Mailart Makes the World a Town

I've been considering Cheryl Penn's 

http://cherylpenn.com/wpb/ 

mailart exhibition and celebratory zine for some time now.  I thought I was supposed to make four pages and I just couldn't find a way to do this until I got to Cranberry island. I borrowed and read a copy of the Black Mountain College pamphlet #4 about Ray Johnson and the final pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. 

I collected some lines from the pamphlet:

'Ray touched the letter 'm' which was an intitial of mother.'

Ultimately the most satisfying art for him was the art of friendship.'

'The signs along the street or highway were like art supplies for him.'

'He took a piece fromt he whole.'

Then I set off on a letter safari up the Crnaberry road.

These two images put together in a particular way form the first page.

Because I believed I was creating a series of four pages (hadn't read things properly) I wanted to create a progression towards the inevitable 'Mailart makes the world a town' and my world of lettuce was an image I began in England, dazzled by the leaves in my garden. There is also a nod to trashpo.

Marianne North was a Victorian painter/explore/plant hunter and her book Vision of Eden is a great read. She created a room of flower paintings a Kew in order to share the beauty of the world with all.

Finally the Island Mailart exhibition.

In order to make each pair of pitcures (Ray + salad) and (Marianne+exhibition) I had to integrate some of the imagery from the other pair.  If you are a Zine recipient - you might see how I worked it all out.