Almost Tiki Famous: The Tale of the SHAGmutt

"I think you should do a post on this whole affair on Tiki Central..." -Sven Kirsten in an email to me sent 2/17/12

*I wrote this tale up last week and posted it to re:Tiki, a blog that's tied to tje Facebook group re: Tiki which an acquaintance recently started and wanted me to co-moderate.

I never shared the following tale on Tiki Central mainly because it was the sort of thing that seemed like it could come off as bragging or bitching.

But except for a very slight (and I really do mean very slight) annoyance of a creative type not giving proper attribution to images of others works (which is a not so uncommon occurrence in our digital age) I'm not bugged at all. So I'm not bitching. If you want to see me bitch go look up my posts in Bilge. Many of them are hilarious.

And even though I'm essentially a nobody and the two other main players in this story are Tiki royalty I'm not bragging. Any bragging I ever do is a joke. Like when I mention how hilarious my Bilge posts are.

So hopefully you'll find this Tiki tale amusing and interesting. And if you have an extra 5 grand lying around I have a piece of art you might be interested in.*

Almost Tiki Famous

I make Tiki "art" under the name Woofmutt. I don't really think of what I make as art, I call it "stuff and junk like that." I make cartoony stuff and stuff that looks like it might've been made during the golden age of Tiki (50s into the 70s) and junk that has a vintage look. All things that can help average Joes and Janes create their own private fabulous Tiki environment.

In 2010 I made several sculptures that I wanted to look like decorative pieces one might find in a late 50s hip home. In the mid 20th century there were artists and crafters who made pieces that weren't imitations of or particularly inspired by actual native art but their work was meant to be "primitive."

I posted pictures of my work on Tiki Central. I sold some of the work in sales in Seattle, a few pieces had interest from out of town buyers but I wasn't interested in shipping the work at the time so those sales were pending. (Still are. Oops.)

Two years later, in 2011, I got an email from Sven Kirsten, author of truly exceptional books The Book of Tiki and Tiki Modern. I was acquainted with Sven from Tiki Central. Sven was curating an art show at M Modern Gallery in Palm Springs and had sent out a call to artists explaining what the focus of the show was:

*"This exhibition pays homage to the enduring relationship between primitivism and modernism in the 20th Century. Not only was the inception of modern art inspired by the tribal arts, but beginning in the 50s, it became en vogue to juxtapose modernist environs with “primitive” carvings and wallhangings. One could even speak of a form of “anti-modernism”, the need to balance the antiseptic, clean lines of modern design with objects from the other end of the art spectrum, thus forming a Yin and Yang of esthetics.

"The artists for this show are invited to play with either: The modernist simplicity and stylization that some examples of tribal art display, OR (and) its brutalist “otherness” and naivite as seen from the Western view. We are looking for striking single pieces, paintings or sculpture. Basically something that makes a statement in the many modernist living rooms or backyards in Palm Springs and Southern California.

"Attached are some examples of what I am looking for..."*

Sven included seven images in the email. One of the images was the photo I'd posted on Tiki Central of my 2010 sculpture Oh One.

Neither my name or the title of the piece was mentioned. Oh One was just identified as "Cartoon modern."

For a couple of reasons, the main ones being distance (I live in Seattle and the show was in Palm Springs) and not regarding my stuff as actual art, I declined the invitation for submissions. I thanked Sven for considering me and noted he was the second person who got that I was attempting to make pieces that felt like "serious" work from mid-century artist and crafters who were making "primitive" pieces which had no basis in their culture and which weren't copies of the other culture's work.

Sven replied with a request that I participate in the show, I replied with a thank you and declined.

A month later, on 1/20/12, I got an email from Sven with "Apology" in the subject line. In the email Sven wrote:

*"As I sent out my call and prompts for the artists for my show, I attached several examples of mod art to illustrate what I had in mind for the show. I picked some pieces from my collection, and various from current artists - with one of yours among them.

"Well, unbeknownst to me, Mr. J. Agle apparently liked these examples so much that he picked five of them for the ad that M-Modern put into the Modernism Show catalogue. YOUR piece was among them. I am sorry that you were not asked for permission, and I hope you don't mind.

"There is really not much to do, the ad is being printed as we speak. All the pieces on it are not gonna be in the show."*

He included an attachment...

The J. Agle rendering of my sculpture Oh One is second from the left in the top illustration.

I assumed the J. Agle Sven mentioned in his email was someone who did promos for M Modern gallery and I just shrugged off the fact that my work had been used in an ad. I've never been someone who worried about his stuff being copied by others.

Then, another month later, on 2/17/12, I got another email from Sven with "Well I'll be!" in the subject line:

*"Ahem....It appears that Mr. Agle, unknowing of the origins, elected your piece to be in the art work he created for my show! This is just an assumption based on today's e-mail (below) since I have not been to the show yet nor had any contact about it with Josh.

"MY name for this piece will be "The Reluctant Artist" from here on ! I think you should do a post on this whole affair on Tiki Central - or, if you allow, I would do one (in a most respectful manner of course) once I get back from this weekend. It works in sort of a "Banksy" way. :)

"Your embarrassed curator Sven"*

Sven included an announcement from M Modern Gallery about The Contemporary Idol, the show he'd curated. In that announcement was an image of J. Agle's painting for the show. When I saw the painting I instantly recalled the J. Agle was the hipster world famous SHAG.

I really wasn't annoyed at SHAG, he probably assumed the images Sven had sent out in his original call for artists were of vintage pieces by unknown artists.

I was a bit annoyed at Sven's blunder mainly because he's a creative person, an author, and one would think that proper attribution would be of great importance to a creative person. But my years on the Internet has shown me that even creative people frequently share or use images or words without giving credit to the creators of the images and words.

After a thinking about it for a bit I sent an email to Jay Nailor, the owner of M Modern Gallery, on 3/8/12. I included images of SHAG's work and my piece, including one side-by-side...

In the email I wrote:

*"Even though it was done without my permission I actually don't have an issue with my work being used in the two examples cited (a promotion for your gallery and an original painting by SHAG). It's not like it ended up on a t-shirt at Target or a pet food label.

"I genuinely believe it was not done intentionally and probably wouldn't have happened at all if the original email requesting artwork had included proper attributions for the images included. I think this oversight on Sven's part had more to do with his enthusiasm for the show he was curating than an indifference to proper citation.

"Though a lot of people who make stuff would be screaming bloody murder about this sort of thing I actually found it amusing, especially as I know quite a few people who are major fans of SHAG's work but who have never even cast their eye in the direction of my work. But I've only mentioned the "SHAGMutt" incident to a few close friends. To me it's not really a big issue but it seems like something you should be aware of."*

(I mentioned the pet food label because in 2008 SHAG (Josh Agle Inc) sued Petropics over copyright infringement. I don't know what the claim was but I assume it was due to Petropics labels looking too much like SHAG artwork.)

On 3/8/12 Jay Nailor replied:

"Cool Image, Sven never mentioned it to us. Would have been nice to see a piece from you for the show as it was crazy busy that evening (500 - 800 people). Maybe some other time."

As I said in my email to Jay Nailor my work's inclusion in a SHAG painting was no big deal as it wasn't an item that was being mass produced.

Except just this very day (9/12/2014) I discovered the image of my work is in a piece that's been mass produced...

$225 a pop. I figure without the image of my work these pieces would only be worth $205. Or something like that.

The upside of all this, besides being almost Tiki famous, is I never actually sold the original sculpture. The price on Oh One had been around $30. But now I figure it's worth a bit more...

$20 X 200 limited edition prints

• 10% of the $7,500 price for the SHAG original
• the original $30 asking price
  = $4,780

Thanks, Sven!

.

Great story Woofmutt, and I think your revised price for the original artwork is very reasonable. As an aside, I think it's pretty cool.

yep, cool story. So have you heard from Shag? Anyway great piece, I'm surprised you never sold it. Maybe Shag will buy it! :wink:

Ha! Good to hear from you. I am glad you finally brought this tale to light!

I thought I had explained that I only meant the j-pegs (which had your image among them) as EXAMPLES for the other participating artists to show what stylistic direction I wanted the art for the show to be. I did not identify any of the other pieces's artists, either, since they were only meant as samples. As I wrote in an accompanying e-mail:

ARTISTS' PROMPTS:
The artists for this show are invited to play with either: The modernist simplicity and stylization that some examples of tribal art display, OR (and) its brutalist “otherness” and naivite as seen from the Western view. We are looking for striking single pieces, paintings or sculpture. Basically something that makes a statement in the many modernist living rooms or backyards in Palm Springs and Southern California.

Attached are some examples of what I am looking for. Please create something especially for this show instead of submitting something already in existence. I was a bit disappointed with some of the submissions to my 10 Year Book of Tiki Anniversary show, some of them had no relation to the book at all. I am not asking for just any Tiki, I am looking for subjects that relate to the concepts of:

Native idol, idolatry, paganism, ritual, taboo -but all in a stylized form, either modernist or primitivist, nothing too ornate or “voodoo” with feathers and other messy accoutrements. The native influences can hail from Melanesian, African, or Papua New Guinea art.

I'd say whoever buys the original painting would value having your piece as well. You may get nothing directly from SHAG, but by bein gin his work, it should make yours more valuable.

Just to reiterate...And I only do this because it's the Internet...

I really don't have any issues with Sven over this. Really.

And I was honored (or whatever a more contemporary equivalent of that word would be) to be considered for the show, even having a piece cited as an example of what he was looking for.

I also don't have any issues with SHAG in anyway. That said, I would not decline an offer of $20 per print.

$225 a pop. I figure without the image of my work these pieces would only be worth $205. Or something like that.

I like your logic :lol: Good to hear from you Woofmutt

Great story. Your piece is really cool. I realize you aren't looking for compensation but I think a little something is well deserved. I would also argue that your "contribution" to SHAG's piece really "makes" the piece. Love it. Soooo, t-shirts at Target next?

On 2014-09-18 07:23, Matt Reese wrote:
... I would also argue that your "contribution" to SHAG's piece really "makes" the piece.

This is true. Your sculpture is indeed the "centerpiece" of the painting.

This is true. Your sculpture is indeed the "centerpiece" of the painting.

It really ties the room together.

if there were a non shag ripped off replica I would maybe consider it. like for example one facing in the other direction.

Soooo... Seeing as the original piece having never sold. What's the new going rate? I dig the style. All that aside, I get what you're saying. I've had images of mine used elsewhere for promotion, and claim as original work. Most of the time I shrug it of others it kinda bugs.

Seriously though, how much?

I enjoyed reading every word. Wendy

This is similar to a dried weed that blows across the sweeping landscape and gathers other weeds during its journey. In time it becomes a huge sphere that is captured by a local artist, sprayed white, placed in the front yard, topped by smaller spheres and eventually a hat, a carrot nose, and a corn cob pipe. That single weed is now the base of a beautiful decoration admired by all that view it. Originally nobody was interested in the weed, but now it is the center of attention.

I wonder if your original creation will live in a Tiki Museum some day to be admired by the masses.

You should ask for a free signed print.