Cascadia is no fool!

I opened this mail from Cascadia this morning. I have a little basket where I keep my unread/unblogged mail art and another with blogged mail art and once it's recorded I put it somewhere else until I bring my archive to the studio (at least 8 boxes now of hanging files) to file everything.  

I was confused & surprised to find this piece was celebrating April Fools Day.  That was a long, long time ago. For example, I am picking tomatoes and Cascadia writes about broadcasting wildflower seeds.  I am out-of-sync. 

I have no idea how this happened, whether I put it somewhere, found it later, or whether it really arrived so late. Sorry. I guess it's been a busy summer.

The stamps are fantastic, aren't they? I have it on good authority that Jack scoured the internet and graphic arts services which he subscribes to, for images of fools and jesters to be turned into stamps.

Below is Cascadia's translation (for Anna Banana) about, among other things Mr Peanut   Wow, who knew the master of dioramas, artistamps and seeds is also a german translator! The piece comes from a Berlin Newspaper for her 2020 exhibition at a Berlin Gallery.

 

Get Ready for Banana Day (Timetable)

 

I try to blog my mail art, in order of receipt. Sometimes I have to jump something to the front of the queue.  This time, Cascadia Artpost gets bumped up because I would hate for you to miss any opportunity to celebrate bananas…and with Cascadia's timetable for the upcoming celebrations you will be ready.

If you aren't ofay with banana day, you can find out more at IUOMA where there are various banana groups IUOMA Bananas where I have exchanged with other banana fans in the past.  Of course, it all began with Anna Banana, so she always gets one of whatever we make. Anna Banana

Cascadia Artpost sends me mail art regularly and one of his many projects is his Ticket Ticket ! project.  I (and many others) have sent Cascadia Artpost tickets and memorabilia and he has transformed them into large sets of gummed, perforated postage stamps.  He sends participants copies of the Ticket Ticket stamps. Because I archive all the mail art I receive, I get two sets sometimes.  I archive one and I use the other on the mail art I send too.  

Cascadia's generosity (stamps, seeds, coffee clutch, documentaion from dioramas, mail art meet-ups etc) is amazing so last spring I worked out how to use his stamps to make cloth that could become a mask for him. I coated cotton with inkjet bubbleset, scanned his stamps, printed them onto the cotton and made a mask with the fabric.  In the image of Jack with the banana on his head, Jack is wearing the mask! I am honoured! Long live World Banana Day!

Feel free to print the handy Banana Directory.

In four days it will be Anna Banana's 80th birthday!

And Cascadia Artpost is getting in on the action.

What a fabulous tribute! I'll bet the celebrations for Anna will be fun and far-reaching!

The Last Banana Rag

As I write this blog I am aware that what I'm doing may not be Anna's favourite form of communication, but I also know that if I send other people's mail art into FB and at IUOMA then although I have a hard copy they get to see it too. I will of course send a physical piece of mail art to Anna soon.

This Last Banana Rag is a cracker! I read it cover to cover, and hope you will too. Its seems bizarre think that this is the final pale yellow zine mailing from Canada, but of course I can understand that Anna needs to move on.  The loft of my studio is quite heavy with mail art and it will only be a tiny fraction of what Anna has! Huge thanks and I'll be looking forward to Anna's new/next project.

Looking back at Bananas with Anna

Great to receive mail art from Anna Banana, from Canada, and a copy of her Banana Rag. It has been a busy year for Anna, with her Passing the Flame exhibition and 45 years of Fooling Around. Reading the Banana Rag, it is clear that these two events were only the beginning!

I sent something in for the exhibition and was replied to!  Somehow I didn't make it to the contributor's list (on P 2 of the Banana Rag) but I heard from Mailarta and she had spotted my contribution and it's no big deal and not surprising when you think of the the coordination involved!

Anna did lots of research over the course of the exhibits and it made interesting reading. I was surprised to hear that some dogs like bananas.  My dog and my chickens won't touch them!

Anna will be going to NY for  the OFFICIAL OPENING of the exhibit at The Pratt institute (3rd floor, Library building) on Thurs. March 3, 6 - 8 pm, reception following immediately after that. She'll also be doing a mailart workshop there on Thurs. Mar 4, tentatively from 2 - 5 pm, to respond to some of the many items sent to AGGV that didn't get replies. Check with Pratt Library for confirmation of times.  https://www.pratt.edu/events/single/?id=39170

The Banana Rag is 8 pages long and came with an insert asking for contributions for this year's edition.  If you want Anna's address, to get your own Banana Rag, let me know! She's only asking for $10 in cash from 50 people to keep it going!

Exciting news from Anna Banana

I wish I could go to this wonderful event.  I will certainly be sending another little something, taking heed of Anna's advice that we make our envelopes 'appealing'!

Return Banana from Anna

The other day we had a visitor come for a few days.  I had never met him, he works with Patrick but I felt like I knew him from overheard Skype calls. After dinner one night I tried to explain mail art, by showing him examples.  The visitor was French and lives in Tanzania.  He was open to mail art, but what perplexed him was that he thought from my description (obviously faulty) that there was no correspondence in mail art.  This return banana is proof that even if it takes a few months some of us correspond.  For me, mail art is one way only if the person you send to doesn't respond. But what is responding? Soemtimes I don't have time at the very moment I delight in something to blog it or respond to it.  But at the moment I delight I have responded…  Ideally, for me, mail art is about communicating, sometimes with words, sometimes with images, sometimes with ideas sometimes with all and more. 

I sent Anna a sewn banana and an mini banana book, 'Almost a Banana' a few months ago.  While Anna's art life revolves around bananas, mine goes bananas annually. So it's encouraging to get a note on the back of the postcard where Anna thanks me for my mini-book and says,  'I love the variations I receive… on bananas — a truly amazing demonstration of human and human creativity.'

Anna also told me about other artisst who stitch their mail art.  One artist, Angela Behrendt even stitches banana stamps! Anna included a generous supply of stamps too!  Many many thanks!

Banana Rag from Anna Banana!

Read the Banana Rag from cover to cover! more beautiful stamps and the opportunity to make my own - my last chance!  If you are interested contact Anna.  They are absolutely first rate!  

Her envelopes are exquisite. I believe she numbers and recycles them.  Anna was the only woman in a xerography exhibit at a local museum.  Go Anna! and don't forget banana day!

Bananas!

Well if you didn't know before you will know now that February 21st is World Banana Day, at least according to Dean Marks and other mail artists at IUOMA. Eleven of us agreed to exchange banana greetings, aiming that they arrive on world banana day.  To be honest, I wasn't sure how bananas fit into mail art in general but discovered that Anna Banana was key: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Banana
This was my first year to celebrate this particular day but I suspect I will get involved again in the future.  In order of arrival on my doorstep (I think) these are what I received from the banana bunch.

You will recognize momcat's characteristic greek labels, layers, colour and overall joyous  approach, not to mention her signature stamps. 

Carina's humour and tape borders alerted me that this was from her.  My first response was to utter a guttural 'ah-uh-ha-ah' and to be transported to New York and the empire state building, athough juggling bananas works just as well!

Mim, master of scale and absurd juxtaposition, was again obvious at first glance. This one was mailed on valentines day.  I suppose I could claim it as a valentine too!   On the B side Mim's caption reads:  'Banana enjoyed the admiring glances of the ladies. '

One of Dean's goals in the mailart he makes seems to be to challenge the postman.  I loved getting a box top in the post! I also love the way Dean has made asemic road blocks in this banana maze. Dean writes, ' The city was like a giant labyrinth.  One banana was on one side of the city, the other banana was on the other side of the city.  It was unlikely that they would ever meet.'  I get the sense that Dean is talking about something profound... oh the randomness of it all.  Does Dean know that I had to travel half way around the world to meet my husband? Dean's stamp is amazing too! 

Louise, who I've never corresponded with before,  sent me a lively banana creature with a delicious recipe for the precious loaf, which I can whole-heartedly recommend.

It's funny when I see yellow I think banana now... and I'm tempted to detach this banana to carry around with me.  Alicia captures what we all think when we think banana: a sort of silly (naughty) smile.

Suus speaks to me in dutch.  I'm not sure if that's because I told her I lived in Soestdijk but my dutch is rusty.  What I think is that Suus' idea is a banana dream catcher. Suus brings together a few of our favourite yellow things: eggs, ducks and bananas and created this adorable practical egg cosy!

Another first, this time from Dame Mailarta.  I received this fused card-stamp-holder (I think) cheeky banana wondrousness and it makes me wish I had banana coloured hair! 

My final banana greeting was from Anna Banana! She sent me her annual Banana Rag and samples from the 2012 edition of the International Art Post no. 25.  I could participate in the future! Anna says 2013-2014 will probably be her swan song in terms of producing the dry gummed paper stamps, as you need to order 8 years worth and, well, even I can understand why you wouldn't do that twice!

I believe some IUOMA mail artists were there when Anna performed her above illustration for Mayworks 2013 with bananas.

Thank you, everyone, and finally, happy banana (k)night.

Hooray, 

I received this unconventional banana - a Dole organic, eating a smaller conventionally  grown banana from Cheryl H!.  Thank you Cheryl. Love it.

Last week ( mid April) the slowest banana in the bunch inched past the finish line for this year's banana day jamboree. Jen Phillips from Las Vegas sent these wise words for the anxious among us. 

Thanks Jen!