While continuing to unpack crap, er... valuable objects d'art (ahem!) from my recent move, I unearthed this old copy of ZINE WORLD from 1997. ZINE WORLD (Is it still in print? Even virtually?) was/is a zine (A homemade magaZINE. Get it?) about...zines. It listed zines that were in print, info about them and how to get copies. It was interesting to find more artifacts from my Mail Art past that hadn't been lost along the passage of time (or unceremoniously dumped before my move).
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A little further digging uncovered several old zines and things from the late 1990s. Zowie! I'd forgotten all about these people and the mail they'd send me back in the day. Among others, I found issues of EXCLUSIVE, Arte Postale (which was done by Ruud Jannsen. I think I've seen his name a time or two floating around since I've been back.), and Jake Cordova's ever-present Gelfling69, among others.
A real joy for me coming across three issues of my Honeycomb Hideout friends, Henry and Christy Holdt's epic zine, TEENIE-WEENIE MAGAZINEY. I loved it then and I love it now. One issue had a bonus "Special Report" still included and another held a clear sheet that could be moved over a printed design for neat effect. I also stumbled on a knock-off, TEENIE-WEENIE MAGAZINE. Unlike the real TWM, the stuff in TEENIE-WEENIE MAGAZINE was all hand written, glued in, etc. It was by a guy named Bob Kirkman out of Chico. I remember him and know I corresponded with him a great deal---but that's it. I don't recall any details. Weird...
Is Julee Peezlee still around? If she's not, she should be better known/remembered. Also known as DYSLEXIA and (I think) Pag-hat the Rat Girl, Julee Peezlee was amazing. DYSLEXIC was a catalog of her products that she manufactured; zines, Autopsy Trading Cards, a fold out blog with photos of her trip to Roswell, etc.
This collection contains a zine catalog from M.O.M, the MOFO Outreach Ministry. Basically it is an ad for various bizarre-o cassette tapes they received and had for sale. (Perhaps they had video as well?) M.O.M. was led by Rev. Otis F. Oddor....whoever that was. HOTLINES is interesting. It looks like it is half add-&-pass and half zine. And it's full sized. (Side note---the sticker that says "Mail Art" with the screaming woman...I made that. Ha!) This was assembled by Dan Landrum, who I think I've also seen mentioned here and there. The small piece of paper (actually an envelope) with the picture of the guy who thinks he's all that--and isn't, is strange. It reads:
"to the guy, 4/2/96
"Warning! inside is a really f#cken stupid guest pass to a really f#cken stupid scene, but nonetheless, I hope you still like it, bud. What do you mean? I don't know, ask Sillitoe about her name, I'd say it's a goofy thing. (Fake name.)See ya and party with the pal inside."
The back of the envelope and the back of the photo have a GUEST PASS sticker stuck to them. The picture is inside a plastic frame, ready for a lanyard to be attached. I have no idea where it came from or what it meant. However, someone named "Sillitoe" is mentioned in the note. I remember that I was in contact with someone named Cynthia Sillitoe. Coincidentally, in the HOTLINES book, there is an envelope from Cynthia Sillitoe stuck to one of the pages. Weird. I remember her name---but nothing else about her. I wonder where Cynthia Sillitoe (and her "guest pass" flinging friend) are today?
In the 90s, I started teaching---and I did transfer a lot of my Mail Art skills to the classroom. I found these four sample of zine-like mini-yearbooks I made for my students at the end of the year. Not every student could afford a real yearbook. But every student in my class got one of these.
P. Landon apparently WAS the person who sent me the space-y themed envelope with the Monster A GoGo movie poster print a short while back. We've been doing space/sci-fi-themed Mail Art back and forth for a little bit. This is what I sent her in response. THANK YOU again P. for the print and mail. Despite my grumblings about receiving more Mail Art, I did appreciate it. (D)
Before I re-retire completely, there are still a handful of people on IUOMA I need to reach out to. I've had no dealings with Heide Monster...but as I am Monster-A-GoGo, and she is the only other Monster on the site, I couldn't leave without sending a note (and some Mail Art) to my long lost "cousin", could I? That would be monstrous! Here is what I am sending her.. (D)
I love my co-workers at the hospital I used to work in until my neuro-muscular disease kicked into gear. There were many things about my life I didn't share with my friends there, though. My extensive movie poster collection, for example, was something very few knew about. My Mail Art thing was a complete unknown to them until just a few weeks back, when I shared my blog. The blog was mostly ignored, which is fine. However one of my former co-worker friends, Mandy, really seemed to be taken with my envelope art. She's been really positive about them---which is nice. So...she gets a Mail Art piece, too. Mandy has a thing for those alien shows on TV, and this is what I came up with for her. It's kind of plain...but I thought it worked nicely. What ruins it (as is usually the case) is the need for/placement of the damned stamps! UGH! Oh well… what can you do? Stamps have been the bane of my Mail Art existence. Ha! (D)
I'd received homemade artsy cards from Robin & Skye and from Vye for my birthday. In turn, I made Mail Art envelopes to send back to them. When I was in California, Shookie gave me a birthday gift...with a card she made for me. Hmm.
Okay... Since I do everything equally for Shookie and Vye, I decided to make one for Shooks, too. This is what I came up with. (D)
On May 23, I had just returned from a trip off-island (where I mailed off 10 more pieces--the four above and the last six from the previous post. I'm so close to being "caught up" on my Mail Art chores. Hopefully, I can "re-retire" from it soon.), when I received this from the mysterious Mail Artist named Russell Manning. I say "mysterious" because, I've looked several times on IUOMA's member list and there is NO "Russell Manning." He apparently is a lurker---and a very smart (lurking without bothering to get an account!) and talented one. What AMAZING work on his card (and his previous offering). I am only saddened to learn that the Mail Art I had originally sent to him (one of the first since my return to the hobby) never made it to him. ARGH!!! (No doubt the Mail Police in my town locked it up and threw away the key...) I will gladly (well... reluctantly, but gladly) add Mr. Manning on the (thankfully) dwindling list o' names I still need to make Mail Art for before I can bow out again. Thank you, kind sir! I apologize for your piece never arriving to you. Hopefully its replacement DOES arrive.
This is what I came up with for him. It's kind of dumb and at first I was rather disappointed. But the elements--the tentacles, doofy robot (that looks like a high school locker on legs), all seemingly after the running couple. It kind of works. I do like it after all. I hope Mr. Manning is also pleased with it. (?)
I absolutely love this cool, psychedelic sci-fi envelope. It's a total seeming rip-off of the layout I did for P. Landon's envelope (above). That was not intentional. It just happened that way. I found the groovy background and the bizarre creepy woman, I already had the planet and spaceship cut out in case I'd wanted to use them on P Landon's or Mandy's envelopes (both were space themed). I dig the one I made for P Landon...but this one for IUOMA's Maxima Strange I really, really like. (D)
Another former co-worker, Helen, also seemed to like my envelopes as well and told me so. I decided to make her one, too. Uh...the results were not so fab. It. also, was a variation of the one I did for P Landon (and the one right above). What happened was I found the stylized moon picture and wanted to use it. That meant returning to space again. I had a planet and another spaceship ready to go...and stumbled on the astronauts (one is a skeleton--eeek!). On it went. It looked okay...until I had to deal with the stamps. They ruined it. Sorry Helen. (D)
Not everyone who will be getting one of my final envelopes is from IUOMA or a former co-worker who liked my blog posts. Mikey is just a long-time friend who has been wonderful to know. He also occasionally and inexplicably would send me sheets of stamps--which I love and use. THANK YOU, kind sir. You keep the Mail Art moving, whether that was your intention or not. This piece is not all that successful---but (except for the tacked on address and stamps space on the bottom) I like it. It's...different. I had the close-up eyes already attached as a background. What do you do with that? I'd had the girl with the candles and wanted to do some sort of haunted house with her. Then there was my interest in returning to my faux movie poster style. It's kind of an all-over-the-place mess...but I still kind of like it. Hopefully Mikey does, too. (?)
On June 1st, I received this Mail Art-ish postcard from an IUOMA member named Mike Parsons. I first heard from him when I initially joined IUOMA. At that time, I was already having issues with the post office and I asked him, in my response, to please NOT send me anything else as I was planning to retire again.
His was one of the first few pieces that went out. I never heard if he got it or not--he was honoring my request--but surely he could have sent a message on IUOMA? So, I sent him a postcard asking if he'd received it.
Nothing. I sent another postcard (along with eight others to those I had not heard from either), this time with a photo of the missing-in-action Mail Art piece.
Right when I got those second postcard sent, I had a response from Mr. Parsons from the first postcard. I made him another (not-too-exciting) Mail Art piece and sent it, thanking him...but begging off from further encounters.
He then must have received the second postcard. He took it upon himself to make his own postcard using a picture of the postcard I had sent him--declaring again that he had received the original piece.
ARGH! It is my own fault (sort of) that he sent me something. Even though I had asked him to please only contact me via message on IUOMA--he sent something. So, I whipped off this quick-O piece o' crap. It's nice that he went to the trouble to send me something--even though I clearly asked him not to (and did so again in the note enclosed in the new envelope)--I really do want to retire from this again. My neuro-muscular issues, which have already eaten into my legs and arms, are now moving into my right wrist and hand. I just need to STOP this. (?)
My frustration with my continual receipt of Mail Art (And mind you, my address has been REMOVED from IUOMA for a long while now.) led me to deciding to make my own zine. That way, if I got a piece of Mail Art (Grumble... Grumble... Grumble...), instead of making an envelope...I could just send a copy of the zine off instead. Sounds great, right? WRONG! I had such a hard time putting it together. I printed the zine on both sides of a single piece of paper. The printer would not line up both sides correctly. ARGH! When I finally got it all worked out, cut up and ready to be assembled...I realized I didn't have a stapler. GRRR!
The thing is, once I send it off---if I get a response, I have to make another. I don't want to. Also, despite lots of graphics and even a (Gasp!) centerfold, while the zine may be visually interesting---there's no substance. It's a big fail; a piece o' crap. Oh well...
While looking for materials for the zine, I stumbled upon more Xeroxed copies of envelopes I had done years ago. I believe these had been sent to me a few months back by my friend Sue Nan...and somehow I had failed to include them. This first one isn't great, but it needs some explaining. Back in the early 90s, my friend Dina was a singer/songwriter who fronted for a band called Too Many Joes. Her roommate was a guy named Ronnie Barnett. (He had a great bootleg video collection. I think I first saw "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" and "Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!" because of Ronnie's collection...) Ronnie was in a band called The Muffs. This envelope was to celebrate both of them.
Beyond the name, Shery Saxton, I have no recollection of the recipient of this envelope. But what a fun one -- "Slumber Party Exorcism". Golly, I may have to do a modern day Mail Art remake. Ha!
Even though I made something to send to Russell Manning recently (above. Oops! I totally thought I had mailed that when I was off-island last time. NOT!), he never received the envelop I originally sent him months ago. The one below is to make up for it. But it is slapped together crap. I found the caped skeleton guy and the creepy background. After that I was out of ideas for it. His other one is better. Hopefully he likes one of the two... (?)
One of the few IUOMA people who commented on something of mine that I had not been able to make anything for until now is someone named "Michel"--no last name. I don't know anything about Michel, so he/she got this quasi-remake of the haunted house theme I used for Mikey a little ways back, I even use the same candle girl in the nightgown. Ha! Its interesting, but that's about it... (D)
IUOMA member Mark Johnson sent me a very amazing piece. The figure on the left is made from cut out pieces of paper. Pretty darn cool, daddy-o! He also created the stickers!
This is the mess I whipped out (since I'd be going off-island the next day and would be able to mail it off then...) I clearly need to take a break. Another LAME envelope. No theme--just stuff. He also gets a zine...but I don't know if that makes the whole mail package better--or WORSE. Sorry, Mark. (D)
At 3:40 in the morning on the day I have to go off island (I sooooo need to get to bed), I got one last envelope done for an IUOMA member I felt the need to send something to. This will be heading to Finland...I wonder if it will make it. It is rushed---and looks it. It's also kind of ...gross! Ha! He may not like it. The post office (either here or in Finland) may refuse to carry it. We shall see what happens. (D)
The first four of my envelopes shown in this post were mailed on May 23. As of this writing, only two are known to have been delivered. The remaining nine will go out later today (June 7) from various post offices off of the island. I'll keep track of which ones are mailed from where to gauge which post offices will deliver these and which won't. In addition to the four shown I mailed on May 23, I mailed another six (shown in the previous entry). Only ONE of the six has made it through thus far.
My list of people I need to send Mail Art to is dwindling. There are now only six names left. Barring any further mail (please do NOT send Mail Art), I should be done very soon. Hooray!
Thanks for visiting the page.
CHEERS!
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In case you missed the other chapters on Mail Art, the links are below:
(D=Delivered. ?=Fate Unknown)
Comments
Cool stuff!