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The 10 Years Book of Tiki Anniversary Show Opening |
Otto
Grand Member (3 years) 
Joined: Mar 29, 2002
Posts: 771
From: NorCal
|  Posted: 2010-09-28 12:06 am Permalink
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.
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Sparkle Mark
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 05, 2004
Posts: 301
From: Porter Ranch, CA
| Posted: 2010-09-28 01:06 am Permalink
Hear hear! Could not say it better.
Thank you Sven.
[ This Message was edited by: Sparkle Mark 2010-09-28 01:08 ]
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Tiki Diablo
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Jun 24, 2002
Posts: 1893
From: socal
| Posted: 2010-09-28 08:29 am Permalink
Without the BOT, I would not be a tiki artist plain and simple ! Way to go Sven!
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MauiRose
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 28, 2009
Posts: 163
From: Los Angeles
| Posted: 2010-09-28 11:49 am Permalink
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.
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crazy al
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 25, 2002
Posts: 1783
From: CA
| Posted: 2010-09-28 12:48 pm Permalink
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!!
[ This Message was edited by: crazy al 2010-09-28 13:16 ]
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cheeky half
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 22, 2002
Posts: 790
From: Tucson, AZ
| Posted: 2010-09-28 6:37 pm Permalink
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  )
_________________
www.velvetglass.com
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GROG
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Jun 21, 2006
Posts: 6199
From: Tujunga
| Posted: 2010-09-28 7:00 pm Permalink
Nice pieces. It's going to be a good show.
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kirby
Grand Member (7 years) 
Joined: May 04, 2005
Posts: 1599
From: SoCal
| Posted: 2010-09-28 7:22 pm Permalink
That is a realy terific mosaic guys, great job! Coveting.
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Tiki Shaker
Grand Member (4 years) 
Joined: Jun 28, 2008
Posts: 688
From: Oceanside, CA
| Posted: 2010-09-28 9:54 pm Permalink
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?
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Hiphipahula
Grand Member (6 years) 
Joined: May 27, 2006
Posts: 2376
From: The Valley! Female, leo,fav color pink.
| Posted: 2010-09-29 1:45 pm Permalink
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!
_________________
hiphipahula.com/
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10566
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2010-09-30 11:43 pm Permalink
Quote:
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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.
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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!
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mmoderntiki
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: Apr 27, 2003
Posts: 133 | Posted: 2010-10-01 12:37 am Permalink
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 mmodern@gmail.com
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
[ This Message was edited by: mmoderntiki 2010-10-01 00:38 ]
[ This Message was edited by: mmoderntiki 2010-10-01 00:46 ]
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10566
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2010-10-01 10:33 am Permalink
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!
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3936
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2010-10-01 11:05 am Permalink
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
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GROG
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: Jun 21, 2006
Posts: 6199
From: Tujunga
| Posted: 2010-10-02 02:28 am Permalink
Bump for tonight. Some awesome artists doing some great pieces for an incredible show celebrating an inspiring book.
_________________
GROG miss Tiki-Kate
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