The 10 Years Book of Tiki Anniversary Show Opening

Kenny, I love your pieces, proud to have them in the exhibit. And I'm happy to hear about all the goodness my book has brought into peoples' lives. I am weary of becoming too commercial, so I am branching into other things like CDs and mugs carefully. And doing it still more for the fun than for the money, considering the market is very small. But that's how most folks that create Tiki do it, for the pleasure of creation, not the dough.

Re the BOT printings, they can be told apart thus: The first printing of the BOT (2000) was the hardcover with the padding. The second printing, also dated 2000, had some mistakes corrected: In printing one, the match book cover of the Zombie Hut page 34 of the Pre-Tiki chapter had a printer instruction in German over it: "Linie rausschaben" (scrape out line), which was removed in the 2nd printing. So if you have that white text over that image in your hardcover issue, it's the first printing.

I would consider an electronic issue of the BOT, not for myself, but for my son's generation. But then it wouldn't just be a matter of scanning it in 1:1, those kids are spoiled nowadays. E-readers expect interactive bells and whistles, images to click on that make other things happen, and background music and so on, which would make the book an entirely different animal. Then again, the way the images are laid out in the book is already a little like a filmic narrative, the putting them in context to each other is somewhat similar to links. But it would be a whole 'nother project -which, granted, could be fun- yet perhaps better kept for my retirement. Anyway, in my opinion, viewing still art in a book let's the imagination fly more. But I can see that that will probably change with the next generations.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2010-10-05 15:46 ]

I have to agree with TikiBeast on this one, a digital copy for the Kindle, Nook, or iTablet would just not be the same. Those, are more for traditional novels I would think, not a novel with lots of accompanying pictures. But who knows where technology will lead us in the next years. But still, nothing beats the real thing.

As someone who uses the book for reference I have to say its much easier to look at a picture in a book than it is on a screen.

BOT is probably thee best document to date on the world of the Tiki in all of it's essence.

same goes with Tiki Modern, both of those books have been my bibles on everything regarding the proper Polynesian pop subculture.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103449696384393#!/event.php?eid=103449696384393

made a Facebook event for those of you that wanna RSVP and spread the word out for Sven!

Looking forward to it!

Happy Birthday Bosko!

On 2010-09-20 11:37, carlosrossi wrote:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103449696384393#!/event.php?eid=103449696384393

made a Facebook event for those of you that wanna RSVP and spread the word out for Sven!

Looking forward to it!

Awesome. I was gonna do it but I wasn't sure if there was one already

Thank You Carlos, very useful for those Facebookers.

And yes, Happy B-day to the first, and most humble, of Tiki Revival artists. Bosko will have another solo show at M-Modern after my Book of Tiki show ends. Congrats, Pal! :)

On 2010-09-21 02:50, bigbrotiki wrote:
Thank You Carlos, very useful for those Facebookers.

no problem Sven! just lending a helping hand, is anyone staying at the Caliente Tropics resort? I think I might get a room and see if we can have a little room party action!

Here's my piece for the Exhibit:

Welcome to the Tiki Party! 11x14, acrylic on canvas.

I had a heck of a time coming up with something for the show. I finally got an idea that I liked, and then it went through several permutations to get to the final piece.

Since it's the BOT's 10 year anniversary, I wanted to feature 10 classic tiki culture tikis, and then I thought give 'em all mugs, and it’s a tiki party! So then, I gave them all vintage tiki mugs!

I only own the Tiki Style book, but I used it extensively for reference. A reprinting of the BOT would be great... less eye strain for me!

Congratulations on an awesome milestone, Sven, and thank you so much for allowing me to participate in this momentous exhibit!

nice work tobunga!

What a fun party! All the "usual suspects" populating the Tiki universe. Thank You Eric! :)

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2010-09-24 14:45 ]

Wow, all this art work is is so cool. Little lost tiki, awesome as always. Kirby, love it.
Tobunga that's a great painting. I have to say the Stockton Islander in the background is a nice touch. Bigbro that is so cool to see the original BOT cover art. That really would be a treasure to have.

BOT, for me, is like one of those giant golden keys that a Mayor occasionally awards. It’s just that the city the key unlocks is a lot like Disneyland. No doubt, BOT has put me on an enjoyable ride with a drink in hand. I’m happy I have a key! :)
Congratulations & Thank you Sven!

I will be returning home in two days. With me, entering American soil for the first time, will be the original art work for the Book of Tiki cover, expertly mounted by the artist who painted it, Moritz R.

Originally the work consisted of three seperate painted pieces: The Tiki, the background and the letters. Moritz reunited them in a shadow box for this exhibition. It is the ONLY original art work of the cover. I should buy it, but it deserves to get the price that it is worth.

Tiki Magazine will do a cover story on Moritz next year

That just looks absolutely amazing Sven. Can't wait to see it in person.

I should buy it, but it deserves to get the price that it is worth.

so how much is he asking for it???

Here’s my piece, it is one of the Witco inspired wood art (architectural) paintings, the building being the Royal Hawaiian Estates in Palm Springs.
I am in the middle of creating my show/s for Mondo Lounge in Vegas (Friday night) and a solo show at M-Modern in early November, I’ll post the dates here and fb if you come to any of them please say hello. I’ve been at this the last couple of weeks and my head feels like it’s going to fall off. I’m hoping to try and get another piece out for the BOT show but time is becoming a factor.

Thanks for looking

Bosko

Excellent piece there Bosko!
You're like the King midas of Tiki
everything you touch turns to....RAD!
er...GOLD!

GROG like.

Oouw Bosko! Me want....how can I withstand the temptations of the many fine pieces in the show that show the things I love!?

By not wanting to go broke! :) Moritz's BOT cover, to answer the question above, carries a price tag of 3 grand. Which is an absolutely just price for such a singular item, me believes.

It's HEEEEE-RRR..... :)

can't wait for this event.
Hopefully it cools down between now and then.

Jeff(btd)

Here's #2 for the BOT show, I love making these but they take an inordinate amount of time to create, they are inspired by the Book of Tiki vibe, happy 10th Sven, it has truly been a pleasure.

If you want to see the newest work we're doing for our new shows take a look at http://www.boskoart.com

Thanks

Bosko

I'm sure my tires will melt on the way out there but it's gonna be good and I gots to gets there. :D

If you lived thru today, you'll make it. Ouch, my powerbook is too hot...at 7:30 p.m., still.

Shuweet, Bosko, shuweet!

Congratulations Sven and many Mahalos for including Claudette
and me in this great event! Great art everyone! Look forward to seeing
them all in person. Will get Claudette to post too! Here is my offering...

"Midnight Taboo"
Oil on Black Velvet
28 X 36

Velvets by J. Sallin

[ Edited by: Iokona Ki'i 2010-09-30 16:20 ]

Sven, sorry for not jumping in sooner with a BOT memory.
I met you in mid 1994 (?) after you and Pete had done slide shows for SCI-ARC in Santa Monica and I tracked you down by going to a Mod Comm meeting and introducing myself to John and Pete and Chris.

I remember your salon style slide show presentations in artist friends living rooms and at my mug parties in my backyard, then at Madame Wu's!

I remember when BOT was just a concept, a slide show, a pamphlet that was a book proposal that no publisher would publish. The catch 22 of publishing is that no publisher wants a first time author!?! Publishers wanted you to be published first!? So little magazines jumped in like Tiki News, Lounge, Le Pasefika, etc.

The leap from these humble beginnings to the BOT seems huge in retrospect.

But even knowing all that I did at the time, even seeing the artifacts that you were shooting for the book, and going on urban archaeology expeditions, when the book finally came out even I was amazed at the breadth of the presentation of the concepts and the rich imagery therein! Anyone who has discovered Tiki in the last 10 years through your book could easily take it for granted. It is hard to believe that before the BOT there literally was NO chronology, no lineage, no written history of Tiki anywhere. The truth is, you practically created the history of Tiki single-handedly.

Congratulations on getting it published and this anniversary celebration is well deserved.

Hear hear! Could not say it better.
Thank you Sven.

[ Edited by: Sparkle Mark 2010-09-28 01:08 ]

Without the BOT, I would not be a tiki artist plain and simple ! Way to go Sven!

After finding Tiki Central about a year and a half ago and hearing about this must-have “Book of Tiki,” I was bummed to learn it was out of print. But after some searching and waiting, I was lucky enough to snag a new hardcover off Amazon from a bookstore in Oregon. Hooray for independent bookstores that are hip to the interwebs! And hooray for Sven for all your hard work! Looking forward to this event and your next projects.

I've submitted this image to the BOT show because even though it is 20 years old, it illustrates why Sven saw the need to 'define tiki'. When i met these guys the Swingin Tikis in 1989, who all had tiki collections, tiki shirts, jackets etc.., they would use the word 'Tiki' as synonymous with 'cool'... if it was Caribbean/African it was 'tiki' , Asian - Tiki, SouthAmerican/Amazon - Tiki... and so on... They were 'Mid-century Exotica' collectors really. My self, coming from a more 'primitive art' fan'dom, would think...? that's not Hawaiian??? But excepted their definition based on a 'life style' that I was not familiar with other then iconic observations from my youth around Phoenix. Anyway, the piece I'm submitting was my first research into what a 'tiki' really looked like.

An ArtCenter study from 4th term, it's Gouache and India ink on illustration board from 1990. A study/sketch with media experimentation and Tikis. Six years later I would use the same 'Ku' image in the 'Tiki Line-up' has one of my light-switch designs. These are all images I 'Xeroxed' in the Art Center Library. Having lost this original scrap book and having this piece in storage, I actually contacted Sven and Otto at some point to see if Hawaiian Tikis were carved with a Phallus. I guess I made the decision to omit the Phallus from my 'Decent-War God LS05' light-switch, since as small as it is, I clearly put it on this painting in 1990. The Fisherman's Tiki on the far right helped inspire my 'Tonga-Man Cocktail Glass Holder.' with the star belly-button.

unfortunately i just picked up a 'painting-gig' with an ArtCenter bud this weekend, a guy who introduced me to Pepe! of Pepe's Tikis in Rosarito Beach Mex during ArtCenter. I will not be able to get out to the show/party.. you all have a great time! Live it up Sven!!

[ Edited by: crazy al 2010-09-28 13:16 ]

We left New York in the days before there was a resurgence of Tiki bars. When we ran out of gas and decided to stop in Tucson, knowing not a soul, it was the trusty BOT that was our companion. We started making mosaics and would drool over all the wonderful imagery within it's hallowed hard-backed covers. Often, we'd do this drooling at the Kon Tiki, which didn't hurt.

We'd like to thank Sven for putting it together, and Taschen for publishing it in such a durable format.

It seemed only natural that we should re-visit the classic Easter Island mosaic that was such a significant inspiration to us. Ours is a bit smaller than the vintage one though:

(Kirby, Great Minds think alike :wink:)

Nice pieces. It's going to be a good show.

That is a realy terific mosaic guys, great job! Coveting.

I was a BOT hold out for a long time (just like I held out on joining this site for many years). I was always into the cocktail culture/exotica comeback in the 90s. I always considered "tiki" to be a minor part of that. My brother was into tiki more than I. In fact, when I use to venture out to thrift stores and estate sales, I always gave my brother the tiki items I found. I kept the cocktail shakers, barware and other vintage items. I bought my brother the BOT when it came out, and I never bothered to even crack it open.

Finally after a few years, when the vintage stuff became harder to find and every store including Walmart began selling cocktail shakers, I decided to open the book and take a look.

I bought my own copy with in the week.

Whether or not I ever consider "tiki" to be a stand out from other fads or eras of the past, I do not know. But I can say that The Book Of Tiki stands out amongst any other book published about any other fad/style/culture of that era. The BOT has elevated tiki to a level that, because of books extensive research and overall coolness, is unmatched.

Thanks for creating the BOT Sven. (I bought Tiki Modern the first week of it's release).

p.s. Will you have any of your CDs for sale at the show this weekend?

Congratulations Sven, Wow, how "Tiki" Time as sure flown by, 10 years... I was raised in Southern California during the late 1950's-mid 1970's everything that is in the B.O.T. is all that I grew up with like so many of us. The B.O.T. has a great effect on me, it made me aware that I was not alone, these places existed, here is how they look or looked. The environment I grew up in now has a name, "Poly-Pop""Tiki". Sven, the B.O.T. means so much more than that to me, it help round out my life, helps me remember my family in our gatherings, the great places I remember, the world that seemed more safe and alive. Thank You Sven, keep writing books, making documentaries, I can't get enough. See you in Palm Springs Saturday. Glückwünsche!

On 2010-09-28 00:06, Otto wrote:
I remember when BOT was just a concept, a slide show, a pamphlet that was a book proposal that no publisher would publish. The catch 22 of publishing is that no publisher wants a first time author!?! Publishers wanted you to be published first!?

But even knowing all that I did at the time, even seeing the artifacts that you were shooting for the book, and going on urban archaeology expeditions, when the book finally came out even I was amazed at the breadth of the presentation of the concepts and the rich imagery therein! Anyone who has discovered Tiki in the last 10 years through your book could easily take it for granted. It is hard to believe that before the BOT there literally was NO chronology, no lineage, no written history of Tiki anywhere. The truth is, you practically created the history of Tiki single-handedly.

Thank you all for your praise of the "good book". And thank you Otto for adding your insider perspective. Actually, the irony was not so much that the publishers wanted ME to have something published, but they want something on TIKI to be published: They kept on asking "What else like it has been published already, what can we compare it to?" And I was going "Nothing, that's what's so exciting about it, it hasn't been done yet, it's something completely NEW!" But they didn't get it. Case in point is this rejection letter by Chronicle Books:

By 1992 the spine of the book, the chapter line up, was pretty much in place, and I had a pretty fat proposal, xeroxed and bound. But the publishers did not believe me that there had been a pop culture that had come and gone un-noticed, and that only now had all the elements been collected and put into a coherent context. The time of Tiki had not yet come. It took a European publisher to see the light. :)
Again: Thanks to Benedikt Taschen, the Gutenberg of Tiki!

We're looking forward to seeing everyone at this art tribute to Sven's amazing book!

Note for Artists in the show:

We need you to email us jpegs for the online exhibition that will be sent out on Sunday for those that are unable to attend on Saturday. We also require you to email us the following information for each piece in the show (if you haven't already done so):

Title:
Arist Name:
Size: (this is image size and not the framed dimensions)
Medium:
Retail Price:

ALSO: Do NOT send this information to me over Facebook as I rarely ever go to this and it gets lost in all the gallery posts we receive there.

Please email this information to my email at [email protected]

Thanks, Jay
http://www.mmodern.com

Should be a great evening as all the pieces we have received so far are amazing!
http://www.shagthestore.com

[ Edited by: mmoderntiki 2010-10-01 00:38 ]

[ Edited by: mmoderntiki 2010-10-01 00:46 ]

Darn, just heard from Kevin Kidney, he and his contribution won't make it. Too crazed with work, those guys.
His finished piece will however grace the front cover of my next Tiki CD -and it will be beautiful! :)

I always remembered deep recessed Tiki images from my childhood in the bay area and the Delta, including The Islander, Castaways and Don the Beachcomber to name a few. Got interested in historical Tiki mugs and bought Duke Carter's Tiki Quest. Amazon sent me an email and said if I liked that one, I should also order this other book called The Book of Tiki, so I did. Wow, found out that there was a lot more to this Tiki thing than old mugs. Haven't been the same since.

The BOT = inspirational.

Sven, congratulations on your ground-breaking efforts and your 10 year anniversary. Hope your show is a huge success, regrets that I can't make it.

P.S. I love that rejection notice, what do those young kids know anyway!

DC

Bump for tonight. Some awesome artists doing some great pieces for an incredible show celebrating an inspiring book.

Congratulations on a great show. Such an array of tiki art. Finally, it felt great to see real tiki in Palm Springs, active and a live!!

whos got pics?

I know! Some one please post pics of the party and the artwork.

What a Night!
Thank you Sven,Naomi,and Jay for creating this wonderful exhibit!
Sven,You have inspired countless artists,musicians,designers,etc
Congratulations again and Thank you for desiring to capture a period lost to History!
I hope,seeing all those pieces on the wall,that you felt like a proud papa...

As for the exhibit...
gosh-Dang!
It looks like all the artists upped it a few notches
and they all brought their A-Game!

The night was a'bubbling with great conversations
Tons of squeezins
hearty laughter
lots of smiles
LOTs of drunken smiles....
soooooooooo many friends there I haven't seen in AGES
and become reacquainted with some good people too!

I even got to see Dirk,and the Velvet Glass duo all the way from Tuscon!
Mahalos to all you brilliant artists who participated
and to all those who attended and shared in this Historic evening!
Happy!

didn't take any pics
but sure posed for a lot of em
so i expect,once these good folks recover from their hangovers
you can see some of the shenanigans from last evening!

On 2010-10-03 10:21, telescopes wrote:
Congratulations on a great show. Such an array of tiki art. Finally, it felt great to see real tiki in Palm Springs, active and a live!!

Here here! If anyone saw me, you cvould probably tell that I had one too many Palm Springs Punchs. But I do remember the whole night, and I didn't take very many pictures, but I am in the process of uploading them right now.

PICTURES!!!! please