The Stratigraphic Art of a kiyotei Postcard

kiyotei continues to alter the same John Wayne postcard, but his layering of strata upon that base is so extreme that the Duke barely peeks out from behind the layers.


kiyotei, [John Wayne Postcard # 3 (Obverse)] (24 Nov 2004)
The first layer over the card consists of a clipping of an Italian proverb, a piece of grey paper torn along the edge, and a Mongolian stamp (in Russian [or at least using Cyrillic characters] and English) that reproduces an old German airmail postage stamp. Tying together this stamp with the Wayne stamp image and the grey sheet is a kiyoteian Matangi Island cancellation stamp. And that is the message of this card: how the disparate can become one. Other marks (layers) upon this face: a sticker with the lower half of my address, a red sticker with a jW brand, another Matangi Island cancellation (this one red), and a tiny asemic word (which has become my favorite word).

The reverse is even more obscured by strata, so much so that almost the entire left side of the card has disappeared.


kiyotei, [John Wayne Postcard # 3 (Reverse)] (24 Nov 2004)
The first thing we notice is a big 37-cent John Wayne card (more than the required 23 cents, which kiyotei points out with the note "14¢ my ARSE . . ."). The reason for this "supersize postage" is that this stamp is the same stamp illustrated on the other side of the card. Next, we are privileged to receive a Matangi Island TobaFuFu stamp. And what else? The cover to a Cracker Jacks prize, a fortune-cookie fortune, a Chinese postage sticker from October of this year, a bit of an address in Chinese (I assume), and at the uppermost stratum, a small black and grey "Mail Art T-Shirt" artists' stamp. Start digging!

un violon d'ingres