8N4uUGb38MszLS_qnKFZNsQ9yfqQdMDxbkJGOZAxDtgjK_tUx-DuypcoD3YZAjTXc4fulRPrDveX6BXzv0GpEZoO0xlZ91J4vWVFXi64TUNTJjDsOsCOhFEU2WzZmMx5Rzk/s960/The+Great+Haul+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMxrWdv0S1v8N4uUGb38MszLS_qnKFZNsQ9yfqQdMDxbkJGOZAxDtgjK_tUx-DuypcoD3YZAjTXc4fulRPrDveX6BXzv0GpEZoO0xlZ91J4vWVFXi64TUNTJjDsOsCOhFEU2WzZmMx5Rzk/s320/The+Great+Haul+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Envelopes and first day of issues. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><p></p><p><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When I got there I was blown away by the amount
of “zoo stuff” about. It was a spectacular place, only a couple miles from my
usual Greensboro stops. I called Sam and he talked me to his location, one road
away from the main entrance. I had to get out and take a chain off the fence,
push the fence open, and then put it back. It all felt wrong but intriguing. It
felt like I was on an adventure. Maybe I’d get mauled by a creature? My guy was
waiting for me at another fence. I went through and made it into another layer
of the compound. Before I got out of the car I noticed flamingos only twenty
yards in front of me. It’s hard to miss long-necked pink bids. </span>
</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For the next hour I got a private tour of the
grounds. First he showed me the hospital where he spends most of his time. He
showed me the operating rooms and where folks were cutting up vegetables for the
creatures. I looked in a tub and saw a sick alligator in it and got hissed at
by somewhat large African kitty-cat. I asked a lot of questions and he answered
them all. Did you know that flamingos have to have a certain dye given to them
to ensure they stay pink? If they don’t have the dye they turn white. He showed
me the hippo and the tiger and the gibbons, which he said were relatively easy
to work with. Gibbons seem annoying to me. The last thing he showed me were the
Maine wolves who inhabited the same space as the giant anteater. The two of us
spent the most time talking about the anteater, who he thought was one of the
most dangerous creatures there. “See those arms, if he came up to you and gave
you a hug, he could disembowel you.” I figured the tiger would be more of a
disemboweling type creature, not a large anteater that looked like one of god’s
mistakes. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">An hour into our tour and he was needed back at
the hospital. We strolled past the red pandas that I asked to hold earlier in
our conversation. No dice! One day I’ll hold one. I’d settle for a monkey, even
one of the lesser kind…you know, the distant cousins known for fecal
infatuation. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I took out the giant plastic tubs of stamps from
his car. We talked quickly about the New York Stories movies currently running
on The Criterion Channel, and I was out. I thanked him for the paper and for
his time. At the top of the hill I unhooked the fence and made my way back onto
Lawndale Drive. I was driving and thinking about the creatures. I’d came out to
get a bunch old paper but ended up having the best afternoon I’ve had in
months. Thanks Sam!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The plastic bins were huge, and heavy. If only
paper were lighter my whole life would much easier. So much of my time is spent
moving paper from one location to the next. I wasn’t sure what I had until I
took it all upstairs and started to unpack it. It was clear that I was given
someone’s collection of mail ephemera. It was a meticulously organized
collection. As I unpacked things I could only imagine what the initial
collector would think of what I was doing. Would they appreciate their
collection going to a home that was going to tear them up and move them around
the world? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UoNtAOYMamg8onxBW5Ovd7awGmLPYUkYs29dFUqgeQ8mzkmOdrWoG-fIx3GY6K4Th59lElIuQIIdDum2lifeoCAAEKlJ-FPYehtu8OQ6zKlMfJP2p0DGpmPm-iefXEJH0wYHtxXACqcp/s935/The+Great+Haul+%25285%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="935" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UoNtAOYMamg8onxBW5Ovd7awGmLPYUkYs29dFUqgeQ8mzkmOdrWoG-fIx3GY6K4Th59lElIuQIIdDum2lifeoCAAEKlJ-FPYehtu8OQ6zKlMfJP2p0DGpmPm-iefXEJH0wYHtxXACqcp/s320/The+Great+Haul+%25285%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh the graphics. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2cKoc-egyoS7i_pjT8UX-oSQ4cCxADTs4akSKXa66_8zzJ_26o266dY2IwlPUwv4xsZTUP4bRl8wAyqZYqQV98EqmCqyb-LjZWYQVrKh0bWfavwssZzQlS1Kf7PkWi5DvW1ZxXxkQPZV/s715/The+Great+Haul+%25286%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="715" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2cKoc-egyoS7i_pjT8UX-oSQ4cCxADTs4akSKXa66_8zzJ_26o266dY2IwlPUwv4xsZTUP4bRl8wAyqZYqQV98EqmCqyb-LjZWYQVrKh0bWfavwssZzQlS1Kf7PkWi5DvW1ZxXxkQPZV/s320/The+Great+Haul+%25286%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can almost smell this paper from the image. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The most reoccurring name on many of the
envelopes was M.J. Stevenson of University Parkway in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina. There was also an address on Summit St. in that cool looking brick
apartment building, Apt. 12. Another address was from a location that is no
longer there. That big church on Miller St. must have taken it out. Thank you
M.J. for your hard work. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lOipCf8CBQvnhWRvAw_YBtYT5rdwmhTU9U5K9Dw9amk3hLjrhW4c9VESj2bubjD6Zu56zj6FTOYRe052B5xRNhNDIvGF72h7mU-EnWyYcZdSdrkUiZd2RBnt_GhKfcaXTKpC7iuSdXxL/s933/The+Great+Haul+%25287%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="933" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lOipCf8CBQvnhWRvAw_YBtYT5rdwmhTU9U5K9Dw9amk3hLjrhW4c9VESj2bubjD6Zu56zj6FTOYRe052B5xRNhNDIvGF72h7mU-EnWyYcZdSdrkUiZd2RBnt_GhKfcaXTKpC7iuSdXxL/s320/The+Great+Haul+%25287%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From a Peruvian hotel. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There were a lot of first day of issue stamps,
some of which dated back to 1945. I don’t know anything about collecting
stamps. I like stamps, I use them in my mail art, but for me stamps are the
automobile that moves mail-art. Outside of a practical application of stamps, I’m
interested in the design, but little else. In addition to first day of issue
stamps, I found thousands of cancelled loose stamps…thousands. Many of them
were organized into their own small envelope that was bursting at the seams. There
were two full boxes of stamps from all over the world, enough that I had to get
my own, much bigger box to hold them. While going through piles I sat a few
aside. I especially liked the ones from Liberia that featured men in
traditional dress in front of a washed out color background. Five different
countries had cat stamps commemorating multiple breads. The ones from Qatar
made all of the cats look dignified liked the dusty men on Spanish stamps. Most
interestingly were the different types of stamps from Eastern Bloc countries.
Poland and Hungary had so many editions I wondered if Lenin had been a
collector in his youth. </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Honestly, I was looking for un-cancelled stamps,
ones that I could use in my own work. I found six or seven sheets from the
1990’s but not a giant store of them. When I dug deeper I found books that had
individual and un-cancelled stamps in them. These I had to work at. Each stamp
was wrapped in plastic and taped to a piece of printed cardstock. I ripped the
stamps from the book and then took off the plastic. This last part took at
least two or three hours but it was well worth it. I might have gotten $100.00
of un-cancelled stamps from both plastic bins. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip2pdFIRi5EJGFd3V0txQHUDHccKaFDElB-eVWxo9eZhzln9sEtCZnMOnB5ynM_J6BTg0CSw11VuNjbMAnVHUvZUYoeSjEeWyHT8g3GWaKu1X0gK9n39dusK8UA0ch4STCFvCZKuRHg6wQ/s600/The+Great+Haul+%25284%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip2pdFIRi5EJGFd3V0txQHUDHccKaFDElB-eVWxo9eZhzln9sEtCZnMOnB5ynM_J6BTg0CSw11VuNjbMAnVHUvZUYoeSjEeWyHT8g3GWaKu1X0gK9n39dusK8UA0ch4STCFvCZKuRHg6wQ/s320/The+Great+Haul+%25284%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young Elvis, not Vegas bloated Elvis un-cancelled stamps. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In addition to stamps, I found a lot of
envelopes addressed to M.J. These were dated from the 1940’s until the 1980’s.
Most of them were just the envelopes from places all over the world, the
personal letters removed. I got the feeling that M.J. had a lot of pin-pals
simply because of the volume and variety of locations. I’d be lying if I wasn’t
looking for names of famous mail-artists, it’s an impulse. A civilian obsessed
with mail and a mail-artist can sometimes overlap. There were some postcards,
envelopes from businesses in Winston-Salem that no longer exist, and
presidential envelopes. One envelope was from Reagan before he was president
and the other from Ford when he was president…I think. I’m not googling Gerald
Ford. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg97G2XYoeGfeWkhLQJt-m10gAAjIlEuD_fCmFIoLu0ECKHz5cxKzrIzZzeUepIM0XU_05YDgnORjwHc0Y7kRPqChcJk7iPYW_TSdSa69VlcmNR8Gx6tBRmzzQIN_BzVZ3Cu31UFhr9FIT/s600/The+Great+Haul+%25283%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg97G2XYoeGfeWkhLQJt-m10gAAjIlEuD_fCmFIoLu0ECKHz5cxKzrIzZzeUepIM0XU_05YDgnORjwHc0Y7kRPqChcJk7iPYW_TSdSa69VlcmNR8Gx6tBRmzzQIN_BzVZ3Cu31UFhr9FIT/s320/The+Great+Haul+%25283%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">YUCK!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The most intriguing bits were the few personal
letters. I read a couple of postcards coming from Lexington North Carolina. I’m
sure if I made the effort I could identify the family with just a few questions
to my parents. The cards were from the 1940’s, well before the zip code was
instituted. Mr. Zip was just a thought in a designer’s mind. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The un-cancelled stamps will be put on new
envelopes and moved around the world. It’ll take me forever to use all of them
because there’s no way in hell I’m licking those things. The cancelled ones
will end up in my own work or sent as is. The first day of issues I’ll try and
pass onto someone who collects them. I have no use for them and I’d feel bad
tearing them up even though they don’t command much of a price. Everything else
will end up being scanned, cut up, given away, or repurposed in some fashion.
On the first day I sliced up half a dozen envelopes in a few minutes. I worried
about this last part when I met up with Sam. I wanted him to know that the
collection would go through a lot of changes after I played around with it. He
was fine with it. I hope M.J. is fine with it. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SAM Y. added later, after seeing the above...</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span class="tojvnm2t a6sixzi8 abs2jz4q a8s20v7p t1p8iaqh k5wvi7nf q3lfd5jv pk4s997a bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y iyyx5f41">Hey,
this is great Jon and I know Mary Jane would be happy to see these
stamps finding new life. She was a cool gal. She used to walk over and
visit my grandparents (their lots were adjoining). She always wore her
gardening clogs (these predated crocs, but perhaps the inspiration, I
believe they were chartreuse). Her and my grandfolks shared several
gardening plots. After she died her kids asked me if i would like the
stamps. Those sheets of unmarked stamps from the 1990's (Elvis,
dinosaurs,, can't remember the rest) were actually ones I collected.</span></span></b></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-43236314392535977232021-09-16T09:13:00.000-07:002021-09-16T09:13:11.348-07:00NPR's Eddie Garcia Made A Record and I Made An Image <p class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Go buy this record from
Winston-Salem North Carolina’s, Eddie Garcia. Eddie has a one-man band that
goes by the name 1970’s Film Stock. He’s a wonderfully talented person who’s making
great art. He also has a husky NPR voice. The full record comes out on October
8<sup>th</sup> but you can pre-order it now. Give me a few hundred words and
I’ll come back around to the record. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Listen / Order here.<a href="https://1970sfilmstock.bandcamp.com/album/third-anthem" target="_blank"> </a></span><a href="https://1970sfilmstock.bandcamp.com/album/third-anthem" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">https://1970sfilmstock.bandcamp.com/album/third-anthem</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I started collecting
records out of necessity. Before the days of streaming, or even peer-sharing
services (I hate when people write such things…so boring, so obvious) you had
to have a physical thing. There was a hunt to being a music fan. It was
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t get me wrong, I liked doing
the work but it’s much better today. Being able to have so much music within
seconds is a good thing, not a bad thing. It wasn’t better then. So, if you had
a budding and insatiable appetite for music in the mid-90’s, you did the work. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLeIDkrS3zeH5SxXueOdHL0WnbyoCT9P8ktSpwtUh6BOv-9s6pT1-1ubBwyHBDUYeKxe09emNcVO6VvvBFTpVv_layPa_Qge8-aSMsVWSFXOZ_PJE_JdEtNDBhvRcOKd_HcIneDThZk1hv/s1280/thumbnail_IMG_8757.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Front Cover" border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLeIDkrS3zeH5SxXueOdHL0WnbyoCT9P8ktSpwtUh6BOv-9s6pT1-1ubBwyHBDUYeKxe09emNcVO6VvvBFTpVv_layPa_Qge8-aSMsVWSFXOZ_PJE_JdEtNDBhvRcOKd_HcIneDThZk1hv/w300-h400/thumbnail_IMG_8757.jpg" title="Front Cover." width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front Cover.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The mid-90’s were a dead
time for vinyl records. Most of the majors weren’t putting out records unless
you were Pearl Jam and you had a song on your third record fetishizing the
black circle. With four or five dollars you could flesh out your collection in
no time at a flea market. Sure, the Beatles and Elvis records were overpriced,
but everything else was a dollar or less. The week would be for studying
magazines and books and VH1 Rock and Roll documentaries, and the flea market
weekends would be for looking for those things. I found the inevitable classic
rock, but I also found Venom’s Black Metal, Dead Kennedy singles on Cherry Red,
and my first jazz records. All of this was just to be able to listen to MORE
music outside of 106.5, my CD collection, and whatever I could borrow from
friends. I didn’t get my first CD burner until my freshman year of college,
which corresponded perfectly with the emergence of Napster. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">While I liked records, I
never was one of those guys. I wasn’t one of those guys who knew the pressing info
of every record I owned but never listened to the music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The format is not as important as what’s on
it. I didn’t care if it was on record or CD I just wanted to listen to it. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">If records were better
than CD’s, they were better because of the artwork. There was so much more that
could be done with a record. A record is an exciting artifact! CD’s are
practical but boring. Like everyone I’d spend hours memorizing record covers,
thumbing through them, and of course, cleaning the years of basement dust off
of them. You can never get rid of that smell. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwVHYImgfQvzUPhpTA7ggqHugtrBDXwtwF_rIhh5WKWced95M_9RfUsiNsHGyCZg-JJwyU-fiCrfd0knV62ADw-V0mdl-rRmwZ1DpxHmkmi32BCiMqzDIFUIwEvFdd4JDKjMG2yoIRuZ1r/s1280/thumbnail_IMG_8758.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwVHYImgfQvzUPhpTA7ggqHugtrBDXwtwF_rIhh5WKWced95M_9RfUsiNsHGyCZg-JJwyU-fiCrfd0knV62ADw-V0mdl-rRmwZ1DpxHmkmi32BCiMqzDIFUIwEvFdd4JDKjMG2yoIRuZ1r/w300-h400/thumbnail_IMG_8758.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back cover. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Two years ago, Eddie
Garcia told me that he wanted to use an image of mine for a record cover. At
that time, he wasn’t sure if he was going to press them onto vinyl, make tapes,
or offer it up as a download. I was vying for a record because I wanted to see
him make his work more present in the world, and I wanted to see something I
made on a record cover. I was cheering for him; I was happy for me. Thankfully
he chose the vinyl option. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I don’t remember making
the image that adorns the front and back cover. I know how I made it. I scanned
a painting I did in my yard. I put that image in black monochrome. I added
colors and then doubled the base image over and over again. It was simple but
the finished product looked pretty good, good enough that I had my friends and
local printers (House of Rodan) to print some on 16x20 canvases. Maybe three or
of them were printed. Eddie said he wanted one so I stuck it in a frame and
dropped it off at his house. Chances are I gave it to him. I have no idea what
happened to the others. When I dropped off the blown up print to his house, his
wife and in this case layout designer, Alex Klein told me, “I don’t like the
colors. I just don’t like primary colors.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Looking at the image now,
I’m not too happy with it either. The colors are fine, but there’s white lines
in the damn thing and that annoys me. I imagine the lines appear whenever the
layers start to overlap one another. My technical knowledge is very limited,
and I prefer crude anyway, so…it came out the way it did. If I could go back
and fix anything I’d make sure those white lines would disappear. The layout
looks great, the colors pop…it really stands out. Even though I made the image,
I think it’s a cool looking record. You put this one on a record store shelf
and people will take notice. A million seller right out of the box. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iTIwO0dgsevys6s0gnA4H-2r-eRn6-UB4xUZSHmVPuP8QhTkXBaLPUiF4sFf3XXRkeO-dRlrcZFcxp13XAqiEGr2llRjNMal9mEzQFzL6UtIjwJU0MVN9w3BCamuK8MGRvA4Gksbi0mq/s1280/thumbnail_IMG_8759.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iTIwO0dgsevys6s0gnA4H-2r-eRn6-UB4xUZSHmVPuP8QhTkXBaLPUiF4sFf3XXRkeO-dRlrcZFcxp13XAqiEGr2llRjNMal9mEzQFzL6UtIjwJU0MVN9w3BCamuK8MGRvA4Gksbi0mq/w300-h400/thumbnail_IMG_8759.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You see that white line? <br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Having my image on a
printed record, one that will end up on people’s shelves across the country is
kind of a dream come true. Mostly what I make ends up behind an envelope in a
pile of other things. A record is dealt with, handled, and looked at. You have
to see the thing! You have to interact with the thing!</span>
</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-89597458325704613302021-09-02T09:22:00.001-07:002021-09-02T09:22:29.439-07:00You Can't Hurry A Paper Collage
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Looking back at the first
collages I moved through the Network, I’m not impressed. Those first ones were
sloppy and silly, made up mostly of just a few parts. All of them were paper
and glue and maybe a little marker or paint. Those early collages weren’t good,
but I needed a starting point. It took an accident for me to discover tape
transfers, which became an infatuation for me. I like making tape based collages.
More importantly, I thought there was something there, something worth pursing
over and over again. It took three years and a lot of playing with tape before I
made something I liked. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE98xn_Pp0b-xSZWaU8gBRfd0eFYreNJhFQDRWENVvYTqf9X1otQfde63QAZO3YNli9BLsn7fCeFR-AS7ZZvRYCqvv0DZHb3vkU4zY82qafdfW2PJXCW97gjM1gT3-7dhBsbNp1pk2LOlb/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="1677" data-original-width="965" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE98xn_Pp0b-xSZWaU8gBRfd0eFYreNJhFQDRWENVvYTqf9X1otQfde63QAZO3YNli9BLsn7fCeFR-AS7ZZvRYCqvv0DZHb3vkU4zY82qafdfW2PJXCW97gjM1gT3-7dhBsbNp1pk2LOlb/w230-h400/6.jpg" width="230" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYkMvaj-O3A_nXxlO-8m2XMvjDorj3LhgFJ191KZXpDuc-Npp-qf0-1b8jESHHBbQ4FcWWIz3r_EjcEvVcFd0U5AbaC4BN2oZHmkm_o5i8N8Bkq5OTai5QMVx2FN8bEZK1AYEfF1Y8Dz89/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="1724" data-original-width="992" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYkMvaj-O3A_nXxlO-8m2XMvjDorj3LhgFJ191KZXpDuc-Npp-qf0-1b8jESHHBbQ4FcWWIz3r_EjcEvVcFd0U5AbaC4BN2oZHmkm_o5i8N8Bkq5OTai5QMVx2FN8bEZK1AYEfF1Y8Dz89/w230-h400/8.jpg" width="230" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0RpmPkxbVFJ8tl7jPOWkzxCwZhiXh0w44ZR_KWv3-mTzYUfa5cbS5KSHlzaHmtxDsUPIs1RAXlrYP6LS9xm_52JP_k4iqrGv2DH0W8Ez5JLRyC4scbdJQK-LHiHTCQ_lVwdm5sEG4hFt6/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img data-original-height="1636" data-original-width="1052" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0RpmPkxbVFJ8tl7jPOWkzxCwZhiXh0w44ZR_KWv3-mTzYUfa5cbS5KSHlzaHmtxDsUPIs1RAXlrYP6LS9xm_52JP_k4iqrGv2DH0W8Ez5JLRyC4scbdJQK-LHiHTCQ_lVwdm5sEG4hFt6/w257-h400/7.jpg" width="257" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally, paper collages that I thought were acceptable. These three were sent as mail-art postcards. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">One thing that eluded me
were decently made paper collages. Once I started messing with tape, I mostly
avoided straight paper collages. I mean I dabbled in paper collages, but I
never made anything I thought was particularly good. Essentially, I made re-captioned
pictures in the spirt of the meme. They were always funny or surreal or a
little bit of both, but nothing close to a fully realized collage. </span>
<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This summer I spent a lot
of time upstairs working on things. Most days I put in three or four hours
logging what I had received, ripping paper for transfers, pre-making envelopes,
writing responses to folks, putting picture print offs into thrift store frames
for those little libraries, and gluing things together. I can always go
upstairs and find something to work on for hours at a time. There’s always
something to do. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Part of my mail-art process
is going to thrift stores, it’s what happens before I work on things upstairs. There’s
a lot of steps to making stuff that doesn’t actually involve the physical
putting together of items. You have to think about those items and you have to
buy those items before you can create something new. Thrift stores are where I get
the vast majority of my materials, and strangely, my inspiration. You walk
around and think about new creations. Thrift stores are where I like to
brainstorm.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I was walking around one
such place in Lexington North Carolina. It’s a Habitat for Humanity store, not
always the best place for what I’m looking for. It doesn’t help that the staff
is mildly unfriendly and you have to endure tons of contemporary Christian
music. What I like most about the store is that there’s an upstairs that runs
the parameter of the shop. The middle is open, allowing you to look down on the
first floor shoppers. The feel of the place causes me to come back as much as
what they sell. Anything feels better than the super-practical layout of a
Goodwill. Books are two dollars a bag and sometimes there’s parts and pieces for
next to nothing, sometimes…not all the time. Frames are often at a good price
too. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Anyway, I went through the
books and saw an older lady looking at a large pile of records. A Supremes’
record was sticking out from the top of her pile as she thumbed through them on
a dingy couch. Nothing to get too excited about, those records are almost universally
trashed, both because people listened to them and because they didn’t come with
a paper sleeve. If 99% of all thrift store records (I believe this figure to be
true) contain terrible music, then 99% of that 1% is trashed, completely unplayable.
I walked over to the boxes of records not expecting much. Looking at thrift
store records is more of an obligation than a joy. I quickly pulled out a pile
of mid-1960’s titles, all originals. Every record was completely trashed. I
ended up buying five or six anyway, just because I liked the covers. I would have
preferred them to be in good shape so I could listen to them. At 50 cents each,
I could make unique postcards out of them without much fuss. I bought a couple
Supremes records, a Dixie Cups record, and the Kingsmen. The lady on the couch
had a massive pile as I walked away. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Much like stumbling
across the tape transfer method many years ago, I stumbled across making relatively
satisfying paper collages. The records were quickly discarded and the covers
cut into pieces after salvaging big chucks for postcards. They sat beside a
large roll of industrial sticky paper I bought at The Scrap Exchange a couple
months before. When I purchased the sticky paper the clerk asked me what I was
going to do with it. At that time, I didn’t have a clue. It was like two
dollars for the roll, why not? I ended up laying out one of the pieces of
sticky paper on my work table. I’d then take the strips of record cover and
push them together on the sticky paper creating a foot-long collage. From there
I cut circles into the strips over and over, replacing them with circles from
other parts of the foot-long collage. Over time these foot-long strips created
a pile on my desk, which I made for no particular reason. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I then cut up the foot-long
strips into smaller strips. I mixed those new strips up and then stuck them to
a different piece of sticky paper. I did this over and over again. I cut more
circles out of the new strips. I did this over and over again. Over time I started
to see something entrancing produced from this process. I felt like I was
making a quilt of tiny bits of fifty-year-old cardboard. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">What I ended up with
worked well for postcards, most of which had a similar look once they were cut
to fit in an envelope. I scanned the ones I thought were most interesting, the
ones where you could see a face pop up in the composition…maybe a word hidden somewhere.
Some of them I put into frames. Some of them ended up looking like “collage
sculptures.” These sculptures had a shape that wasn’t the usual square or rectangle.
</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5vzQl8nLs0bkp_PDZ2rxFJUNChrBaRR1mMIBMF1lDVNGlAFXO6_MZMXCwPoYDXAxEeMamlGRVhgl8kaVN5brsA2JHu9QkGDORKr-521RUCyfta1NuyRYrMG79FwLbplfZojl179iMrx9-/s960/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5vzQl8nLs0bkp_PDZ2rxFJUNChrBaRR1mMIBMF1lDVNGlAFXO6_MZMXCwPoYDXAxEeMamlGRVhgl8kaVN5brsA2JHu9QkGDORKr-521RUCyfta1NuyRYrMG79FwLbplfZojl179iMrx9-/w300-h400/3.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP_vHgXaJAC3d3GDjlV_4u5n4c6sBScwasy4V6bUc2pN0_BxYInpl2vnf53TPzfIr-6LMXxOO23IdCnOFWiv3qfKqy9yD5uNqYKmw8mspGIlYBD21Zh9SPmr3hKH0IdMxI3ED888sfxYAZ/s960/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP_vHgXaJAC3d3GDjlV_4u5n4c6sBScwasy4V6bUc2pN0_BxYInpl2vnf53TPzfIr-6LMXxOO23IdCnOFWiv3qfKqy9yD5uNqYKmw8mspGIlYBD21Zh9SPmr3hKH0IdMxI3ED888sfxYAZ/w300-h400/2.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paper collages wrapped in thrift store frames. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">To me, I liked the ones I
glued to painted board frames. They were a collaboration between me and my dad
who made the frames for me. He made about ten or twelve in various sizes. I spray-painted
them and then cut the collages into the shape that best fit the boards. The
leftover pieces went into the next collage. The board framed collages I put
into my save pile upstairs. I have no idea what I’m going to do with them but
they’re in a plastic bin in a small room that is quickly filling up with stuff.
The ones I put in frames I gave out to a few folks. Whatever is leftover will
end up in little libraries around the area.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLAHeLa6VxLVuRVOQUBoacz3LaJjbnSbG7cjCx3CQ1YL-_LjFbiOFqeBu907kBP7Z1LSIIrH2Bc-bXijdiAB3QK05EJc07P27u8N0qdOGheBTKglAVHkCuxWu7WBEvRvjcKMk1KEO33qUm/s960/4.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLAHeLa6VxLVuRVOQUBoacz3LaJjbnSbG7cjCx3CQ1YL-_LjFbiOFqeBu907kBP7Z1LSIIrH2Bc-bXijdiAB3QK05EJc07P27u8N0qdOGheBTKglAVHkCuxWu7WBEvRvjcKMk1KEO33qUm/w300-h400/4.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZzyiXEYX1xU_8sew6GvOt0B6TP2kcJamnA1AefwnRRH85N_BOW7HrwyvcFZo277VnhSMeBPpUj50GnRNfCHcPGJ-NfET0JdvcqgWis0dcUO5WPNSXEwYGvOkY9ADqK7-PNrw4MOsXQ6_/s960/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZzyiXEYX1xU_8sew6GvOt0B6TP2kcJamnA1AefwnRRH85N_BOW7HrwyvcFZo277VnhSMeBPpUj50GnRNfCHcPGJ-NfET0JdvcqgWis0dcUO5WPNSXEwYGvOkY9ADqK7-PNrw4MOsXQ6_/w300-h400/5.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">May dad made the boards, I made the collages. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-13940848867835032752021-03-30T05:54:00.003-07:002021-03-30T05:54:42.519-07:00No Laughing in the Little Library <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I make too much stuff. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyCrefl7qk2pCMonIVG6obdYin-9q7T-TMpg5m1E62Xkiw9mToSlzPPWPBLq0tccastwTGTI171KFj0Hul6vGebLdIGKtPT9DYAgKgvrXTQbyqZXv-YkzZ_DYV23fpM_aPuNAHu1BoeM0Q/s1280/thumbnail_IMG_5866.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyCrefl7qk2pCMonIVG6obdYin-9q7T-TMpg5m1E62Xkiw9mToSlzPPWPBLq0tccastwTGTI171KFj0Hul6vGebLdIGKtPT9DYAgKgvrXTQbyqZXv-YkzZ_DYV23fpM_aPuNAHu1BoeM0Q/w240-h320/thumbnail_IMG_5866.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>I have blocks of “making
time” scheduled throughout the week. I have blocks of making time at work,
upstairs in the main making space, and painting outside. Through the week, I’m
continually shuffling things from one of these three spaces. If there’s time available,
I like to work on something. There’s never an issue of inspiration with what I
make, I simply inhabit one of these spaces and start chipping away at things.
If the mind is slightly blank, I can put addresses on envelopes, rip up images
from magazines, or do the massive amount of clerical work that goes with
mail-art. There’s always something to do and I try and do it as much as humanly
possible…all the time. <br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This has led to something
of a problem. I make too much stuff. The collages are easy to get rid of, I
just put those in envelopes and send them to folks. Sometimes I send to mail-art
shows just to keep from burdening my correspondents. In moments of intense
creativity, I mail collages in large envelopes with a lot of broadsides and
random garbage included. Doing that sort of thing clears up a lot of space. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Thrift stores haven’t
helped with this problem. Thrift stores have fueled my picture frame purchases
simply because they’re there, and they’re cheap. I have tons upstairs that I
put collages, broadsides, and Frankenstein like creations in. Normally I save
these for unwanted home deliveries in the Winston area, but friends can only
take so much. They don’t want this stuff and I can’t afford to mail all of it
out, so it collects in piles. Side note: people love to tell me I should sell
my things, but they never follow up with how, let alone buy something from me. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZl-VokOxMftPrRmYQbtSXl8QaLrz4QdBnJ0YZAwYhAgD9wE0oiNxLDNdMIs9dqGHw3bvmT1WusJBmf2CNFL171-hP-6RvgpmY8L2k5SEqtFRXxF2B0lDDIB5LFJe8fDPmJDnm4OkI3IJ/s1280/thumbnail_IMG_5867.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZl-VokOxMftPrRmYQbtSXl8QaLrz4QdBnJ0YZAwYhAgD9wE0oiNxLDNdMIs9dqGHw3bvmT1WusJBmf2CNFL171-hP-6RvgpmY8L2k5SEqtFRXxF2B0lDDIB5LFJe8fDPmJDnm4OkI3IJ/s320/thumbnail_IMG_5867.jpg" /></a></div><br />It never occurred to me
to start putting items in those Little Libraries around town. You know the
ones, small mailbox like structures in front of houses where people dump unwanted
manuals for a computer that broke years ago…. yeah, those. Never thought of it,
not even once. I drive by quite a few of them while going around town, they’re
pretty much everywhere, and it never occurred to me. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The first round of things
I delivered were mostly printed images of my face. (This past week I started
putting collage packets in there too). These were, reduced in size broadsides
that I’d cut up and fit into tiny frames, some of them less than three inches
tall. Frames from the Mission on Trade Street is less than a price of a stamp. I
first dropped off a big batch of things on the west side of town, simply
because of the ease of getting out of my car. I could pull over on the side of
the road and not get hit. The next week I came back and everything I put in
there was gone. I printed a list of other little libraries and started putting
things in five or six different ones. Whenever I’d go back the next week,
everything would be gone. A whim had turned into another ridiculous obligation.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">At first I thought people
were taking them out of the boxes, and tossing them in the trash. “This isn’t
</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimPqwWHAdBQPDeK95kBqBTq-HUTxywfqzpEIvI7XjkpTiKXU1sjnSDhqQJ2TmWmGS0rE5fxqNl9Q56pSFYA6wZT_bfPC21yPbtSnSXr-l0BQIm5zRiuACbU9bgxEX8PXr3URmTbZ3p6h8g/s1280/thumbnail_IMG_6003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimPqwWHAdBQPDeK95kBqBTq-HUTxywfqzpEIvI7XjkpTiKXU1sjnSDhqQJ2TmWmGS0rE5fxqNl9Q56pSFYA6wZT_bfPC21yPbtSnSXr-l0BQIm5zRiuACbU9bgxEX8PXr3URmTbZ3p6h8g/s320/thumbnail_IMG_6003.jpg" /></a></div><br />supposed to be here!” I’d imagine them saying. This fear came exclusively from
reading the neighborhood Facebook group. The amount of people on there that do
not care for joy outnumber the ones that do. Take my image out and use the
frames, I don’t care. If anything it’s a frame donation. A couple weeks ago
someone posted specifically about the libraries on the neighborhood page. It
seems that someone in a black pickup truck was going around the neighborhood cleaning
out the libraries. Many, often pissed off people, were pissed. Everyone had an
opinion about the little library thief, but no one mentioned my pictures. I
kind of wanted them to mention my pictures. While it’s nice to get rid of stuff,
the main thrill is imagining what someone else will make of the gesture. I’d
love to see video of someone opening up one of those little doors, and seeing
an image of my face looking back at them in a tiny frame? If I get a chuckle,
just one chuckle, it would be worth it. Of course I’ll never know if I get that
chuckle…that’s the joy of the anonymous gift. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As soon as someone
mentions my pictures I’ll have to stop, what fun will it be then? </span></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-76246395772834311692021-03-23T06:07:00.001-07:002021-03-23T06:07:39.880-07:00It's Like a Shag Carpet. I Want to Sit on It and Play A Board Game <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu78-gIl8yBaZ7D7u2O6qFLBrNtST64HfGO-yT4JIZW0wnY0k7KcKsl21AGRx9qisyRJkivEEAln9ANcktRyMWv35RBbU0FjSNQTRTB8OX7lUyRHuT-yY8ZtN4ttJj41J6lORFEU7yklLW/s1280/thumbnail_Photo+Feb+13%252C+10+38+07+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu78-gIl8yBaZ7D7u2O6qFLBrNtST64HfGO-yT4JIZW0wnY0k7KcKsl21AGRx9qisyRJkivEEAln9ANcktRyMWv35RBbU0FjSNQTRTB8OX7lUyRHuT-yY8ZtN4ttJj41J6lORFEU7yklLW/w150-h200/thumbnail_Photo+Feb+13%252C+10+38+07+AM.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I don’t care much for
shopping. Well, I don’t care much for aimlessly wondering around big box stores
looking for overpriced stuff I’ll rarely use. Technically, I go shopping (minus
going to market) two or three times a week and I’ve done that for twenty years.
Surprise, I go to thrift stores! Mostly I go looking for things to make into
other things. I buy old books, magazines, random office supplies, and lately, a
lot of figures and pieces of wood to spray-paint. For four or five dollars I
can walk out with a lot of fun parts. I look in the sack of these parts piled
in my upstairs room, and think to myself “what will you become?” Postcard collage
is usually the answer. </span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWBCKmhnbxkT7Na2Nna6jIf-TFpA73Vr2OJHfCY5S2_PgwpUQXsWCgZ3Wc0bP93-6bUQw39vewkKW1jpGxkoeV3oAfl9ZkvDPIyXoGINalc27k32ExaJRG2BimOeQtXaL-Rsbq0gb3sIHk/s1280/thumbnail_Photo+Feb+19%252C+8+31+04+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWBCKmhnbxkT7Na2Nna6jIf-TFpA73Vr2OJHfCY5S2_PgwpUQXsWCgZ3Wc0bP93-6bUQw39vewkKW1jpGxkoeV3oAfl9ZkvDPIyXoGINalc27k32ExaJRG2BimOeQtXaL-Rsbq0gb3sIHk/w300-h400/thumbnail_Photo+Feb+19%252C+8+31+04+AM.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It’s the thrill of the
hunt. It’s entertainment. It’s a stress reliever. As soon as I walk into a
place and get that overwhelming moldy clothes and dust smell in my nostrils I’m
at peace. Walking past a guy who just came off the street to get warm and is
sucking on his fingers in the middle of the aisle, this is culture…man. Going
to thrift stores on the regular is an activity where I get to interact with
personalities and mostly, the run-off a consumer society that buys too much
shit. The only time I hate going is at Halloween when all of the Wake Forest
kids in Brooks Brothers clothes go looking for “freaky” outfits. They snicker
as they walk the aisles. In contrast, The School of Arts kids walk into thrift
stores with thrift store outfits already on. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I move swiftly. I have my
routines, but I’m there every week. I hit the major stops in Winston-Salem as
well as those in Lexington, Thomasville, and Kernersville all within a month
period. When I get the chance I have trips that go from Salisbury all the way
to Central Avenue in Charlotte. I have a path through Burlington that leads to
Durham. To find good shit, I have two tips. 1. Go to terrible towns where the
cool kids and “internet millionaires” don’t go. That means, stay away from
thrift stores in “real” college towns. P.T.A. in Chapel Hill can get expensive.
Oh yeah, internet millionaires are those hoarder-trolls that stand around all
day looking for things they can resale for two pennies profit. 2. Go often. <br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Board games have been the
main source of my thrift store focus lately. Only recently did I even take a
look at that section. That shelf is mostly made of puzzles with missing pieces
in them. I don’t do puzzles, I’m not old enough for that. One day I started to
slowly look through the piles and I picked out a couple board games, mostly
older ones. I pulled down Life and a few games I’d never heard of from the 1970’s.
Inside I found parts and pieces of paper that were old and unique, stuff you
wouldn’t find in other stores. Many of the board games had never been played,
so you’re opening a box full of paper and notepads and games pieces that are
basically new. Basically new but with the production value and design (less
digital precision) of at least forty years ago. <br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_L02p-Y6AcdZntRo6MS_D2qiVy1KjucbykXuZSluzgVW_O9edcZgadywTfy4uLupN5qwj-MmUrvOT8mDiEWrFdIkbMepE7-XzOX44XHquu93fMXYuBLmLht_K7Kg7_mVsAHAdutqaG09/s1280/thumbnail_Photo+Feb+13%252C+10+38+57+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_L02p-Y6AcdZntRo6MS_D2qiVy1KjucbykXuZSluzgVW_O9edcZgadywTfy4uLupN5qwj-MmUrvOT8mDiEWrFdIkbMepE7-XzOX44XHquu93fMXYuBLmLht_K7Kg7_mVsAHAdutqaG09/w240-h320/thumbnail_Photo+Feb+13%252C+10+38+57+AM.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Here’s the best part, the
going price at all Goodwill’s in Northwest North Carolina is 50 cents. 50
cents! Dollar Tree doesn’t have as good of deals. Sure, they sometimes have the
specially priced board games that can go up to five dollars, but the pricing
isn’t consistent. Remember rule number two? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Initially I was just
buying bingo card sets for 50 cents. You’d get as many as 25 old bingo cards in
one box. I’d spray-paint those on the weekends and put my collages on top. They
were sturdy enough to send all by themselves. It’s solid cardboard. The newer
ones are a little flimsier so they can be sent in an envelope with other pieces
of paper and stay under the one-ounce limit. Bingo cards have also been
reproduced in every color and shape you could imagine. There’s no limit to the
amount of different kinds…it’s a cheap cardboard canvas of recycled materials.
I imagine that 90% of my collages have been tapped to a bingo card that I
bought at a thrift store. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Recently, it’s all been
about Scrabble board games for me. Not so much those wooden taupe colored tiles
that have been the mainstay of the game for years. I prefer the other kinds,
the Scrabble Junior pieces that are a little bigger and come in more pleasing
colors. Much like bingo cards, there seems to be no limit to the different
types of Scrabble tiles. Some of them are in light blue with black letters,
some are taupe with yellow on top, and I even have bag with black letters. You
get a ton of them and they cost next to nothing. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I like to put similar
tiles in bags and then spread them on a table and spell out stuff. I then glue
those letters to cheap wooden cutouts I buy from Dollar Tree, or you guessed
it, repurposed thrift store items. The things I end up spelling are completely
silly, childish, or just stupid. It’s liberating to be so simple and so stupid.
No art whatsoever. Mostly I like to focus on making signs. Signs are supposed
to give you basic information and directions. Of course, just because of the
things I’m interested in, I like signs that confuse or offend but present
themselves as an authority. I like signs that do the exact opposite of what
they’re designed to. I’ve been obsessed with these signs for years. I spend a
lot of time taking pictures of signs in foreign countries and then making new signs
out of those pictures. It’s visual poetry, or something like that. When I’m
done with them I give them away like everything else I make. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lAoPodzXTj5gMLumDaWCMbpa7Z8wss_b8fp6eoPCUY64OWeNQxLPH1Ns-hwoJXhZ8tcNY6745Az-RTJ2uh_RH3SSsZVpJUZlLBiYA8Z5ER9AvmyxCtDao4oDdfw6b4GED4iaOJCfUKPp/s2079/150244791_10161083808644698_12606727329458981_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="2079" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lAoPodzXTj5gMLumDaWCMbpa7Z8wss_b8fp6eoPCUY64OWeNQxLPH1Ns-hwoJXhZ8tcNY6745Az-RTJ2uh_RH3SSsZVpJUZlLBiYA8Z5ER9AvmyxCtDao4oDdfw6b4GED4iaOJCfUKPp/w400-h131/150244791_10161083808644698_12606727329458981_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katie + Molly + Kat<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKtPJoCexLlkzo6eMT_bfl_63CTz_PSxM-WbLXv41UMF6AENYTAig58LRwrl02qRqm0ckUn_KD7jzutqkMDyBC99fj3XhDls-pORi2XPBPJpLa_VrXFqy1lJTCpgK9uvzrnfUgxdbZHNix/s960/152947668_10161080781564698_1334268804678584611_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKtPJoCexLlkzo6eMT_bfl_63CTz_PSxM-WbLXv41UMF6AENYTAig58LRwrl02qRqm0ckUn_KD7jzutqkMDyBC99fj3XhDls-pORi2XPBPJpLa_VrXFqy1lJTCpgK9uvzrnfUgxdbZHNix/s320/152947668_10161080781564698_1334268804678584611_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steve Holt <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pB7gqhcVqYTCYFgcrd1XgEMi-ukf-71XqSi8oHJ0v_SY7ZUSesoQbmpOrQ1O-x3pPBQAEuoLYetShp25xkp3Bf_wVeg3MwU_AwHkxHhZALQwSpzc-IzyEGh3Qoi3q2q6EkxtrDFpdIvu/s960/151215323_10161080781264698_4023612791859929088_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pB7gqhcVqYTCYFgcrd1XgEMi-ukf-71XqSi8oHJ0v_SY7ZUSesoQbmpOrQ1O-x3pPBQAEuoLYetShp25xkp3Bf_wVeg3MwU_AwHkxHhZALQwSpzc-IzyEGh3Qoi3q2q6EkxtrDFpdIvu/s320/151215323_10161080781264698_4023612791859929088_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bill Hicks <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-15470671522917401562021-02-22T06:59:00.003-08:002021-02-22T06:59:48.673-08:00I Don't Like This!<p class="MsoNormal"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I don’t like this. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEb1F4wOIRje3RQejxLjb4ZPdsN5YbOZVTsrNNDEH2vaRqvX1Mxv3m7HQH7S4-qIfGJEctwgAL3oV0dRq58tkHC-zxPl4GOf03vCaK98pwUSCDfanL2-KkoiRlZ5-g_p24xeg7DRiG9yAT/s1280/thumbnail_From+2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="955" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEb1F4wOIRje3RQejxLjb4ZPdsN5YbOZVTsrNNDEH2vaRqvX1Mxv3m7HQH7S4-qIfGJEctwgAL3oV0dRq58tkHC-zxPl4GOf03vCaK98pwUSCDfanL2-KkoiRlZ5-g_p24xeg7DRiG9yAT/w299-h400/thumbnail_From+2012.jpg" width="299" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See...just a mess. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Some weeks ago I got one
of those reminders from Facebook about a collage I posted back in 2012. Not
only did see my old coffee table in my old apartment where I used to make
everything, but I saw a terrible composition. I had only been working with tape
for a little over a year and only involved in mail art for about three. I was one
of those random people starting to mail. One of those people lit by the spark
of mail-art, mine coming from the documentary, How to Draw a Bunny. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Using tape was something
that I fell into. No one told me how to do it, it was literally an effect I
achieved when accidentally pulling scotch tape over an old magazine. Once I saw
the image underneath, I did it again and again and a fascination was born. In no
way do I claim to be the first to do this, but I might be one of the only
idiots playing around with it for ten years. Who knows how many more I have
left? Without having any training in art, any background whatsoever, I don’t
have a wide vocabulary to draw on. I don’t have a lot of diversions into this
technique or that one, because I simply don’t know about them. I just stumble
into the next thing and work on that until I abandon it, or find something
visually interesting. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My general ignorance is what
pushes me forward. Over a period of years, you don’t see that you’ve shifted
focus. A minuscule choice five years ago can drastically change the way you
make things today. It’s like that picture of Marty McFly’s family in Back to
the Future. Stumbling across tape transfers a year or two into my mail-art
fascination was a big find. More and more subtle layers came after I started to
make transfers. My collages got a lot more complicated and visually arresting
once I began soaking tape with old magazine images in water. It took a couple
years before I saw things I actually liked. Being able to take away the backing
paper to expose the clearer portions of the tape…game changing. I have no idea
where that idea came from?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The process of making
tape collages now, is very similar to how I used to make tape collages. The
process hasn’t changed much but the results have. Basically I take a bunch of
reused postcards, or bingo cards (all bought at thrift stores) and then tape
them to a hard surface. In 2012 the hard surface was my coffee table in my
living room and now it’s my upstairs workspace. I’ve bought a home and squeezed
myself into the land-owning class. To start, then as now, I usually add some
color tape as the base layer. You can see that at the very bottom with the pink
circles…that’s packing tape. You can also see that in the blue on the very
edges. Along with the color tape, I’ll add in random pieces I have laying
around just to give it all a little more drama. From there I start adding in
the ripped pieces directly from magazine images (mostly from the 60s and 70s
because the paper is cheap) as well as the tape transfers I have off to the
side. I pick lots of images of luring ladies and shady men, logos, and out of
context words. I rip from the magazines over and over again until the collage
comes together. When it looks, or rather feels done, I rip up the large collage
from the table and then cut them based on the postcard or bingo card
underneath. Doing this makes things a little more random, since you’re not
exactly sure where the images end and the card underneath begins. This basic
process hasn’t changed all that much in nine years. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This, here on the coffee
table…I do not like. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I see so many mistakes. Here
are the most obvious ones to me. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">1.The car in the bottom
right is too big. I imagine that car is spread over at least three card and
only one has enough of the car to show the viewer that it’s a car. 2. There’s
too much red, or at least too many different types of red. There’s dark reds
and pinks and cherry reds…too many, not pleasing. 3. The edges of the tape,
where there’s white fuzz, is clearly placed on darker colors. 4. Too linear.
This is my biggest problem and the main thing that I look out for whenever I
create a collage. When the image is too much on a line I start to feel like I’m
making an entry into my scrapbook page. I like when things are a little off, a
little wrong, a little crooked. When I look at my work I always want it to look
like a billboard on the side of the highway that’s been there for forty years,
but no new images have been added in twenty years. 5. The smaller pieces of
tape aren’t “worked in” over the larger pieces of tape. Hell, almost all of the
tape isn’t “worked in,” meaning it looks like pieces of paper that have
randomly fallen on the table without proper incorporation. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfrpj94ovrIMKDWbBoTDrrG5a9s1uXNDJfyNCb6RcEd2_QcO5mXnGsOxGsorz3XoB1WFxfTo1z2nRADZUWhcZ1c1G0UvpkfOQqYwToJUwm5uayyw94jtIEqsMVApASQP1HXTyQuzqbToJk/s1280/fsdaf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="955" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfrpj94ovrIMKDWbBoTDrrG5a9s1uXNDJfyNCb6RcEd2_QcO5mXnGsOxGsorz3XoB1WFxfTo1z2nRADZUWhcZ1c1G0UvpkfOQqYwToJUwm5uayyw94jtIEqsMVApASQP1HXTyQuzqbToJk/s320/fsdaf.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even a mess in monochrome. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I have no idea where
these six or seven collages ended up. For a few minutes I flipped through
images to see if I could find the final product, I couldn’t. I scan everything
now but I didn’t in 2012. These are just a few of the thousands I’ve made over
the past decade, most of which are mailed and then tucked away once they reach
their destination. Because of this, I don’t worry too much about perfection. I
don’t worry if they’re wrong or right, I just mail them. I know when I look in
the mailbox and then shuffle through what I’m sent, only a fraction of the items
strike my eye. When I can tell who the artist is by just the envelope, I get
excited. I can spot a Richard Canard card from at least 200 yards away. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good or great isn’t always important, it’s the
trade…the conversation that matters. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">To all the bad things
I’ve sent to other mail-artists in the past ten years, I promise the next one
will be better. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In the spirit of
collaboration. I wanted to see what other mail-artists had to say about the
great faux-pas from 2012. A work is never done, right? I posted the image on
Facebook and asked people to comment on it. A lot of folks commented on the
collage like I still had it, which would have been a nice project. Here…you
guys tell me what I should do to this. Obviously I just stumbled into something
I’m going to do later. Here are the comments from many mail-artists from all
over the world. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">A lot of red in one area?
/ The random composition is really stuck. You should burn a part of it. / You
know your stuff. But on this one there’s unclean gluing and clumping of colors,
vs. placement of colors doesn’t allow your eyes to move in a circular pattern.
/ The theme is red! Get rid of the blue... / Throw a stencil over it or chop it
up and rearrange on a solid background. This feels like a good base for
something more. / The composition is too volatile, flies too hard. Try ripping
it in four parts! / Do a wash of gesso- white or black- it won’t 'hide'
everything just tone down some of the busier sections. Then you can always go
back in and add line or color detail. Just my thought. / Lacks center of
interest....or just lacks? / Not enough tape? / Too random, about nothing. HOWEVER,
it is a nice composition with good color. / Needs more yellow? / Too much tape?
/ Too much red?</span></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1540067946613248349.post-33499341044130950102021-02-15T08:53:00.005-08:002021-02-15T08:53:58.348-08:00I Won Second Place in a Russian Mail-Art Contest <p class="MsoNormal"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I won second place in a
Russian mail-art contest. I didn’t know that I entered a Russian mail-art
contest but I have the piece of paper to prove it. I won second place in “mixed
technique.” I’m a “foreign artist” and I’m from “Salem USA.” Let me back up and
try and give some context to this random achievement, one that I can only
barely piece together. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgapFgAPYdSB_G59k0JyTgeyRztaRJGaWXnwJFSQ3sAo_5XgnIYNT7qqZ4IsAqEQ9sO7ULtu3ctl8OiX_0J2w_cuBP-CyyzGHoq6anww6H4O4axmvc2W8G7oBNrkk8Wyz3Y2ON9PW69gGhI/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1461" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgapFgAPYdSB_G59k0JyTgeyRztaRJGaWXnwJFSQ3sAo_5XgnIYNT7qqZ4IsAqEQ9sO7ULtu3ctl8OiX_0J2w_cuBP-CyyzGHoq6anww6H4O4axmvc2W8G7oBNrkk8Wyz3Y2ON9PW69gGhI/w285-h400/2020-12-22_120318.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A scan of the award. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I make too many things.
Sometimes those things end up in piles in my upstairs workspace. They’re all in
one spot, taped together, and ready to go. When I feel like sending stuff out
I’ll go to the pile and start writing. Rarely is something from the pile sent
to someone specifically. It’s even rarer when I send something specific for a
mail-art all call. I don’t create collages with specific people in mind, I
create collages because I like making them. [Well, that’s not exactly true,
Gerald gets all the ones with Nixon as the subject]. Personalized mail is
mostly for people that have asked me questions, or sent something I feel I need
to respond directly to, or if I’m visually making fun of a friend. If you’re a
mail-artist and you get a collage from me the contents were probably coincidental.
</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">When the pile gets way
too high I find a list of “mail-art calls” to send to. Mail-art calls are
basically when a mail-artist wants to display a lot of work and from all over
the world. Sometimes there’s a theme to the show (I don’t like these and I
never send things ‘on theme’) and sometimes they’re free-for-alls. For
free-for-alls you send whatever you’d like. Sometimes the shows are held in art
galleries, sometimes in community spaces, colleges, someone’s home, or in a
barn in The Ukraine. The pictures from the latter have to be the best show
space I’ve ever seen. I sent something to them and I got to see my postcard in
the barn. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The items you send to
these shows never come back. It’s assumed that the artwork will not be sold and
that everything will be shown in the spirt of the mail-art gods. The whole show
will then become part of the personal archives of the person who set it up.
Sometimes you’ll see pictures of the show. Sometimes you’ll be notified through
email about the show. Sometimes you’ll send something and completely forget about
the show. At best, you’ll see a video, probably shot in Germany of nice German
people walking around and looking at the walls. Mail-art things seem to happen
in Germany. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I make no documentation
that I have sent to the “all-call.” Any documentarian is a nice surprise. You
have no expectations and then there it is, something you’ve created has been
set against a nice wall in a place you’ll never visit. As best I can guess, that’s
the process that put all of this Russian award thing in motion. I had an
envelope that I sent to a random show not knowing that it had a contest (the
instructions might have said this but they were in Russian) component to it. I
forgot about the show (I might have sent my entry a year before) and then out
of the blue I was sent this wonderful document saying I had won second place. I
was as much surprised as flattered. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The piece of paper is
currently tacked to the ceiling above my upstairs desk. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Right when I won the
award I posted an image of it online. I posted the image not because I was
particularly proud of the achievement, but because of the randomness of the
situation. Lots of people I’m associated with on social media were quick to
congratulate me. Only a few of these people seemed to understand that I was
more confused by the award that flattered. I didn’t share the image because I
was fishing for compliments, I was simply fishing for answers. Whatever the
reason for the award, I was happy to have it, even if I didn’t know why it was
given to me. There’s nothing like recognition without context (or money) for
motivation. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I figured I need to try
and find out some answers. A quick google search produced a Facebook page with
a few nice images of the show. I scanned through the pictures to see if I could
spot my own work, I couldn’t. Who knows what I even sent them? When I asked “А4’2020
International ART exhibition-contest” (the name of their Facebook page) more
about the show, I noticed that I had contacted them back in December. The only
response I received the first time was a terse “Ok” to my “Thanks for the mail”
message. I sent a longer inquiry about the show that hasn’t been answered. In
the past when I’ve tried to find out about random stuff related to mail-art,
things got difficult and quickly. There’s too many countries and too many languages.
Without knowing Russian, I considered directly contacted the curators a
dead-end. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2gkkpCt3pEoJ-1CCbZSmS8Pb4FvmQKOGLL13RQ41uzBwJY1DVvjvMJz3Pyv9e7ojDH0tUieLV0K1luJvG2bMzVwzkwSBsFzTqi4d4cqKbAVTuqE3GPR0SSc55csXovqNJ5hZuh1aZAB4N/" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2gkkpCt3pEoJ-1CCbZSmS8Pb4FvmQKOGLL13RQ41uzBwJY1DVvjvMJz3Pyv9e7ojDH0tUieLV0K1luJvG2bMzVwzkwSBsFzTqi4d4cqKbAVTuqE3GPR0SSc55csXovqNJ5hZuh1aZAB4N/" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Tyumen Western Siberia Russia<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In bewilderment I posted
an image of my document online. Pretty quickly I got a bite from one of my
mail-art friends who also received a similar award. I wanted to see what they
thought about their artistic achievement. The great Serse Luigetti, in Perugia
Italy, won first place in the “foreign artist” category. We’re obviously bitter
enemies now! Mr. Luigetti sent me a few links. The show was held at Tyumen
State University in Western Siberia. Other than naming the sponsor of the show,
he knew about as much about it as I did. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Serse pointed me in the
direction of Ilya Semenenko-Basin, a Russian mail-artist based in Moscow. Ilya
is someone I’ve sent mail to over the past couple of years, even though most of
it has been returned to me. I don’t know why. It wasn’t Ilya’s show but he was
able to navigate the Russian for me. He sent me a lot of helpful information.
The line I focused on the most is the following, “Dear Jon, this is a diploma
of participation in the exhibition.” If you’re looking at the aforementioned
sentence, their might be one word that stands out to you, it sure stood out to
me, “participation.” It seems that my “Russian award” was just a Russian
certificate of “participation.” </span></p>
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