Stu Horn and The Invisible Man letters
- Artist/Creator
- Stu Horn (Creator)
- Date
- [c. 1971]
- ID #
- M/T 020.13.02
- Level of Description
- Item
Object Description
Item is a set of two letters sent to Michael Morris, one signed by Stu Horn and the other from "The Invisible Man". They discuss several art projects including PORK PICNIC, GUERRILLA ART, and some Billboard events. Stu also mentions contributing to several projects, including The Valise and A SPACE.
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In the early 1970s, artists Vincent Trasov and Michael Morris engaged in regular correspondence with Philadelphia-based artist and poet Stu Horn (1948–2008). Influenced by the Fluxus movement, Horn was an early mail art proponent and affiliated with the New York Correspondence School established by artist Ray Johnson. Horn also worked under the moniker Northwest Mounted Valise; in 1975, he published an eponymous book composed of drawings, collages and concrete poetry satirizing the visual grammar of print advertising and critiquing issues such as the nascent environmental movement.
In these letters, Horn describes some of his public interventions in Philadelphia, characterizing them as “guerrilla art” designed to upend institutional conventions, disrupt the city and its administration, and critique a diverse set of issues impacting the urban environment. A graphic mailer titled The Daily Planet – a reference to the fictional newspaper that features in DC Comics’ Superman franchise – is composed of environmental slogans alongside irreverent calls to “Get Sterilized” and “Be a salad.”
-Weiyi Chang, 2024
Physical Description
- Physical Extent
- 2 p. of textual material : black and blue ink on paper ; 27.8 x 21.4 cm.
- Material Type
- Textual record
History
- Collection
- Stuart Horn/Northwest Mounted Valise
- Credit Line
- –
- Related Exhibitions
- An Opulence of Squander
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