Oligarchs and Evacuees

Two postcards arrived from Cascadia Artpost last year. Cascadia explores threads of political injustice and these two hone in on Jeff Bezos and American behaviour in Afghanistan. Cascadia seems to internalise these issues, responding with stamps to commemorate (bear witness to) them and the words spoken and highlighted so we remember and and connect the words to the individuals.

 

 

Women in the Post

Delighted to receive this organic and lush, haptic postcard from M Becker. I love the way the yellow peaks in around the violet. The postcard speaks of time and suggests layers of it. 

Thank you!
 

'When no one is Looking'

 

Gerda sent me this exquisite unsolicited paper gift!  I am not sure which direction I shoud be 'reading' it but this way up I want to swim through watery caves.

Hope Gerda's foot is better and suspect the upside to the wild weather is you have time to make and the garden is at bay! As you can see, I have had this mailart for a long time. Apologies.  So many reasons, too boring to tell. 

Again, not sure about direction.  This one feels like a page of an atlas with the key in boxes on the right, but equally it is a landscape when turned 90 degrees. Both evoke water and have a calm beauty I admire. Also, zoom in and look at the marks, etched over the paint.

Thank you Gerda for my envie of lovelies..  I will reply, eventually!
 

Fluxus High School

Tofu's has an inimitable collage style and his concepts always bring me delight.  I am thrilled to have receieved some pieces from this new series even though I am a pathetic correspondent these days. 

I love the idea of Fluxus High School. It speaks of the self-conciousness we shared. I hated opening the Stanford Froshbook all those years ago to find I hadn't dressed and didn't look like any of the other people in my freshman dorm, in most of the class of 82.  I was from NY and there were alot of Californians and I had definitely missed the memo that LL Bean flannel shirts, no make up and long dark hair were not a good look for a young woman. I didn't get a single invite to a fraternity party, not that that mattered, but I wonder what they made of me. Tofu's collages, in this case, evoke that and I marvel at how he has created so many characters that you look at and 'read' as this kind of person or that...

I am a sucker for an envelope that is semi transparent and the scale is perfect. The stamps and collages fit neatly inside.

Thanks Tofu, I will try harder.

 

But Mrs. Nolan Just Laughed

David's concepts are always a delight and this from When Robots Drown is no exception and it makes me laugh. The graphic simplicity of the figure is perfect. Thankds David! Happy New Year.

 

1607 Kids

Toni's beautiful postcard explores childhood, all kinds of childhood, people who look like us and people who may look, at first glance, a little different. Toni hints at reaching across and reminds us that we are all human beings with shared joys and desires. As well as the menaing I can glean, it is beautiful and evocative. thank you!

Toni's artist envelope reminds me of Marie. LOVE IT ALL!
 

49 Years of Progress erased.

Adam's personalised stamps are a thing of beauty with a solid message.  In this case he helps us to look carefully at the butterflys and to protect them. IMHO, creating a thing of beauty is a way to get people to take notice and hopefully change behaviour. In this case, perhaps progress isn't necessarily good! 

Moving on to stickers, I am struck by their anger at the state of the justice department. Again, the images are compelling. They help me to feel the depressing truth about one branch of the Govt.

The booklet describes Adam's journey with collaborators and singularly in the mail art (rubber stamps) world. LOOK CAREFULLY at the beautiful work.