Perhaps you are asking yourself, how do I receive this for free?

Send a standard (number 10 sized) self addressed stamped envelope (SASE) to us postmarked before August 17th and we will send you back a Machine for Typographic Generation.

THE THING Quarterly
SASE #3
3285 20th St.
San Francisco, CA
94110

Details on the Party:
When: Tuesday January 17, 8:15-9:30 PM
Where: THE THING Quarterly Office: 3285 20th Street (at Folsom) in SF
What: Music, Drinks, Issue signing and reading
How Much: Free!

]]> Sat, 14 Jan 2012 03:36:49 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/DAVE_EGGERS_SHIPS/

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]]> Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:21:05 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-15-wrapping/

1) a magazine launch by our friends at Fillip, which will be taking place next door at Kadist

2) a book signing of Gwen Allen's new book Artist's Magazines

3) and Colter Jacobsen who will be on hand explaining the links between Thoreau and Johnny Carson as they relate to his recent THING Quarterly limited edition project

]]> Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:02:23 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/GWEN-ALLEN/

image by Lenny Gonzalez

On Saturday May 26, James came to work with us at THE THING’s office here in SF on issue 14. Like two of our past issues where the contributors were physically involved in design and production (issues 5 and 12), James wanted a hand in each issue, literally. And so for an intense 5 hours, with a small crew of 10 people, James hand-wrote with lipstick on each issue. Lenny Gonzalez, THE THING's official photographer caught the action and made a short documentation. (see below)

James Franco Issue 14 of THE THING Quarterly from THE THING Quarterly on Vimeo.

April 30th 3:30-4:00PM
We will be celebrating the opening of THE THING's new office in the Mission with Starlee Kine and the Kadist Art Foundation. Starlee will be on hand to read from her issue 10 of THE THING and then offer an onion cutting demonstration at the Kadist Reading Room at 3:00PM. Following this, we will all step down the street for drinks at THE THING Quarterly's new office, wherein we will have an office party and soft opening for our new location. While issue 10 sold out quickly last year, Starlee will be signing any of these issues and a very cool take-away surprise for those who show up. No one goes away empty handed at THE THING's (office) party!

Starlee Kine reads at the Kadist Reading Room: 3289 20th Street: 3-3:30PM
THE THING Quarterly (office) party: 3285 20th Street: 3:30-4:30
]]> Mon, 25 Apr 2011 00:09:33 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/SF-black-jacks/

Image by Lenny Gonzalez

On March 19th, as part of the grand opening of the Kadist Foundation's West Coast HQ and an early office warming for THE THING Quarterly's new office location in the Mission district of San Francisco, THE THING will be partnering with Kadist and The Curiosity Shoppe, to host our third ever Parallel Black Jacks tournament using Ryan Gander and Europa's Issue 9.
The tournament will use the same rules as the event at the Berkeley Art Museum's tournament and the Lisson Gallery tournament in London last year. The winner will receive a total cash prize of $200 from THE THING and Kadist and a $50 Gift Certificate from the Curiosity Shoppe.

The info:
Time: 7:30-10:00PM
Location: Corner of 20th and Folsom (in San Francisco)
Action: Parallel Black Jacks Tournament till only one person is standing!

]]> Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:36:09 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-13/

Image by Lenny Gonzalez

We are pleased to announce that issue 13 by Matthew Higgs and Martin Creed is now available as a back issue order. Those who subscribe will automatically receive issue 13 as their first issue. But it can also be purchased as a single issue while supplies last. Back issues are $60 for non-subscribers and $40 for subscribers (these prices do not include shipping). To find out more about the issue, click here: issue 13 ]]> Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:54:30 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/THING-present/

Image by Lenny Gonzalez

If you are still out there slogging away in the holiday trenches, looking for the perfect gift... the sort of gift that just keeps coming all year long... we invite you to consider THE THING! Starting with issue 13 by Matthew Higgs+Martin Creed, which will ship out this next week, we will send a note to your gift recipient with a message from you (if you wish) and an explanation of what THE THING is and how it works. Your gift recipient will be first in line for upcoming James Franco issue and the following issues by Shannon Ebner and MacFadden & Thorpe. Give a gift subscription between now and Dec. 16, and receive a 10% discount off of the regular $200 rate. Simply enter the coupon code "gift." Click here to get set up: Subscription ]]> Tue, 07 Dec 2010 18:56:32 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/DOO-RI-available/

Image by Lenny Gonzalez

Issue 12 by New York Design Collaborative is now available to the public as a back issue! For more information... or to purchase visit THE THING's Quarterly page.

]]> Wed, 17 Nov 2010 18:48:43 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/DOO-RI-Launch/

We will be at the fair Thursday-Sunday, Nov 4-7. And Issue 12 contributors DOO.RI (Jeff Green and Doo Ri) will be on hand to sign copies of their just released issue on Saturday from 1:00-2:00 PM. Also in the works, Issue 10 contributor Starlee Kine will be coming by to hang out with us on Saturday and sign copies of her issue.

So if you have a copy of issue 10 and issue 12 and are planning on coming to the fair, bring them with you. We will send out another update that will include information on issue signings and other projects that we will have going on during our time there.

More information on the NYABF can be found here: nyartbookfair.com ]]> Wed, 03 Nov 2010 17:46:09 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-12-wrapping/

Well done, San Francisco! Looking forward to seeing this happen again next year.

]]> Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:34:21 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/Suzanne-Husky-SASE1/

SUZANNE HUSKY, SASE PROJECT #1 release party, at Triple Base, Friday August 20th, 7-9PM 3041 24th Street, San Francisco, CA

Our first project in the SASE series (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope) is completely sold out. SASE #1 is by Bay Area based Visual Artist Suzanne Husky. IT IS A DOUBLE SIDED POSTER THAT WAS AVAILABLE FOR FREE to the first 80 people who send a standard sized, self addressed stamped envelope to THE THING's studio before the end of August. This is an unsigned edition of 80. For more information on the project visit our THING Project Page. We will be announcing our next SASE project very soon.

SASE #1 was launched in conjunction with Triple Base Gallery in San Francisco on Friday August 20, from 7:00-9:00PM.

SASE is an ongoing project of THE THING where we commission artists to produce posters that must fit within a standard envelope and are free and available to anyone who sends us a SASE. Over the next year, we will announce three other SASE contributors. This project is made possible by Southern Exposure's Alternative Exposure Grant and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. ]]> Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:13:49 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/Chris-johanson-launch/

Chris Johanson's issue 11 was released to the public at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on Thursday, June 17th as part of SFMOMA: Now Playing, a Thursday night series of events designed to animate the museum in unexpected ways. His issue was put to use that night as Chris introduced it to over 1,100 guests and led the Mission supergroup The 17th & Capps (featuring Johanson, Joe Goldring, and surprise guests), and revisited its punk back catalogue, reinterpreted as American standards. The event took place from 6:00-9:45PM.

All photos are by Lenny Gonzalez

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• ]]> Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:01:45 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/Franco-THING/

  Actor, producer, writer and performance artist, James Franco has signed on as the contributor for Issue 14, which will be available this winter. We have already begun a discussion about what this issue might be and how it might be publicly launched, and we are very excited about the direction things are going. Get ready.

  More information on James can be found here.
  Also, here's an article that James wrote in the Wall Street Journal
  ]]> Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:54:40 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/BAM-Tournament/

  Issue 9 Parallel Blackjack Tournament at the Berkeley Art Museum

  On Friday, May 29th, at the Berkeley Art Museum, 32 players 12 dealers sat through several rounds of parallel black jacks, using Ryan Gander & Europa's issue 9 of THE THING Quarterly. The tournament, which was a collaborative endeavor with our friends at the Curiosity Shoppe in San Francisco, was part of a larger secret event at the museum called The Secret Society. The winner of the tournament received a $100 cash prize and $100 gift certificate from The Curiosity Shoppe. The event was organized by the amazing Francois Vigneault, and the card holders were built by Luke Bartels and Jeff Canham in collaboration with Europa. We are looking into a tournament in New York this fall. Let us know if you would be interested in playing.

  All photos are by Lenny Gonzalez
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  ]]> Sun, 09 May 2010 21:25:29 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/Starlee-kines-issue-is-now-available/

  Starlee Kine Issue 10

  Join Starlee Kine and friends for the release of issue 10 of THE THING Quarterly by Starlee Kine at Housing Works Bookstore Café in New York. Friday May 14, 7:00-8:30PM, 126 Crosby Street, NYC 10012

  Starlee Kine will be on hand offering onion-cutting demonstrations (using her issue as the cutting board), reading and signing issues. She will be joined by guests David Lipsky, David Rees, Arthur Jones who will also offer some cooking demonstrations and readings.
  Copies of Starlee’s issue will be available at the Housing Works Bookstore, with 50% of all proceeds of sales that night going to support the Housing Works fight against AIDS and homelessness. And 100% of all drinks and food purchased at the café will go to Housing Works, so come hungry and thirsty.
  For information on the issue, click here.

  see reviews:

  Cool Hunting.com

  La Motif ]]> Mon, 26 Apr 2010 04:31:44 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-nine-launch-uk/

  Final Game of the tournament

  On the 21st of January 2010, from 6pm on into the night, Ryan Gander and Europa's issue 9 of THE THING Quarterly was publicly released at Lisson Gallery , 29 Bell Street location in London.This issue is the third edition of a parallel card project that Gander created in collaboration with Europa, and will be used in a special card tournament played at the gallery.

  Lisson Gallery's Bell Street location was briefly turned into a card room and became the site of a full-on tournament open to 64 players with a cash prize for the winner. Players were following the rules of Parallel Black Jacks, as set forth in the informational poster that accompanied the issue.

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  ]]> Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:04:02 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-nine-public-launch-lisson-london/

  On the 21st of January 2010, from 6pm on into the night, Ryan Gander’s issue 9 of THE THING Quarterly will be publicly released at Lisson Gallery , 29 Bell Street location in London. This issue is the third edition of a parallel card project that Gander created in collaboration with Europa, and will be used in a special card tournament played at the gallery.

  For one day, the Lisson Gallery's Bell Street location will be turned into a card room and will be the site of a full-on tournament open to 64 players with a cash prize for the winner. Player's will be following the rules of Parallel Black Jacks, as set forth in the informational poster that accompanied the issue. Will and Jonn will be in London for the tournament. If you are in that part of the world, come out and double down.

  For more information on the tournament visit:  www.lissongallery.com/#/news/

  ]]> Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:52:16 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-nine-wrapping-party-studio-227/

  On December 16, 2009, Ryan Gander's issue 9 was wrapped with the help of much pizza from Haystack Pizza and several cases of Anchor Beer. We wrapped 700 issues in under two hours at studio 227. Big thanks to everyone who came out and to Lenny Gonzalez for the great pictures.

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  ]]> Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:17:05 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-nine-wrapping-party-december-sixteenth/ We will be wrapping Ryan Gander's issue (#9) on Dec. 16th at our San Francisco Studio at 3435 Cesar Chavez, studio 227. San Francisco, CA from 5-8PM. If you are in San Francisco, drop by and have a beer and help wrap a few issues. This issue will be mailed out to the subscribers on Thursday the 17th.
  ]]> Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:17:20 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/alternative-exposure-grant/

  THE THING is a recipient of the Southern Exposure Alternative Exposure Grant!

  We are very honored to announce that we were selected as one of the recipients of this Warhol funded grant for our proposed project SASE. More info on this will be coming soon. Virginia White, THE THING's Associate Editor, will be the Managing Editor on this project.

  ]]> Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:03:11 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/dave-muller-ad-project/

  Have you seen McSweeney's latest issue, The Panorama, a one day newspaper for San Francisco? It's amazing. Through a turn of events we were invited to place an ad for THE THING in this issue... in the book review section as it turns out, and we decided to ask artist Dave Muller to create an ad for us. The result is amazing. You can have your very own copy of this advertisement if you purchase McSweeney's #33.

  ]]> Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:57:11 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/matthew-higgs/ We are very excited to announce that artist, writer and curator, Matthew Higgs will be creating issue 13 for THE THING, which will be released fall 2010.
  ]]> Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:47:28 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/project-lucas-murgida/

  Oracuolution by Lucas Murgida

  Thursday Night, Oct. 22nd 8:00-9:00PM at the Temple Nightclub and Prana Restaurant in San Francisco, 540 Howard St San Francisco, CA 94105

  As part of an ongoing series of  projects, THE THING has commissioned Bay Area performance artist Lucas Murgida to create a performance for the opening night party of the San Francisco Film Society's Cinema By the Bay.  The party, which takes place Thursday, October 22, 8:00 pm at the Temple Nightclub & Prana Restaurant, is the kick-off for the Film Society's the three-day festival which will feature new work produced in or about the San Francisco Bay Area and provide a compelling window into Bay Area film culture and practice at its best. THE THING was asked to participate, and we decided to commission Lucas to create a performance for the event.

  Lucas' performance, which is titled Oracuolution, will work something like this: An oracle will be placed on the sidewalk in front of the club. Predictions of the future will be dispensed for real.

  Through performances and interventions Lucas engages the public in a dialogue concerning their notions of service, perception, liberation, and derivations of power. To do this, he earns a living as through employed “research” to inform his artistic practice. He finds employment in a particular area of interest and then constructs pieces that expose the embedded metaphors inherent in the job structures. In doing this, he employs overlooked aspects these environments such as  furniture, service people, locks or teachers. This process has included extensive projects dealing with his careers in cabinetmaking, restaurant work, locksmithing, and yoga instruction.

  This performance is part of THING Projects: an ongoing series of projects commissioned by THE THING as a way to make better things out in the world.

  ]]> Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:13:50 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/jonathan-lethem-signing/

  image by Lenny Gonzalez

  Issue 7 of THE THING will be released to the public on Tuesday September 15 at Printed Matter in New York City.  Jonathan Lethem will be on hand to sign issues from 5:00-7:00PM. If you are around, come and join all of us. We would love to see you and say hi.

  The issue, which is titled "Chaldron Optical System," consists of a clam-shell case, a care and maintenance instruction booklet (written by Jonathan and the editors), and a pair of glasses with text embedded on the inside arms. It was designed and manufactured in collaboration with Matt Singer and Selima Salaun of Selima Optique. This is their first collaborative endeavor under the banner of Project Selima & Matt.

  Jonathan Lethem is the author of The Fortress of Solitude and six other novels. His stories and essays have appeared widely. In 2005 he was named a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation.

  Jonathan’s issue is based on his ongoing interest in "impossible objects." In describing his work on this issue, he says, " for the last few years (and in another sense, for my entire life), I've been concerned with fictions that among other things present human encounters with "impossible objects", a description that encompasses instances as diverse as Henry James' THE GOLDEN BOWL, Arthur C. Clarke's RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA and Dr. Seuss's ON BEYOND ZEBRA. I've finished a novel, to be published in October, called CHRONIC CITY, in which the object in question is called a "chaldron". During the years of this book's writing I found myself by chance repeatedly drawn into collaborations with a series of other artists or art-presenters (see: Jennifer Palladino, Matthew Ritchie, and THE THING) and in each case I used it to further the foolish postulate that "chaldrons" were a part of the world outside the novel, an error shared by my book's characters."

  Issue 7 will be available on-line at thethingquarterly.com and through Printed Matter in New York City; The Curiosity Shoppe in San Francisco; and Ooga Booga in Los Angeles. The price of the back issue is $60.

  ]]> Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:01:58 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-seven-wrapping-party/

  all images by Lenny Gonzalez

  Jonathan Lethem's issue 7 was wrapped and sent out to the subscribers on Thursday, July 9th at Southern Exposure in San Francisco. It also happened to be our second year anniversary of being THE THING. And we couldn't think of a better place or way to celebrate than to wrap a couple of hundred issues at the place where THE THING started. So we celebrated with a bunch of subscribers and friends by wrapping issue 7, drinking beer, eating pizza, and listening to records. We also had an amazing cake, a cake that looked like a bunch of THING issue all stacked up. The cake was made by Elinor Diamond.

  As mentioned in many other places, these issues are a result of a broad collaboration. THE THING would not have come into being if not for the help and support of Southern Exposure. Jonathan Lethem's idea for this issue came to life thanks to Matt Singer and Selima Salaun of project Selima & Matt. The insert layout design was by McFadden & Thorpe (who have been working with us on all of our layout and desgin since issue 2). And finally a big thanks to Brent Hoff at Wholphin DVD, who brought THE THING and Jonathan together.

  ]]> Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:28:45 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/the-thing-in-nyc/ THE THING will be in NYC from the 23rd of Oct to the 2nd of November, and if you live there or are going to be passing through town, we would love to see you and say hello. Here is what we will be up to:

  1) We will be wrapping and launching issue 6 by Allora & Calzadilla at the Editions|Artists' Book Fair over in Chelsea on Nov 1st: 11:00AM-3:00PM. This will be a good time! It's free and open to the public. Music will be provided by Bob Linder (et al).

  2) We will be at the New York Art Book Fair from the 24th to the 25th, where we will be releasing surprise projects by Tucker Nichols and Ari Marcopoulos.

  3) We will also be in residence at Artists Space in Soho from Oct. 28th-31st, where we will be holding regular office hours and mounting a small exhibition of useful things collected by visual artist Bob Linder.

  a) Artists Space and Printed Matter will hosting an After-Hours-Office Party for THE THING on Wed. the 29th from 6-9PM.

  4)On top of all of this, Will and Jonn will be participating in a discussion hosted by Art on Paper magazine on Sunday, November 2 3-3:30 PM regarding Alternative Publishing The discussion is part of the Editions|Artists' Book Fair and is free to the public.

  Hope to see you at one of these events.

  ]]> Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:11:01 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-seven-launch/ Jonathan Lethem’s issue: Issue 7 is about to be released. We know that you’ve been waiting patiently for it. But you don’t how impatiently we’ve been waiting. We are so excited about this issue and can’t wait to get it into your hands.

  We will be wrapping this issue on July 9th at Southern Exposure  in San Francisco from 6-9PM. This is our second year as THE THING, so we are making the wrapping party into a birthday party…. and a homecoming to Southern Exposure, where THE THING officially received its start. If you are in town, come by and have a beer. Bring your favorite records for all of us to hear and wrap an issue or two. There will also be a surprise cake unveiling and then a surprise cake eating.

  Other THINGS:

  Trevor Paglen's issue is already in production and will be in your home by the end of August. Stay tuned to our blog for info on the wrapping party and a few other upcoming events. We are looking to release Ryan Gander's issue at the end of October and Starlee Kine's issue (issue 10) in December. Visual artist Chris Johanson has signed on for issue 11 which will be out next spring.

  Wrapping Party Details:

  Southern Exposure: Issue Launch and THE THING's 2nd Year anniversary Party, July 9,
  Southern Exposure, SF, CA 6:00-9:00PM,
  417 14th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
  t- 415/863-2141
  www.soex.org

  ]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:18:21 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-seven-update/ Issue 7 by Jonathan Lethem is in production! We’ve been working through the final details for the past several weeks. We wanted you to know because it’s going to run a little late. But the good news is that we are on a solid timeline now.

  We are very excited about this issue. It took a bit to pull some of the details into place (you’ll see when you receive it), but we are collaborating with an awesome design group: Matt, who was formerly a designer from Jack Spade and his collaborative partner Selima, who have been working with us to make this issue a reality.

  The short story is that issue 7 will be coming out in early to mid June. You can check back here from time to time for more details. But we feel very good about this date.

  Issue 8 by Trevor Paglen, is tracking to be right on time with a late July release. We will have more information about this as we get closer.

  ]]> Fri, 01 May 2009 12:38:06 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-three-wrapping-party/

  On Friday February 15th, Chronicle Books hosted the wrapping party for Issue 3 of THE THING by Kota Ezawa. The invitation was extended by Christina Amini and Michael Carabetta, both of whom work at Chronicle. Christina is an editor in Chronicle's entertainment division (and a co-editor of the amazing book Before the Mortgage), and Michael is the Creative Director for Chronicle. We met both of them both back at the wrapping party for Miranda July's issue of THE THING in August, and they invited us to hold our next wrapping party at Chronicle's new lobby (which is not even a year old). The wrapping party was a sort of barn raising. A good number of Chronicle employees, friends and subscribers came down and helped to get Kota Ezawa's issue 3 packed, stamped and loaded into the truck. Kota even came and helped to make boxes. In the end, we were able to get 1,000 issues wrapped and packed. It was no small feat, but it seemed to go very quickly. Virginia White, our one and only amazing logistical coordinator at THE THING, helped to orchestrate the entire night: including 20 pizzas (from Goat Hill Pizza), 1 truck, 8 tables, 5 tape dispensers, 20 roles of tape, a portable record player (at the very last second, because our official THING portable record player stopped working) and a keg of Trumer Pilsner. Thank you to everyone who came out and helped to get issue 3 off. We are very excited about this issue. All images by Corrine Schulze

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  ]]> Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:59:57 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-three-point-five/

  This is the sort of thing that we imagined when we first began talking about what THE THING could be. We wanted it to be a surprise; we wanted it to constantly reinvent itself; and we wanted to be able to follow ideas and concepts even if they didn't make any sort of business sense. So when we realized that we had some extra funds after Kota's issue, we decided to turn it immediately into another issue, a surprise issue. We were both fans of Tucker Nichols' work and felt that he would be the perfect person to work on an issue. And after just a few meetings and discussions with Tucker, we began production over in England with several thousand beermats, all of which contained copy from real businesses that Tucker had encountered on a recent trip to Eureka, California. (By the way, in England Coasters = Beermats. And we found that England seemed to be the place to go to have beermats created).

  And so, on April 18th we had a secret wrapping party at an undisclosed location in San Francisco. The party, which was organized by Virginia White (THE THING's amazing intern), took two cases of Sierra Nevada and a couple of six packs of Pilsner beer, 6 pizzas from Little Star Pizza, and about 12 to 15 records (which were played and replayed). Those present at the secret party were Wendy Wagner, Leigh Anna MacFadden, Brett MacFadden, Scott Thorpe, Lisa Hamilton, Holly Link ,David Suisman, Elana Bober, Lewis Stringer, Whitney Richards, Kendyll Pappas, Erin Healy, Max Schroder, Hannah Herschend, Brian, Hugo Herschend and Tucker.

  Images by Lisa Hamilton, Virginia White, Tucker Nichols and Jonn Herschend. But we can't remember who shot what.

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  ]]> Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:39:33 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-two-party-photos/

  It was a record breaker this past June when we wrapped Anne Walsh's issue 2 at Outpost for Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. The temperature peaked at 109 (at least in our rental car), a record for LA, as several brave individuals came out to help wrap and officially launch issue 2.

  We wrapped 900 of these and then shipped them out on Monday. A big thanks to everyone who came out to the sweat shop and particularly Julie Deamer (director and founder of Outpost for Contemporary Art, who hosted us), Sam Mellon from Open Gallery (where we wrapped THE THING), and the artist Paul Hayes (who came down with Noona to help label and ship). And a big huge thanks to Virginia White, THING associate and all round logistical coordinator, who helped to pull off the entire thing.

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  ]]> Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:31:34 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-two-party/

  The long delayed but much anticipated issue 2 by Anne Walsh is about to be launched! And if you happen to be in the Los Angeles area on June 21st from 3-7 PM we hope that you will come and join us at Outpost for Contemporary Art for the launch party as we wrap 1000 of these issues and get them out into the mail to the subscribers.

  The full THING office (Will, Jonn, Virginia, Noona and even Anne Walsh) will be traveling down to LA. So if you are in the area on June 21st from 3-7, come by and have a beer, eat some pizza, listen to some records and wrap a couple of issues with us. Outpost is located at 6375 North Figueroa Street in the Highland Park area of Los Angeles.

  So if you are down that way on the 21st, come by and say hello.

  ]]> Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:51:37 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-two-update-two/ It's finally in production! It's a long story, but the short of it is that we wanted Anne Walsh's issue to be perfect and had to shop it around for just the right manufacturer, which took a long time. But we finally found one and started making them last week.

  We are preparing for a wrapping party in Los Angeles on the 21st of June at the Outpost for Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. We anticipate that this issue will be in the hands of the subscribers by the end of that month. We'll have more information on the wrapping party coming soon.

  We realize that it has been a long wait for issue 2, but we are very excited about it and really appreciated your patience with it. In the mean time, we hope you are enjoying the surprise issue by Tucker Nichols.

  ]]> Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:15:14 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/wrapping-party-issue-three/ If you are in San Francisco on Friday, February 15th, and looking for a way to perhaps wrap packages, tape boxes, drink beer, eat pizza, and listen to music on an old portable record player, then you are in luck because we will be doing all of this at the same time at Chronicle Books for the Wrapping Party of Kota Ezawaa's issue #3 of THE THING.

  That's right, Chronicle books is hosting the THE THING's Issue #3 wrapping party in their very spacious lobby (which is not even a year old -- it's very nice). And we will be there wrapping from 4:00-7:00 PM. And we will have free beer and pizza (for a while at least). And you can bring a record and listen to it. And we will be very excited to say hello to you if you stop by.

  Wrapping Time: Friday, February 15th, 4:00-7:00 p.m.
  680 Second Street,
  San Francisco, CA 94107

  About Chronicle Books
  One of the most admired and respected publishing companies in the U.S., Chronicle Books was founded in 1967 and over the years has developed a reputation for award-winning, innovative books. Recently recognized as one of the 50 best small companies to work for in the U.S. (and the only independent publisher to receive this award), the company continues to challenge conventional publishing wisdom, setting trends in both subject and format, maintaining a list that includes illustrated titles in design, art, architecture, photography, food, lifestyle and pop culture, as well as much-admired books for children and ancillary products through its gift division. Chronicle Books' objective is to create and distribute exceptional publishing that's instantly recognizable for its spirit, creativity, and value. For more information about Chronicle Books, visit www.chroniclebooks.com

  ]]> Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:26:37 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/issue-two-update-one/ We are very excited about issue #2 because we are manufacturing it from the ground up. However, this is also taking a lot more time than we would like. We thought we were ready to go at several points, but we started over because we want it to be dead-on right. The good news is that we are close now to beginning production. There are still some details to be worked out, but it is looking like it will be shippping out in mid-March. We greatly appreciate your patience with this issue and are looking forward to getting out and into your homes.

  We'll send out more updates as we get closer to getting it out.

  ]]> Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:23:16 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/wrapping-party-southern-exposure/ On Wednesday August 15th, THE THING had its first ever wrapping party at Southern Exposure. We weren't sure what to expect in terms of participation, but we were completely blown away by the end of the evening. About 250 amazing people from around the Bay Area (and one person from Thailand) came to help wrap Issue 1 of THE THING by Miranda July.Thank you!One of the visions we had about THE THING when we were first thinking of it, was that there would be a sort of social aspect of it when it came time to send it out, like a barn raising. A group of us would pack it and send it out into the world. But the amazing thing about the wrapping party on Wed. night was that it took on a life of its own and suddenly become a sort of force that now seems to be driving the future of THE THING.Not only did we witness incredible innovation in the assembly line, but the entire night's wrapping was completed in the course of an hour. (The beer and wine may have helped this). The second amazing aspect of all of this is that THE THING has received invitations to set up wrapping parties in other locations around the city and the country for issues 2 and 3! We are still trying to get our heads around how this happened.The day after the wrapping party, we sat down at La Taquaria for our sixth carnitas burrito that week and we discussed the fact that THE THING has a life all its own, and it is sort of leading us along. We thought it was a publication that would be made and sent out with the help of friends. We thought that the best part of THE THING would happen when it arrived at your door and you went to open it. But it turns out that it's also a sort of public thing on the other end, the end that sends it out. So on both sides of the US mail there is an event that is taking place around THE THING: a party to send it out and a sort of excitement that we think happens when you see it in your house. It's very exciting for us to think of THE THING existing in this way.Here are some pictures from the wrapping party. They were all taken by the amazing photographer Corinne Schulze.
  ]]> Wed, 22 Aug 2007 16:08:26 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/office-life/ THE THING has been living in Southern Exposure's gallery from the 7th to the 18th of August as part of the Free Enterprise Residency. We set up our editorial office in the store front and went to work. Lots of really great people came down and helped, including our kids, who helped to make robot outfits.

  Scout and Hannah mechanize the processOne of the benefits, aside from sharing a working space with the awesome Southern Exposure crew (Courtney, Aimee, Jaren, and Maysoun) was that there was a secret back door into Mission Pies and we were right down the street from La Taqueria. We ate a lot of burritos and a tried to match our weight in pie consumption.

  Kendyll Pappas, Whitney Richards and Casey Ramirez help with touch up on Issue 1

  Anina takes over touch-up work on Issue 1

  Ilan Schraer in a focused moment of postcard production

  Will experiences a quite moment with a robot looking onWhile it is true that the robots where a tremendous help, there were many others who took time out of their day to drop in at Southern Exposure and help get THE THING in shape for shipping. We want to say thanks to Forest Kelly, Baniel Pelt, Gisela Boehnisch, Jenn Selden, Laura Mappin, Elizabeth Adams and Suzanne Husky. Without their help, and the amazing support from the Southern Exposure crew, we most certainly would not have been able to get THE THING out the door.

  Suzanne Husky paints the wall with flowers

  ]]> Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:24:28 +0000 http://www.thethingquarterly.com/news/southern-exposure/ From August 7th to the 18th, THE THING will move its editorial office to Southern Exposure's store front on the corner of 25th and Mission Street in San Francisco. This is part of Southern Exposure's Free Enterprise residency program. We will be working in the office from 10:00 AM to 6:00PM Tuesday through Saturday. There will be a flipping of rolodex files, a drinking of coffee and a telling of jokes by the water cooler. We will also be working up some posters for publicity, which we hope to distribute around the city. We will also be preparing Miranda July's thing for shipping. Come by and say hello. Sign up for THE THING in person, or share a quiet joke by the water cooler. On August 15th from 6:00-9:00 PM the public is invited to help wrap issue #1 of the thing, by Miranda July. Food, drinks, music, and wrapping paper will be supplied. Come help to send off the inaugural issue of this quarterly publication. Come down and join us, or stop in and say hello.
  ]]> Thu, 05 Jul 2007 14:27:27 +0000