Demise of a Democracy

As I keep hearing, 'we are at an inflection point' and the inflection point Sticker Dude is honing in on is the demise of our Democracy.  But I guess it's not all bad in the world according to Sticker Dude, or 'sticker art dude' as he calls himself on this mailing. Look at the mailart title/ tidal he presents us with: 'This is how Democracies fail and the quiet revolution blossoms…' 

I guess it's all a little bat-bleep crazy behind the voting curtain. Or maybe I shouldn't say that, perhaps that is perpetuating the big lie?

back of envelope

and as mailartists we all have our role to play. and if you are anythinglike me, you are a different mailartist on different days.

I read Sticker Dude's clipping service when the article first came out and re-reading it becomes more alarming.  After all the US has hadJanuary 6th since then. 

Thanks Sticker Dude, that's a lot to think about on a sunday night in January!
 

What can you do with your Celine Handbag?

Great to see that Dave and Patti have been able to take a well-deserved holiday to the precipice of Niagara Falls and that they got back in one piece, to send the postcard! 😉 Belated holiday greetings back at you!

I hope Dave forgives me for copying his personal note.  I just loved that play on words and thought I should give him all the credit for it! The carved Celine purse is fabulous, genius! I can see David's creations in the Sainsbury Centre with all the other ethnographic works of art! when you come back to the UK, we should visit. 

BTW, this is two mailings from Dave!

And as for Kate Moss, as I have been painting (in my green phase) all day, surely Gumby should be green. I see KM as more totemic than plastic child's toy anyway.

Thank you, David!

 

Treasure and memories from New York and the Netherlands

When I have many competing demands  (in the nicest possible way) I channel my Peace Corps me and don't engage with the things that aren't in the here and now or that aren't the priority.  So, in December it's things like filling up the flour from the big bags I keep upstairs; it's making pumpkin soup for everyone at lunch; it's writing the 100+ cards I love to write, annually to feel connected to my friends from around the world. Mailart takes a backseat.  That isn't to say I feel good about letting the beautiful envelopes pile up, but thankfully my correspondents know that eventually I will look with care and attention at their offerings, and even, eventually, respond.  

Herman was compassionate about my seasonal plight  and I thank him.  I have wanted to open this russian doll of mailart for weeks.

I say 'Russian Doll' because Herman has multiple envelopes inside of envelopes in this mailing. The first envelope is the white one with the drawings of human heads juxtaposed with bodies of insects.  The stamps echo the envelope and add the winter red of Europe to the palette. 

Inside is the 'Fuller street balloon man', brightening up everyone's socially distanced Covid walks. Herman's marbled paper ties in with the scene. On the flip side are the two scary looking birds, talking to each other, ready to rip the skin from a rodent's frame.

the next envelope is a window onto the postman of the Great Lakes. Are those cubby-holes for post restante or are residents coming soon to collect their mail? The drama of the scene is enhanced, again, by Herman's marbeling.

While the bridges all over America crumble, people wave from the fences.  Welcome!

Also by a fence is this handsome couple taking in the NYC sights. Hello Herman's parents circa 1975! Can you spot the Twin Towers behind?

And finally, more treasures!  Inside ad outside herman's studio.  The last image is a fragment of a collar, perhaps left over from a visit to Markam?

Thank you Herman, beautiful as ever!

 

The question of Dada

So much of what the Sticker Dude does is collaborative.  Although he might use a collaborative piece or two on his envelopes, they are something I imagine is a singular act. Sticker Dude's envelopes are a mixture of protest and belonging. You might find heroes and demons sitting side by side on a Sticker Dude envie.

This mailing is about Ed. I received mail from Ed (for mail art exhibitions I have hosted), but we don't trade regularly. My circle seems to get smaller and smaller as other things usurp my time, so it's good to hold a few of his pieces in my keen hands.

Our norms are shifting in these pandemic years.  Gone are the days of the simple pleasures like a martini or a cafe visit. Do Dadaists drink martinis?

Usually Sticker Dude tells me that a mailing is for the archives.  This surreal, dystopian add-and-pass is definately a keeper, so I wll assume I should. It feels like a snapshot of this moment in time.

I found the cheese. 

I wonder what Dada would do with Trumpism?  Could we be anymore shocked? Would Dada disrupt the heirarchy?

 

Gardeners and mailartists NEVER sleep

Just brilliant to get all the Cascadia news and ideas about what Jack plans for 2022! Jack has a wonderful habit of writing letters as well as sending mail art. He has bespoke Cascadia Artpost letterhead and writes in beautiful longhand. 

When I was writing my 100 + holiday cards (and I fill them up with writing for every person I send them to), I thought I should continue this with my mailart and write one longhand letter every day in 2022. (So far, that hasn't happened, in fact, no mail art so far:( ), so I am even more impressed by Cascadia.

Another thing that knocks my socks off is the way Cascadia attends to his garden! It's a definite.  He can't possibly sleep.  

I also attach an article Cascadia included in the mailing following on from his 'Kabul Moment' cards. Thank you Cascadia, see you in the post, soon!