Encore: Richard C does Fluxus

Mail art by Richard Canard (aka Richard C) (Carbondale, Illinois, USA)

 

 

Being in a Richard Canard groove ourselves, we noticed that at IUOMA-Ning several bloggers and/or Litter Richard enthusiasts recently posted mail art with classic Fluxus images they had been so lucky to receive from the Land of Carbon Illusion.

 

And then we spied in the mass of material in our opened Richard Canard File an envelope with a similar Fluxus logo (didn't George Maciunas create this one?) that we had neglected to document. So here it is along with the envelope's contents.

 

We do this because references to Fluxus are - to our knowledge - rare in the King Richard canon. Many mail artists - especially some of the veterans - like to celebrate and live in the spirit of Fluxus, which is, after all, intimately connected to mail art.

 

Let us present a theory about Richard's consistent, minimal references to Fluxus. Richard C is a "true believer" and longtime member of the New York Correspondance School and, thus, the Ray Johnson circle. These days in the growing exposition on mail art history you will often find the (badly mistaken) assumption that Ray Johnson was a member of Fluxus. He never was, although - according to accounts I have read - Maciunas warmly endorsed RayJo's efforts.

The venerable Mark Bloch told me - via digital communication - that Johnson was, in fact, somewhat skeptical of the Fluxers and was "too much of an independent thinker to join that group" (a reasonable reconstruction of Bloch's comment).

For whatever reason, Fluxus items by Richard Canard (Fluxus Illusion?) are rare and a curiosity.

 

Sabela Bana joins E's Fan Club (Spain)

 Mail art by Sabela Bana (Coruna, Spain)

Many thanks to Eternal Networker Sabela Bana for returning another wonderful add & pass sheet completed in honor of the great E - Ambassador of Utopia (Guivry, France).

We are more than pleased that Glam Faction can be the new headquarters of E's Fan Club. This E's Fan Club sheet is very similar to the one received from Michel Della Vedova (Limoges, France), only Michel is absent and Sabela is added:

Contributors: Colin Scholl (San Diego, California, USA); Fleur Helsingor (Oakland, California, USA); Ed Giecek (Concrete, Washington, USA); Julie Jeffries (Ex Post Facto) (Dallas, Texas, USA); Lord Fugue (Hickory, North Carolina, USA); Mary J. Grellner (Wentzville, Missouri, USA); Michel Della; Opal Moiety (Jankari Alex Nu-jetson) (San Francisco, California, USA); Sub-Real Alchemy (David Stanley Aponte) (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) and Sabela Bana (Coruna, Spain).

Thanks to all who participated! E - Ambassador of Utopia, somewhere, must be smiling.

A Precious peep into the Richard Canard file

Mail art by Richard Canard (aka Richard C) (Carbondale, Illinois, USA)

What would a mail art blog be without the FAB Richard Canard? So we are celebrating Richard C's first appearance on Glam Faction with a peek into his archival file that we have inherited from MinXus-Lynxus.

You see, the prolific Richard Canard generously sends us far more art than we are able to document. So, today, we share with you, our dedicated Glam Nation, a trove of hitherto unseen & unknown pieces by Litter Richard. These works span a considerable period of time.

We had hoped to apply our somewhat rational process of documentation to the Richard Canard File but soon realized we were overwhelmed with material flash & stash. So we did our best to give you this peep into our bulging file.

And remember, only at Glam Faction will you find all the prince that is fit to noose!

Mail art by Richard Canard

 

By Richard Canard

 

Mail art by Richard Canard (aka Richard C) (Carbondale, Illinois, USA)

 

 

 

 

By Richard Canard

 

 

 

 

 

By Richard Canard

 

 

 

 

By Richard Canard

 

 

 

 

Mail art by Richard Canard (aka Richard C) (Carbondale, Illinois, USA)

 

 

 

 

 

By Richard Canard

 

 

 

By Richard Canard

 

 

 

 

By Richard Canard

 

 

  

 

 

Mail art by Richard Canard (aka Richard C) (Carbondale, Illinois, USA)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her name is Tara. She calls herself Sinclair. Everyone knows her as Tanya

Mail art by Tara Verheide (aka Sinclair Scripa) (Ludlow, Vermont, USA)

 

 

 

We are thrilled to present the debut of the great Sinclair Scripa (Tara Verheide) on Glam Faction with this spectacular mail art package she sent us. We felt naked without her!

 

You can call her Sinclair or Tara, but to us our fave femail artist will always be just plain Tanya. Was Tanya Rain Rien's prom date? Did she mash potatoes with Ray and Richard C? That was before our time, and you know we don't gossip or carry tales.

 

But we do know she was the invaluable confidante of Diane Keys. Tanya was a winner of the Who Has the Best Hair Contest and a faithful contributor to MinXus-Lynxus. Tanya is one of the all-time great ranters and mail art conspiracy theorists. We are so happy she is now a Glamster!

 

Welcome Tanya!

 

Note: A theme in this mail art package is DaDa Pig. We believe this is a reference to the great but sadly deceased mail artist Pig DaDa (Belgium). Unfortunately, a "famous" mail artist (with whom we no longer communicate (there's a bunch of those) chastised us because she believed our praise of Pig DaDa was actually sarcastic criticism and mockery. Let us clarify again, now here at Glam Faction, that we adore and revere Pig DaDa as one of the all- time great correspondence artists. We also believe dear friend Tanya has nothing but esteem for Pig DaDa.

 

 

 

 

By Tara Verheide (aka Sinclair Scripa)

 

 

 

 

By Tara Verheide (aka Sinclair Scripa)
 

  

 

 

By Tara Verheide (aka Sinclair Scripa)
 

 

 

 

By Tara Verheide (aka Sinclair Scripa)

 

 By Tara Verheide (aka Sinclair Scripa)

 

By Tara Verheide (aka Sinclair Scripa)

 

 

 

By Tara Verheide (aka Sinclair Scripa) (Ludlow, Vermont, USA)
 

 

By Tara Verheide (aka Sinclair Scripa)

By Tara Verheide (aka Sinclair Scripa)

 By Tara Verheide (aka Sinclair Scripa)

 

 

 

By Tara Verheide (aka Sinclair Scripa)

By Tara Verheide (aka Sinclair Scripa) (Ludlow, Vermont, USA)

By Tara Verheide (aka Sinclair Scripa) (Ludlow, Vermont, USA)

 

Imagine Peace: Add & pass sheets stuffed with mail art glamsters

 

Imagine Peace a&p sheet from Moreno Menarin (Italy). Includes Kerosene (Canada)

& Sticker Dude (NYC USA). Stamped 2019

 

 

This seems an exceptionally appropriate time to share a FAB  trove of completed add & pass sheets sent to us by Moreno Menarin in Vicenza, Italy. The sheets - very diverse in content - are built around the Imagine Peace theme, which veteran networkers are likely to have encountered before (the theme, that is, not the specific art). We know Moreno Menarin as one of the enthusiastic supporters of E's Fan Club. We welcome our Italian friend to Glam Faction!

When we opened the two envelopes that contained these sheets, we though we had stumbled upon colorized versions of "underground" mail art from the 1970s. This gives you a good idea what it looked like. Perhaps because longtime European mail art stars have contributed generously to these wonderful sheets.

Yet all these sheets were coined and decorated in the 21st century. In fact, most seemed to have been "re-mixed" or "retro-fitted" (new material added) in 2019, about a decade after they had come to rest, probably with Moreno, who decided to send them packing. We are glad he did!

 

 

 

Imagine Peace a&p sheet. Signed Eon Archives (Italy), Moreno Menarin (Italy),

Vittore Baroni (Italy). Stamps 2009 - 2019

 

 

 

Moreno Menarin (Italy). Marilyn Dammain (?) unknown. Stamps 2005 - 2019

 

 

 

 

Signed John M. Bennett (USA), Elke Grundmann (Germany), Moreno Menarin (Italy), Musicmaster (USA), Sigismund Urban (Berlin), Isao Yoshii (Japan). Stamped 2008 - 2009

 

 

 

Angela Behrendt (Germany), Keith A. Buchholz (USA), Elke Grundmann (Germany),
Moreno Menarin (Italy), Sigismund Urban (Berlin). Stamped 2009 - 2019

 

 

Victor M. Da Silva Jr. (USA), Katy (USA), Moreno Menarin (Italy),
Isao Yoshii (Japan). Stamped 2005

 

Gene Ray George (USA), Elke Grundmann (Germany), Brandon Haney (USA),  Moreno Menarin (Italy), D.C. Spaulding (USA), Sigismund Urban (Berlin), Isao Yoshii (Japan). Stamped 2008 - 2019

 

 

 

 

John M. Bennett (USA), Elke Grundmann (Germany), Moreno Menarin (Italy), Tamara Wyndham (USA), Isao Yoshii (Japan). Stamped 2005

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post-Pop & Copyart by Jon Foster

Mail art by Jon Foster (Winston Salem, North Carolina, USA)

We are thrilled to welcome the extraordinary Jon Foster to Glam Faction.

Jon is already an Eternal Network glamster who groomed his talents as a writer and artist at the feet of his correspondence school guru Richard Canard. We also understand Jon Foster has personally met the enigmatic Lucy Pierre, which adds a brush of golden glitter to his already shimmering astral emanation.

Among many other artistic achievements of note, Jon Foster has developed a tape-and-tear technique that consistently produces fantastic art, at least when Jon does it. (We've tried to reproduce his sticky magic with results that are just not...well, not like a real Jon Foster or even a fake Jon Foster for that matter.)

A wonderful consolation, however, is that Jon Foster sent us one of his original tape & tear masterpieces, his FAB Post-Pop no less! We will treasure this forever and, of course, share exclusively with our GF besties.

This package also included some amazing copyart that can stand alone or work as add & pass. We adore copyart so this Jon Foster mail art care package is a Jon Fest-er here at your ever faithful Glam Faction printing all the noose that fits!

Love ya!

 

 

Mail art by Jon Foster (Winston Salem, North Carolina, USA)

 

  

  

 

 

By Jon Foster