WHO are we when we go to Paris?

One of the joys of mail art is that I get things from people that they labour over and that tell the story of their life.  Dave's latest Parisian sketchbook is one of those prized possessions. I wanted to blog it ages ago, when I was in Maine but I couldn't find the images I knew I'd put somewhere on my hard drive… When I got back I realised I had not scanned them, that I had photographed them and there they were. So huge apologies that it has taken me so long to document Dave's latest visit to Paris, the home of Satre, Camus, and other left bank intellectuals - at the heart of existentialism. It has nods to some of Paris' finest from Dali to Picasso via Simone de Beauvoir and Gertrude Stein.

On first glance I saw one face, but  Gestalt  there were two! Much like the pages of a book, one can never see more than one thing at once… Dave's sketchbook is like that.
Like Van Gogh's chair…. (how is it still standing)?  Even though Notre Dame is without its roof, can we see it as we used to?

a practical quiz from Dave the Rave

Well what an existential 'pickle' we find ourselves in on the eve of the Brexit vote, while the US govt remains shut and trees that should be sleeping are budding in sync with some other clock… Dave the Rave has captured all this in collage. A postcard ceases being a postcard when it is cut into organic shapes and reconfigured to make 'mincemeat' of titles and descriptions, missing male and female parts.  I can't piece it together.

Patrick and I were trying to recall Euclid yesterday.  Now Dave has me trying to name these shapes he's created. It makes me wonder what the point of it all is. Existentially speaking it's a puzzle that doesn't fit.

A trip to the other side of existentialism

The way I understand existentialism is it’s a philosophy sees individuals as interacting freely with a confused and confusing world and their actions and feelings make them authentic.  But I'm a beginner.  It seems Dave the Rave has dedicated himslef to study of the slippery topic. 

Picasso, La Lecture, 1932 Seated Woman with Book

Great stuff and thank you Dave!  It's appauling that it has taken me SO long to share this with the Mail Art Community!

These are the facts: Dave the Rave fell while doing DIY and has had some time for reading and art making and maybe even gardening?

So in his convalescence I sent Dave a brilliant link about art aesthetics.  Philospohers are helping us make sense of the process of reading a painting.  There's this thing called twofoldness and if you think about painting as a language of symbols, depending on your context and experiences, you will be able to interpret the painting. Or maybe it's just a physical response… Whatever, it's never black and white.

Now it's possible that none of this has anything to do with what Dave intends, but I suspect he's testing my ability to think laterally.  Brilliant.  I hope I passed.

French Lessons and ephemera from Dave the Rave

This fat envelope arrived from Paris a little while ago. Dave the Rave likes to go to Paris and with this sticker-journal-boekie, I am learning what he does when he goes.

It seems someone likes to shop

in the shadow of the iconic French landscape, they walk, laden with bags.

 They look, Dave records,

 discovers beautiful Easter eggs,

 while sipping cafe between buying handbags and using their orienteering skills - no fluxus travel…

They go where wine waiters help them paint the town red.

 They go to the ZOO!

 They shop for wine and take the bateaux mouches. More cafe, sunglasses, waiting in sunsets.

They eat food that has exotic names and feel replete in a Parisian way.

And this isn't the last time… they will return or travel again and enjoy more holidays soon - after all, the boekie is only just started!
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