La Costa Perdida

Friendlies,

the new Camper Van Beethoven record is out today, and it is, indeed, a goody goody. The package design and illustrations were done by yours truly. You can stream the whole thing here, and you can buy yourself a copy here. I recommend getting a “hard copy” of the CD, since that will give you the full sensory experience of owning the record (as opposed to having these little pop gems lost in the “shuffle” of your playlists).

Go ahead, treat yourself. Buy the CD from your local music purveyor, wait for it to arrive, pour yourself a frosty beverage, put the CD on, find a comfortable place to sit and listen, and relax. Listen to each track carefully, noting your physical reaction to each song. You might get distracted. That’s ok. Sit back down, and listen to the next track. And so on. See? Feels good, right?

Do you know Camper’s older musics? You might start with Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty. This is a good collection. If you like that one, you’re ready for Cigarettes and Carrot Juice, a box set of their early records. Key Lime Pie is another favorite. Listen, it’s all great. Trust me.

You’ll find me at The Rickshaw Stop on February 16.

xm

See Wertz Pull Prints in Public!

My Darlings,

my presence has been requested as part of the All of Us or None poster show at the Oakland Museum, and I’m eager (yet full of trepidation). A good friend recently pointed out that my current level of neurosis is rather high, and I think it’s because I keep on making public appearances in very public places. Like, for instance, in museums and bookstores. And I don’t just appear, darlings, I do things in public. Like sing, or, in this case, pull screenprints that will be given away to the gathered masses for free.

I usually spend a good deal of time by myself with just a pencil and some paper and my dog to talk to, so you understand. Things could go wrong. Terribly wrong. My good friend (and collaborator*) Jim Winters will be there to help out if we have to clean out a screen or extract a squeegee from my eye socket, so that’s good.

I’ll be pulling (about 50) prints in the gallery from 5:00-6:30 pm on Friday, April 27, 2012, in the galleries of the Oakland Museum. It’s free, I think.

Here’s the mantra for the evening : IMPERFECT = REAL. Write this on your hand with a sharpie, and come on down to the galleries to see me pull prints. Directly afterwards, I’ll be signing the large Peace Sign OMCA Prints at the OMCA Store. See below.

Hope to see you there!

xm

Here’s a preview of the print I’ll be pulling:

Here’s the OMCA Peace Sculpture Print:

Here’s how messy the process can be:

* Plus the guy is an amazing artist, and got me on the road to silkscreen – I should be there supporting him, not the other way around.

The Peculiar Scholarship of Doctor Bedcannon

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SAN FRANCISCO’S SUBTERRANEAN STAMP SOCIETY MATERIALIZES AT SFMOMA!

The Elsewhere Philatelic Society is proud to announce the unveiling of “The Peculiar Scholarship of Dr. Bedcannon”, #7 in the Psychedelic Philatelic Adventure Series (collect them all!). In conjunction with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Koret Visitor Education Center, the EPS cordially invites you to experience the galleries of SFMOMA as Dr. Bedcannon INTENDED THEM TO BE EXPERIENCED. Have you ever wanted to question an institution’s extant reality? Dr. Ytterbium G. Bedcannon has! You’ll follow in his footsteps as he recontextualizes every object within the museum to match his whimsical and questionable views.

Bedcannon’s walkabout can be enjoyed Thursday through Tuesday, in the Koret Visitor Education Center (2nd floor), from January 15, 2012, until such time as the SFMOMA grows weary of its urban whimsy (likely a day in August).

The Elsewhere Philatelic Society (est. 1895) is an interactive fiction project set in various locations throughout San Francisco and the East Bay, and is inspired by the Games of Nonchalance project.  It endeavors to engage players in an on-going adventure storyline, to encourage them to observe and produce street art, and to explore urban areas in new and unusual ways.

Dog Dreams v.2 Opening at the Oakland Museum!

Kids (and those of you Kids with Kids),

Dog Dreams is like The Little Kid’s Book that Just Won’t Go Away!

We’re excited to invite you all to the re-grand-opening of Dog Dreams (v.2) brought to you by the kind folks at Gingko Press and The Oakland Museum. This is the second printing of Dog Dreams (you can see a gaggle of images from Dog Dreams here). The first printing was only 100 copies and those sold out, like, RIGHT AWAY, so I was more than thrilled when Gingko Press offered to do a second printing. This is the same book, mind you, we scanned in the letterpress prints and used those to construct the pages for the new book but this one was printed 175% larger (it’s 7″ x 7″!) and is has been pre-tested to work beautifully as both a board book and a chew toy.

Apparently, it tastes delicious.

Here’s a sneak preview of the new version.

And a video of me talking about this thing:

You might ask: “Michael? Will you and Andy and Suki be getting up in front of the gathered to embarrass yourselves again with tiny drums and a ukelele and badly-sung novelty songs about dogs?”

The answer, my friends, is blowing in the wind. And that answer is YUSSS.

What: Dog Dreams v.2 Opening!
When: Sunday, December 4. Starts at 2pm, ends when my pen runs out of ink.
Where: OMCA Gift Shop. The Museum is FREE that day. The address is 1000 Oak St. Oakland, CA 94607, and it’s very close to Lake Merritt Bart.
Who: YOU.
Why: BECAUSE WE LIKE YOU.

So. Come see us, grab a book, laugh at us. We don’t care. We like it. In fact, it’s ‘free day’ at the museum, so you can just come and laugh at us without buying a book and the whole thing will cost you NOTHING. Hey, it’s hard times! We understand! If we can momentarily distract you from the constant buzz of police helicopters overhead, then we’ll be happy campers. If you’re looking for a giftie for the holidays (I started to itch all over while typing that last bit), these puppies are priced to move. I will be signing books as well.

Another question: “Will this event be kid-friendly?” Yuppers. Most of my kid’s book events thus far have been in the evening, when our precious little darlings turn into flesh-rendering wildebeasts, so here’s your chance to bring ‘em out when it’s not dinnertime. Plus, you can take them to the museum and the cool gardens and let them run around. BONUS.

See you then?

x,m

new prints & books & tees up in the shop!

Hey kids,

It’s been a busy summer in the silkscreen studio, and finally I can share some of the work I’ve been producing. There’s a mess of new stuff to peruse on the shop page: the collaborative book by Mister Jim Winters and myself, Queen for Two Weeks, numbered and signed and packed up pretty in a cellophane wrapper. The super-tall-and super-fifties Sutro Tower screenprint. The longer-than tall Lake Merritt (featuring the also-longer-than-tall Lake Merritt Monster). There is also a photograph of an attractive young man modeling the t-shirt design (it looks just like the Sutro Tower print) I did for therethere.

xm

Dog Dreams and Gingko Press

Friends of the Four-Pawed:

amazing news! Gingko Press (the folks who bring you the work of Marshall McLuhan and Shepherd Fairey, among others) will be offering my little book Dog Dreams as a 7″ x 7″ board book in Fall 2011!

Dog Dreams is a little bit different than the rest of the titles in their catalog, but they thought my work would be a nice addition for those folks with children (or for those of us who just act like children).

The original run of 100 hand-printed letterpressed copies is sold out, but hopefully we’ll be seeing this new pressing in stores in time for the holidays! Click here to see images from the original production at the San Francisco Center for the Book.

We’re absolutely thrilled to work with the folks at Gingko, and happy that this little book will be reaching a wider audience!

Photo by Michael Bartalos.

xm

A new bag design for Rickshaw Bagworks

Hey friendlies,

check it out. This is a bag design for the rickshaw bag company, which is located in the historic Dogpatch district of San Francisco.

This is why I was up until 2:30 in the morning yesterday and why I can’t spell properly today. It’s totally worth it. I’ll let you know when these are available for purchase!

xm

Dog Dreams in Santa Cruz

Furry Friends,

please join Janet Fine and I at Artisans Gallery in Santa Cruz, California for June’s First Friday! I will be showing images from my letterpressed book Dog Dreams, and our dear friend Janet Fine will be showing images based on the Dog Dreams theme. Super excited to show with Janet – her work is great.

Punch and Pie. And dogs.

If you’re in the Santa Cruz area, I hope you’ll be there! By the way, Santa Cruz is a lovely place to spend a weekend away (hint, hint).

xm