Braincell 960

As ever, delighted to receive the latest braincell from Ryosuke Cohen, even though I haven't sent anything in some time! I see lots that is familiar from the Sticker Dude.  In fact quite a few people that I have exchanged with, more reminders that life has got in the way of mail art too much lately.

I have to admit to making a rubber stamp in response. Such a great project!

Peop shuf a like bum ano cru - Halloween colours from Finland

I like to think of Carina under the big moon at about 2 in the afternoon gamboling with the horses in Finland, but most likely she is in her studio beavering away. She must be for me to receive such a stuffed package (about a week ago).

Inside this priority post is a present, FOR ME.  aimlessly tied with a red-orange bow of string. Inside the tissue paper is Peop shuf a like bum ano cru a wonderfully haptic black and grey and about every other monochrome colour one can make. It's a picture book with a few guiding words.

…but more of that later!

Not sure if Carina has been drinking the kool aid but apparently she is driving to invisibility with DKult. Whatever, it is a very cool collage, reverse tape transfer, or something. It is the front of a card with a secret message for me inside.  Also in  the package are some vintage comics. I presume they are for me to use, alter, send back?

So now it's time for the inside of Peop shuf a like bum ano cru which it turns our is not a cut-up, but an obscured bit of sensible writing.  Primed, I open onto a dystopian world. Although perhaps it is just other-worldly?

I can't express enough how beautiful this boekie is to hold.  It reminds me of the roadrunner and a time when we watched black and white tv.  It is definately a pre-internet world where sounds, forms and visions are born on a page and live thereafter. Does Carina have names for these amazing creatures and where is this world of scratchy clouds, watery landscape and shadows that become creatures?

An apology from America

A certain kind of regret you get from looking back in time...

The tone of this mailing from David is blue. And what I felt upon opening it, the slant of light you notice when looking back in time, or looking forward at a time in life when you might feel more is behind you than in front. It's how I have felt since I stayed up all night willing the American people to make the only reasonable choice.

Part of the feeling is from what David says, part of it is what I make of it, knowing what I know now and part of it is the contrast between the exhuberant monotype image and the faded slide. 

As an American living in England I inhabit a particular space. I can't easily be pigeon-holed but as soon as I speak people make assumptions.  Since the election, I have chosen who to speak to with care. Although just a little over half of Britain voted for Brexit, it feels like way more than that percentage knows that what America did when it elected Trump was tomfoolery. I feel ashamed when I speak here.

But my uncomfortableness is nothing in comparison to how those Trump maligned must feel. David, I forgive you!  But also know that we share a similar vision for the future.  The thing is, how do we get there? And if you are telling me to smile… it's still a bit early.

Joel Cohen and Dostoyevsky ask for empathy

I don't think this envelope from The sticker dude could have been sent post election, but it's hard for the election not to colour everything I see and feel and hear. What I notice first is the little Dostoyevsky sticker… 'as a general rule, people, even the wicked, are much more naive and simple-hearted than we suppose. and we ourselves are too.'

So I told everyone I could that THERE WAS NO WAY  Donald Trump would be elected. So as I watched the election, I did notice how glib the newscasters were and I felt a tiny twinge of, this feels a little like Brexit night, and wondered if they might be a lttile sorry about their confidence in the Americans 'doing the right thing', the only reasonable thing. I guess I am naive, the newscasters were naive, so many of us just didn't sense the way things were going. Maybe Joel was sending me a gentle reminder not to count my chickens…

The frog watching the fly on the TV makes me remember when Reagan won and my confused awe that that had happened. How can this happen twice in my lifetime? No, this is much worse.

There is no doubt which way Joel wanted things to go… I will watch with baited breath to see what the hoisting looks like, because, for sure it must be coming to the president elect.

My sister is having trouble sleeping. Our daughter went to a beautiful place somewhere in Scotland to look at the view, climb a snow-capped maountain in order to escape from this post-truth life. I can't bear to hear his voice and shout at the radio when he speaks. But Joel reminds me of a few things in this mailing: 1. come uppance comes; 2. humour is the best way to get mad; 3. I don't know everything but I do believe that not everything people say is true  and I can't change the way other people feel and think, unfortunately. 

I am deciding to enjoy Obama's last month or so and am hoping the hoisting happens before the swearing in.

Below are some of the contents from another halloween/clippings/Dylan mailing.  

More book art to hide from Tofu

I love this project of Tofu's and am delighted to have another surprise to place in a book. I am reading The Goldfinch, Donna Tart, at the moment but somehow this seems evocative of a murder mystery.

The 'book token' arrived in a cellophane envelope inside the envelope below.  Fab presentation!

Clocks back and I'm catching up! More from The Sticker Dude

 Apologies for a title that only means something to me! It's Sunday night and rather than blogging, I should be getting ready for my life drawing group.  I rush off first thing on a Monday morning to a group that has been together for 25 years.  I have been going since I moved to England, in 2000. So, thomas Kerr's words hold lots of significance for me. Sticker Dude and I are in synch and nearly in time.

 As for this election, we are all on tenterhooks and there better not be any surprises.  My 80+ year old mum was telling me that she wore her nasty women vote badge and got treated badly by someone in her hometown of Orlando.  It's good to be alive to witness this event, but the whole thing makes me nervous.

Love all the postage stamps, Vittore Baroni's collab and all of the wonderful stamps that adorn the envelope! Now off to mail a few more America Agast stickers...

Exhibit of The Philpott Lake Project, Diana Hale

Great to see that Diana took her postcard project to a gallery.  So sorry I didn't post in time for some of you to find it!
I really enjoyed sending into this project.
My contribution:

http://philpottlakeproject.tumblr.com/archive

Beneficiary of Sticker Dude Clipping Service

With his finger on the pulse of politics, music and philosophy, the Sticker Dude is one of my 'go-to' people for current affairs.  Lucky I am a trusty recipient of the Sticker Dude's clipping service.  While my family and friends send me links, I get a big fat envelope of clippings from Joel.  Snail mail is the best...

My slow response means that some of the 'news' is caught in a time-warp - the time sensitive nature of some things creates a parallel universe of reality but whenever I read them, they are equally interesting and sometimes the reflective quality adds nuance.

 Joel has kept me replete with Dylan paraphenalia since his 75th birthday, earlier this year.  I was one of the delighted by the Nobel Prize award!  But like a good tune, I have been taken on a ride, re-evaluating the nature of awards and what being part of the establishment means. Fun to read this early article.

What can I say.  We are all in the throes of 24 election news coverage and Ginsberg had it covered back in '95. 

And the Nation!  One of the things I miss about leaving NYC is not getting the Nation. It's amazing and ridiculous to think that the Editor and I were both Editor-in-Chief of the same school paper, in consecutive years! She edits the Nation: I get snail mail with clippings from her paper and I blog.

Check your mailboxes!
Many thanks Joel.

Sticker Dude School of Visual Arts - the color of fantasy

This mailing is a testament that the sticker dude is a sharer! Many thanks for showing me the beautiful work of Kerr and Barbara, and inviting me (all of us?) to the reception!  Tonight as I make my way through a bit more of my mail art backlog, I realise that not opening promptly has its drawbacks. 

In the Kate Spade card, Joel has (I think) altered a postcard to create more meaning and possibly to help me accept the folly of the people I believe are making bad decisions… Could this have political implications? My mother, sister and I have been circulating some bad news stories and are incredulous about the 'naive'. 

Beauty, reason and the impish, devilish provocateur... it's all a bit of a minefield that Joel helps me to navigate.