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.

we’re getting the band back together again – again – for a singing and book signing at Bookshop Santa Cruz. This is one of my very favorite bookstores, and we’re excited and grateful that they want to host and event with us. We have a long history with the town of Santa Cruz, and Bookshop is one of the best things about Santa Cruz. We always go there when we visit. Usually we go to Zachary‘s to fuel up, then down to Bookshop. It’s a thing we do.

So come on down, check out the surf, grab a book. Come say hi!

WHAT: Dog Dreams singing/signing at BSSC
WHERE: Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Avenue,
Santa Cruz, CA
WHEN: January 19, 2012, 7:30 pm.

Some video has emerged from the Dog Dreams opening at the Oakland Museum: here it is. It’s super goofy.

OH MY GOSH I ALMOST FORGOT AND THERE’S THIS! SUPER CUTE! (t/y Carolee)

xm

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

we’ve got 15 of these (I think they sold 100 of them out at the Campout), and we’re not printing any more! That’s all! 15! So if you want one, grab one. Two colors, 16 x 21. Image size 13 x 19.

We had an amazing time at the Campout, and in Joshua Tree. Man, I love it there. It’s so incredibly special, and the Crumbs are lovely people and dedicated fans! I posted a bunch of snaps from the trip here.

xm

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

Jim Winters and I will be sharing table space for the 10th annual Zine Fest in San Francisco.

September 3 + 4, 2011
11am – 6pm
San Francisco County Fair Building
1199 9th Ave and Lincoln Way
in Golden Gate Park

We’ll be selling screen prints and zines as well as our latest collaborative effort, Queen for Two Weeks. There will also be a special appearance (and signing) by our imaginary office assistant, Ondine LaBoeuf. We’ll be sitting right next to the talented and lovely Superdilettante.

Come say hi!

xm

recently designer Pete Friedrich from Charette Communication Design and I had a brain bubble: wouldn’t it be cool if we created a Passport and a set of Illustrated Stamps so that when one travelled from Hostel to Hostel (along the West Coast) one could collect the stamps in one’s very own passport? With enough stamps (and a few blisters – that’s a long hike), one is eligible for a t-shirt.

Yes, this would be cool. And, if I do say so, they are. Very cool. Here’s the stamps I created. And here’s a bit about the campaign on the Hostelling site.

… and here’s the Passport cover.

Neet, huh? This was a super fun job.

xm

earlier this year, Connie Wood from the United Way in San Francisco commissioned me to do portraits of inspiring Bay Area figures for their “Make It Be” campaign. Here are a few of my favorites from the collection. One of the goals was to create sightly-differently-styled illustrations for each portrait.

Ed Oh:

Regina Jackson

Dave Eggers

Happy Summer,

xm

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

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