O - Mail Art - Mikel Untzi

O, Oh, I love this A6 sized mail art collage from Mikel Untzilla. I like the colour, the variety of marks, the way it works no matter which direction you turn it. It's satisfying vispo & concrete poetry for me.

Mikel reflects the stamp on the envelope in his collage, in the colour, in the movement. I always wonder which came first.

It arrived in it's inner envelope as I have scanned it above.  It is like a present...

It is a present. It feels Japanese, it is an offering. Beautiful work .  Thank you.

 

Three things from Ted Trader

Sometimes I am so behind and my correspondents are prolific and I find I have a number of mailart by the same person.  I hope it isn't construed as lazy, but I have put three of Ted's pieces of mail art (with multiple inserts) on this blog. I am delighted by each!

How did Ted Trager know that a hole would open up and a man would fall into it and there would be RATS. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/29/new-york-city-sinkhole-rats-man-falls

Or is it 'Rats!', 'shoot!', 'darn'?

or is it about some mobster? HHHMMM.

I did and you can too! Shooby

It's always tricky to interpret mail art from someone you don't know very well and although Ted has sent me one other mailing, perhaps I'm not qualified to explain his Mail art, entirely (who can, ever? Should we?  

I can say I like the marks and the eerie feeling.  (This arrived before Halloween.)  Below I see costumes and I get a feeling of Japan, too. It's quite beautiful, but also unsettling. And then there's Covid.

Second mailing below:

This altered postcard, scraped to create flames, reminds me of fire, the fires, but also a spirit appearing in bright California. What prescient knowledge does she want to impart? 

Below is the third mailing.This one is not an altered postcard but a man in an altered state. Here in the UK, It is the night before the US elections. I listened to Chuck Todd and he said '20, 20, 20, 4, hours to go I wanna be sedated'.  He had an ear worm. Ted's man looks the way I feel. Sedation might be good.

I will blind draw the bison. Fun!

So the boys are on the bus, although there aren't any buses any more.  The candidates fly from place to place and there is a woman on the team too! I hope they take care of the crossing animals and drive safely, and steer clear of the caravans. 

And what I particularly like about this VISPO, beyond the abstract feel of it, is the hint of the honesty and  hidden secrets, teasing us to sort through. 

 

From typewriter to mail art a journey with letters - from Robin

It's always a delight to receive mail, but getting something from someone you don't know for the first time is a special kind of exciting. Robin from somewhere in the UK (no return address, just an email) sent me some beautiful curious pieces. 

I would say she (or he) 's  a writer in the first instance - clues: poetry, a type writer, a note that suggests a 'retired' mail artist, knows DVS, stories. Also a visual poet: type,  poems that tell their stories moving down and across the page, integrating other graphic marks - it's concrete poetry. Communicator  I feel I know a little bit about Robin having received this mailing. Sense of humour.  What a gift!  Thank you.

Richard Baudet - Marseille

Delighted to receive my first piece of mailart from Richard Baudet (Marseille). Richard found my address on IUOMA and asks me what kind of mail art I like.

What I especially like about Richard's envelope and contents is the way he uses a limited palette and text to create his mood and there is  feeling of considered effortlessness. I appreciate the rhythm of the envelope.

And then inside there is vibrance, energy and colour - great juxtaposition!