A mail zine for the glam scene: Jayne B. Lyons' "Uproar"

Cover of Uproar zine edited by Jayne Barket Lyons (Lakewood, Minnesota, USA) 

Lately your essential culture workers here at Glam Faction have been diligently tracking  exciting mail art trends such as the add & pass-idemic, collab mania & Trashpo Nuevo. 

We've overlooked another genre that is experiencing an Eternal Network golden age: A new generation of extraordinary zines! To illustrate our point, we're sharing selections from Jayne Barket Lyons' wonderful Uproar zine. Documented here on GF is the April 2020 issue (Volume II, Number 1.)

Jayne Lyons' Uproar is one of the better-known mail art zines circulating today. We'd call its tone retro because Jayne invokes the structure & aesthetics of the great photocopy network zines of the 1980s (but adds color in just the right places as well). Photostatic, MaLLife & Lime Green Bulldozers come immediately to mind but there were dozens of 80s mags/zines worthy of praise here. 

The 80s network zines seem to have arisen mostly from the surge of Punk fanzines & the "underground" zines of the 60s & 70s. Mail art provided an entertaining & inexhaustible source of copy. Thus, many of the of the publications became fanzines about mail art & mail artists. 

Jayne adopts the successful zine formula but adds enough self-awareness of the genre & contemporary tropes to distance us from experiencing Uproar as an exercise in nostalgia. What is astounding in our Digital Age is that paper zines work. 

Network "stars" emerged in the old zines. The editors themselves often joined the cast of colorful characters. Uproar draws upon this very successful model. Many of the 80s zines had circulations in the hundreds & sometimes in the thousands! But many disaffected suburban youths enjoyed sharing their most profound thoughts & crazy mail that amused them with a few dozen correspondents. 

The genre of "fine arts" zines that also circulated via mail art - many assembling zines - had a different goal in terms of competing with mainstream culture & deserve their own discussion elsewhere. A similar strain exists today among those working with artists books.

From Uproar zine edited by Jayne Barket Lyons

The April 2020 issue of Uproar includes a diverse sampling of mail art. In particular, the "Envelope Bits & Pieces" section features an astonishing array of stamps & ephemera from mail artists around the world (look out Brain Cell!). Meanwhile, Jayne B. Lyons provides engaging articles, coherent editing  & structure. 

Zines are an investment in time, effort & expense compared to postcard production (although the art of the cheapo zine has been mastered by many). Knowing mail art history as we do here at the Glam Faction, we can tell you confidently nothing is a better contribution to community & culture building than making a zine. We are amazed at the zines we see online, in rare book collections & in exhibitions - things we thought were lost forever & never considered would survive much beyond a few immediate readings. People love zines. And people love Jayne's Uproar! 

                                               From Uproar zine edited by Jayne Barket Lyons

                                                From Uproar zine edited by Jayne Barket Lyons

Back cover Uproar (April 2020)

Ketchup with Erica Durante (New Jersey USA)

 

Mail art by Erica Durante (Waldwick, New Jersey, USA)

As many Eternal Network participants will testify, Erica Durante is a loyal correspondent & a tremendous mail art friend. Her postcards explore an astonishing number of genres & styles & bring joy to many.

She was a regular & popular contributor to MinXus-Lynxus. Erica has been less of a presence on Glam Faction. We hope to rectify this situation beginning with this post. Thus we are thrilled to share this ketchup (catch up) featuring some cards received over time from Erica. We've reciprocated & thus our correspondence has been going on somewhat behind the scenes. We just have not provided any documentation recently. 

Newer Glamsters might not be aware that Erica Durante, in addition to many other mail art achievements, is an official Legend of Trashpo. Her style still shows evidence of the innovative Trashpo she pioneered. Also, Erica was President of DKULTJER (DKult New Jersey) & practiced healing diplomacy during the famous disputes that ultimately shuttered DKULTNY (DKult New York).

Deepest thanks to mail art friend, Erica Durante!

Mail art by Erica Durante

Richard Canard endorses Trashpo Nuevo (?)

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

Richard Canard is such a towering figure in all of mail art that some Glamsters might not realize he is an official Legend of Trashpo among his many other affiliations and honors. 

Conversely, some newer members of the Eternal Network might not realize Richard Canard's reputation extends well beyond his affiliation with Diane Keys and the Trashpoets. (He was, for instance, an original member of Ray Johnson's New York Correspondance [sic] School.)

Richard Canard can be trusted to intuit network movements (if he is not igniting them). So we wonder if this recent communication from Richard C reveals a conscious or unconscious awareness of the Trashpo Nuevo we have been theorizing upon these humble pages recently. Time will tell.

We also believe Richard's pearls of wisdom on this piece are especially inspired. 

Thanks as ever to Richard C!

One-way ticket from the mysterious Atte Ourie (Helsinki, Finland)

 

Mail art by Atte Ourie (Helsinki, Finland)

Mail art is filled with mysteries, riddles, paradox and cryptic messages. Attentive Glamsters can even see it here on our humble blog where we seek to remove the smoke and mirrors for you!

Tonight we welcome - for the first time on Glam Faction! - the mysterious and enigmatic Atte Ourie of Finland who is a bona fide mail art legend. For years, Atte Ourie has been sending wonderful art around the world. They are messages written in strange symbols (probably asemic) that no one has been able to decode. Sometimes Atte Ourie sends beautiful maps, but no one has been able to locate places represented on these (apparent) maps. 

Strangest of all, unusual in all of mail art as far as we know, Atte Ourie provides no return address. So Atte Ourie chooses to send you art, but you have no way to respond. (We do believe, however, that s/he watches mail art blogs and platforms closely.) Atte Ourie does have a blog: 

http://attenblog.blogspot.com/

In the Eternal Network, one-way communication might seem self-defeating; it might even be viewed negatively. But Atte Ourie's "shtick" has proved endearing and enduring. Indeed, we venture to say s/he has become a beloved network presence. Atte's art "grows on you," as they used to say on the Mink Ranch.

So we're thrilled to welcome Atte Ourie to Glam Faction.

Trashpo Nuevo by Yvonne Kettner (Duisburg, Germany)

 

"Aah Trashpo" by Yvonne Kettner (Duisburg, Germany) (2020)

The original "movement" that made Trashpo a leading force in mail art of the last decade seems to have subsided. The gathering of artistic & poetic geniuses now known as the "Legends of Trashpo" have moved on to evolutionary chakras beyond Trashpo. They have committed themselves to spiritual quests or - as in the cases of Queen of Trash Diane Keys & Lucky Pierre - simply vanished from the public eye. 

Stop the presses! Just when you thought it might be safe to dive back into the dumpster, a new generation of exciting, brilliant mail artists at IUOMA-Ning are exploring Trashpo & re-defining & re-newing it!

Your ever-vigilant culture workers here at the Glam Faction are committed to bringing you the freshest news in terms of Eternal Network doings. So we will keep you abreast of the Trashpo new wave beginning with these breath-taking works by Yvonne Kettner of Germany. 

Yvonne posted these (what we'll call) Trashpo Nuevo pieces at the IUOMA-Ning gallery, where - of course - they are a FAB hit!. Yvonne Kettner kindly provided these elegant scans for us to share with Glamsters! Tney are beautifully united by the eternal Trashpo theme of pizza. Yet Yvonne has added her own aesthetic stamp to the tropes of traditional Trashpo.

Welcome to Yvonne Kettner. We look forward to sharing more of her art in the future as well as Trashpo Nuevo by other emerging networkers.

"Trashpo Michael, stay cheesy"  by Yvonne Kettner (2020)

"Pizza pimp" by Yvonne Kettner

Mail art by Jean-Philippe Gilliot (Saint Ghislain, Belgium)

Mail art by Jean-Philippe Gilliot (Saint Ghislain, Hainaut, Belgium)

We are thrilled to welcome Jean-Philippe Gilliot to the Glam Faction! He is among the new crew of "emerging" correspondence artists that have our comrades swooning in the IUOMA-Ning gallery & of course through the postal system. 

Jean-Philippe Gilliot has already won the hearts & minds of your faithful GF staffers with these two wonderful postcards. If you are not already familiar with his FAB art, we hope someday you'll tell someone, "Oh! The FAB Jean-Philippe Gilliot. I first saw his work at the Glam Faction!"

Deepest thanks to our new friend from Belgium. We look forward to sharing more of your work.

#dsfcult kit for the summer of love

Mail art by DSF (Dopesick San Francisco) (Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA)

This has been a great summer for longtime M-L contributor Michael Kelly, aka DSF (Dopesick San Francisco) who has now proclaimed himself #dsfcult & has become the current star in the strange world of Eternal Network cults, religions & divine ranters who share their visions through the postal system. We have two batches of #dsfcult mail to share with Glamsters.

On MinXus-LynXus & now on Glam Faction we have consistently named DSF among the Top 10 correspondence artists working today. Among other factors, we've praised the DSF post-Punk aesthetic. DSF had an exhibition this month at the Winston Gallery in New Bedford, Massachusetts.  Has DSF gone "fine art"? Highly unlikely, but we snap our fingers for any art gallery with vision to hang #dsfcult. Bravo Winston Gallery!

In the new order of a radically, rapidly changed world DSF has an increased relevance as postal bard of transformed social & political reality beyond a culture worker masterfully using the tropes of the 20th century avant garde. In cult terms, he has become a pandemic prophet. Perhaps it would be simpler to say, "Every dog has its day." DSF & the stars are in some cosmic alignment.  We're thrilled to share this work on Glam Faction.

By DSF (Michael Kelly)

By DSF (Michael Kelly)

By DSF (Michael Kelly)

By DSF (Michael Kelly)

By DSF (Michael Kelly)

By DSF (Michael Kelly)