Friday, September 6, 2019

The Serial Asemicst Strikes Again!




Asemic mail art by The Serial Asemicst (Spain?)
 
 
 
An anonymous and energetic asemic writer - known only as The Serial Asemicst - is helping keep the Eternal Network (aka the international mail art network) a welcoming as well as leading community for asemics with these FAB postcards. They are turning up around the globe. Since mail artists tend to document work received online, the prolific activity of The Serial Asemicst can - to some degree - be tracked; I have seen many cards. I am thrilled to have hard copy for the Asemic Front project.
 
Anonymous mail art tends to generate speculation about the sender. That is natural human curiosity. I assume that, along with me, many viewers are pondering the identity of The Serial Asemicst. We have the tantalizing clue that our benevolent scribbler is probably in Spain. On the other hand, should true asemic writing be authorless in order to sever all ties with the possibility of "meaning"? Thus, I will not dig too hard into this mystery of authorship. Instead, I will thoroughly enjoy the work and be grateful for The Serial Asemicst. 
 
The international mail art network has been an important conduit for concrete poetry and visual poetry for decades. In fact, when mainstream culture completely ignored visual poetry the genre grew, evolved and flourished in the network. Most major figures in contemporary visual poetry were probably at some time part of the Eternal Network; many still participate. The network, accordingly, is now supportive of asemic writing as well.