Similar to his last, a glossy black and white postcard with "HOME BODY" in white on a black square—but HOME and BODY share a giant O between them, suggesting other readings. Home remedy. A plate on a table.
The artist's cancellation stamp this time is a black circle around a rubberstamped cup of steaming coffee. The cancellation is dated 22 May 2004 and notes that this is postcard # 198 of the year.
Additionally, Roy has added a stamp that says "EAT AT HOME." Since I'm a modernday American, I find it coincidental that I did eat at home today—as well I should have, considering today is my wife Nancy's birthday. (Actually, this is also the most special day of the year, Magic Day, the single day in the entire year when my wife and I share the same age.)
Riffing off "eat at home" some more: My kids always want to eat away from home as much as possible, so I sometimes suggest that we eat at El Cariachi's, which instead of being a restaurant is a nickname for our home when conceived of as a place to eat. (The name is an execrable pun hardly understandable even if you know Spanish and are familiar with restaurants in New York's Capital District.)
Back to the postcard: In my address, Roy has drawn a roof over my surname (HUTH), transforming the name into a house, a home, the roof of which looks—punningly enough—like a hat.
The postcard ends—if there is an end to it—with a stamp (33 cents) of Thomas Wolfe, over whose right shoulder floats a statuary angel, its eyes downcast. Look homeward. Point made for the fourth time. An amazingly consistent piece of mailart.
Roy Arenella's "Home Body"
un violon d'ingres
3 comments:
The first thing I saw in the big O with the dot was a big pregnant belly. Baby's HOME in Mother's BODY!
Then re-reading your post about the "EAT AT HOME" stamp the circle becomes a breast and the postcard seems to become a mailart version of a fertility figure, celebrating the nurturing Mother Goddess.
Tim,
Tho I didn't mention it, it's obvious that your vision of the O as a pregnant belly is the intended meaning: homebody = the body as home.
Geof
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