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58.
Mail art/collage sent to Rhett Delford Brown, embellished by P-Orridge with his small ‘Tree of Life’ drawing and stamped in red ‘4 Dec. 1975’ and ‘FILE UNDER COUM’.
Additionally stamped with COUM slogans in black, as well as the return address of Coum Transmissions in Hackney. 15x10.5cm.
The colour photographic postcard depicts the front entrance to 10 Downing Street, a policeman standing sentry outside, pasted over with a colour photograph of two women in a sexual embrace and an extract from a printed text highlighted in pink by P-Orridge, both clipped from a pornographic magazine.
On the other side, P-Orridge’s holograph message reads: “Glad all is well, Here is your happy xmas interrogation: Ravelled in sweat and juices they stroll on guard: Is it just my imagination or is thee crystal ball cracking: How to hold thee crystal ball, [signed] Gen”.
The sense of unease conveyed in the message was likely related to P-Orridge’s recent interview with the Post Office Investigation Division and the criminal charge of sending indecent ‘postal packets’ through the mail.
The postcard’s recipient, Rhett Cone Brown, was a New York-based actress, theatre producer and teacher who collaborated on happenings with artist Robert Delford Brown.