Sean Tejaratchi

Last updated
Sean Tejaratchi
Born1970 (age 52–53)
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s) graphic designer, art director and writer
Known for
  • Crap Hound magazine
  • @ShittingtonUK on Twitter
  • LiarTownUSA on Tumblr

Sean Tejaratchi (born October 1970) [1] is an American graphic designer, art director and writer. He is currently based in Los Angeles, California. [2] [3] [4] [5] Tejaratchi is known for creating the clip art zine Crap Hound, [3] [4] [5] and was voted one of "The 25 Funniest People on Twitter" by Rolling Stone in 2012 [5] He later became known for his Tumblr blog LiarTownUSA. [2] [6]

Contents

Career

Early years

Two years out of high school and living in Eugene, Oregon, Tejaratchi designed his first posters in 1990 for a fictional rock band and posted them around Eugene. [2] [7] He was inspired by the many DIY posters for punk bands he saw posted around the cities of Eugene and Portland. [8] His design got him hired to produce posters for the W.O.W. Hall, a performing arts venue in Eugene. [7]

It was through his work for W.O.W. Hall that he was introduced to Mike King, a screen printer and poster designer who, at the time, also produced Snipehunt, a zine devoted to the music and comic art scenes of the Northwestern United States. [9] [10] Tejaratchi assisted with elements of the page layout, such as paste up and typesetting, but did not contribute any content to the zine. [11]

Crap Hound

Tejaratchi moved to Portland between the end of 1990 and the beginning of 1991. [3] [12] [13] In 1994, Tejaratchi published his first edition of the graphic art zine Crap Hound. [3] The 8½ × 11 inch zine featured pages of monochrome, high contrast line art and clip art images grouped into themes such as circuses, skeletons, hearts, hands and eyes. [4] [14] [15] [16] Tejaratchi mostly uses images taken from sources printed from the 1920s to the 1960s, such as vintage catalogs, rare books, medical textbooks, pornography and advertisements. [4] [17] [18]

The inspiration for the zine came when Tejaratchi was working on a poster for a Portland-area rock band – he had a particular image of a devil in mind, but was unable to find the exact image. [16] Tejaratchi created the zine as a way of organizing clip art of various topics to make them more easily accessible and he published these collections for the use of other graphic artists. [16] The zine also includes satirical essays and observations on politics and culture written by Tejaratchi. [4] [19] [20] The humor in his work has been described as sardonic [20] and as having a "cheeky wit". [21]

From 1994 to 1998 Tejaratchi published five editions of Crap Hound; [16] he stopped printing due to a lack of funds. [16] Tejaratchi left Portland in 2000 for St. Louis, Missouri, then New York City [12] where he worked as art director for the New York Press , [22] until he left for Los Angeles in 2001. [23] Tejaratchi did not produce another edition of Crap Hound until 2005 when he was approached by Chloe Eudaly, the owner and operator of Reading Frenzy, an alternative bookstore and publishing house in Portland. [16] [24] [25] Eudaly has raised money for each issue using the crowd funding website Kickstarter. [24]

Tejaratchi's essay "Death, Phones, Scissors" – which was published in 1999 in the sixth issue of Crap Hound bearing the same title – was widely distributed via Twitter and Tumblr as part of a four paragraph essay attributed to the artist Banksy. [26] The viral quote came from Banksy's 2004 book Cut It Out and while the book did credit Crap Hound, the attribution was left off when the text was retyped and disseminated online. [26]

However Tejaratchi later wrote in a blog post published on Reading Frenzy's website on March 18, 2012, that he discovered Banksy had mailed a letter and a copy of Cut It Out to the address in Crap Hound in 2002. [27] Tejaratchi stated he had been moving a lot around the same time and never received the items. [27] He added that the attributions in the back of the book, as opposed to cited references for the excerpts, were responsible for the confusion. [27] Tejaratchi also wrote that he did not oppose having his words published in the book and that his main concern was that his words were being wrongly attributed to Banksy via an internet JPEG. [27] The problem was complicated by the fact that the Crap Hound issue containing the essay was about to be reprinted, raising the possibility that Tejaratchi would be accused of plagiarism. [27]

Other work

Tejaratchi's zine work was displayed as part of The Copyist Conspiracy: An Exhibition of Zine Art, an exhibition of zine art and zine artists held in San Francisco on November 19, 2005. [28] [29] BoingBoing editor Cory Doctorow said that the title of his first published work, the short story Craphound, was inspired in part by Tejaratchi's zine. [14] Doctorow also registered the domain craphound.com for his personal website. [14]

Tejaratchi worked as a graphic designer for the performance artist and filmmaker Miranda July on her films Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) and "The Future" (2011). [6] [30] He is also a writer for the American variety radio show program Live From Here . [31] He also designs book covers for the Seattle-based book publisher Feral House. [6]

Tejaratchi is active on Twitter under the handle @ShittingtonUK and was voted one of "The 25 Funniest People on Twitter" by Rolling Stone in 2012. [5] He also started a Tumblr blog LiarTownUSA in 2013 that features satirical renditions of magazine covers, wall calendars, billboards and print ads for fictional products. [2] [6] Tejaratchi published a collection of his Tumblr material in a 2017 book titled LiarTown: The First Four Years. [2] [6] He has also created Social Justice Kittens calendars. [32]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zine</span> Collection of self-published work reproduced by photocopying

A zine is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very small group, and are popularly photocopied into physical prints for circulation. A fanzine is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest. The term was coined in an October 1940 science fiction fanzine by Russ Chauvenet and popularized within science fiction fandom, entering the Oxford English Dictionary in 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multnomah County, Oregon</span> County in Oregon, United States

Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Though smallest in area, Multnomah County is the state's most populous county. Its county seat, Portland, is the state's largest city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multnomah Falls</span> Waterfall in Oregon, U.S.

Multnomah Falls is a waterfall located on Multnomah Creek in the Columbia River Gorge, east of Troutdale, between Corbett and Dodson, Oregon, United States. The waterfall is accessible from the Historic Columbia River Highway and Interstate 84. Spanning two tiers on basalt cliffs, it is the tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon at 620 ft (189 m) in height. The Multnomah Creek Bridge, built in 1914, crosses below the falls, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawthorne Bridge</span> Bridge over the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon

The Hawthorne Bridge is a truss bridge with a vertical lift that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, joining Hawthorne Boulevard and Madison Street. It is the oldest vertical-lift bridge in operation in the United States and the oldest highway bridge in Portland. It is also the busiest bicycle and transit bridge in Oregon, with over 8,000 cyclists and 800 TriMet buses daily. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in November 2012.

The Multnomah are a tribe of Chinookan people who live in the area of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Multnomah villages were located throughout the Portland basin and on both sides of the Columbia River. The Multnomah speak a dialect of the Upper Chinookan language in the Oregon Penutian family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Providence Park</span> Sports stadium in Portland, Oregon, United States

Providence Park is an outdoor soccer venue located in the Goose Hollow neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. It has existed in rudimentary form since 1893, and as a complete stadium since 1926. Providence Park is currently the oldest facility to be configured as a soccer-specific stadium for use by a MLS team, and is one of the most historic grounds used by any United States professional soccer team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burnside Bridge</span> Bridge in Portland, Oregon

The Burnside Bridge is a 1926-built bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, carrying Burnside Street. It is the second bridge at the same site to carry that name. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in November 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway Bridge (Portland, Oregon)</span> Bridge in Portland, Oregon

The Broadway Bridge is a Rall-type bascule bridge spanning the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, built in 1913. It was Portland's first bascule bridge, and it continues to hold the distinction of being the longest span of its bascule design type in the world. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in November 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Multnomah County, Oregon</span>

The following list presents the full set of National Register of Historic Places listings in Multnomah County, Oregon. However, please see separate articles for listings in each of Portland's six quadrants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multnomah County Library</span> Library system serving Multnomah County, Oregon, United States

Multnomah County Library is the public library system serving Portland and Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. A continuation of the Library Association of Portland, established in 1864, the system now has 19 branches offering books, magazines, DVDs, and computers. It is the largest library system in Oregon, serving a population of 724,680, with more than 425,000 registered borrowers. According to the Public Library Association, it ranks second among U.S. libraries, based on circulation of books and materials, and ranks first among libraries serving fewer than one million residents. In this respect, it is the busiest in the nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Library (Portland, Oregon)</span> Library building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Central Library is a three-story public library branch in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Opened in 1913, it serves as the main branch of the Multnomah County Library system. In 1979, the Georgian style building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Central Building, Public Library. The library underwent major structural and interior renovations in the mid 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicole Georges</span> American illustrator, writer, zinester, podcaster, and educator

Nicole J. Georges is an American illustrator, writer, zinester, podcaster, and educator. She is well known for authoring the autobiographical comic zine Invincible Summer, whose individual issues have been collected into two anthologies published by Tugboat Press and Microcosm Publishing. Some of her other notable works include the graphic memoirs Calling Dr. Laura and Fetch: How a Bad Dog Brought Me Home. In addition to this, Georges creates comics and teaches others how to make them, produces the Podcast Sagittarian Matters, and illustrates portraits of animals. She currently divides her time between Los Angeles, California and Portland, Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Miller (politician)</span> American novelist and politician

Caroline Miller is a former elected member of the county commission of Multnomah County, Oregon in the United States, and a published author. Since leaving the political arena, Miller has been a prolific writer. She has published three novels: Trompe l'Oeil in 2012, Gothic Spring and Heart Land in 2009. Her short stories have been published in Children's Digest and Grit and Tales of the Talisman, and her short story, Under the Bridge and Beneath the Moon, were dramatized for radio in Oregon and Washington. Miller's two-act play, "Woman on the Scarlet Beast," was performed by the Post5 Theatre company in Portland, Oregon Jan 20-Feb.8 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albina Library</span> Multnomah County Library branch in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Albina Library is a branch of the Multnomah County Library, located in northeast Portland, Oregon. The library's origins date back to 1906 with the establishment of a small reading room that housed 100 books. The branch has relocated four times since then, moving back to the building which used to house The Title Wave Used Bookstore from a retail plaza in northeast Portland.

<i>The Dream</i> (sculpture) Sculpture in Portland, Oregon

The Dream, also known as the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Sculpture, is an outdoor bronze sculpture of Martin Luther King Jr. by Michael Florin Dente, located outside the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. The 8-foot (2.4 m) memorial statue was dedicated on August 28, 1998, the 35th anniversary of King's "I Have a Dream" speech. It depicts King plus three allegorical sculptures: a man who symbolizes the American worker, a woman who represents immigration, and a young girl shown releasing King's coattail, who represents, according to Dente, the "letting go" that occurs when people sacrifice their time and energy to engage in a struggle. The sculpture is part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection, courtesy of the Regional Arts & Culture Council.

<i>You Are Here</i> (sculpture) Sculpture in Portland, Oregon

You Are Here is an outdoor 2012 bronze sculpture by American artist Ron Baron, installed at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection courtesy of the Regional Arts & Culture Council, which administers the work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chloe Eudaly</span> American politician and former bookstore owner

Clover "Chloe" Delight Esther Eudaly (1969/1970) is an American politician from Oregon who served as a Portland's City Commissioner from 2017 to 2021. Eudaly lost her November 2020 re-election bid to Mingus Mapps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margot Black</span>

Margot Black is an American tenant rights organizer, activist, grass-roots lobbyist and former political candidate. She helped found and was co-chair of Portland Tenants United, Portland's metro-wide tenant union focused on tenants' rights to secure, safe, affordable and equitable housing, tenant-union organizing, eviction prevention, and providing emergency assistance for renters navigating housing law.

References

  1. ↑ Maynard, Mark (March 17, 2019), The Untold History of Zines… Sean Tejaratchi on Crap Hound , retrieved September 29, 2021
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Owen, David (January 1, 2018). "The Brilliant Fake News of "LiarTown"". The New Yorker. New York City: Condé Nast. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Sampsell, Kevin (February 3, 2005). "Sean Tejaratchi". The Portland Mercury. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Middleton, Chris; Herriott, Luke (November 11, 2007). Instant Graphics: Source and Remix Images for Professional Design. Rotovision. p. 138. ISBN   978-2940361496 . Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "The 25 Funniest People on Twitter". Rolling Stone. September 10, 2012. Archived from the original on 2016-07-23. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 O'Reilly, Seamas (January 16, 2018). "Welcome to LiarTown – where fake media is all too real". The Irish Times. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  7. 1 2 Sean Tejaratchi (October 24, 2009). Historic Zinesters Talking: Crap Hound Zine - Sean Tejaratchi (video slide show). Multnomah County Library, Portland, Oregon. Event occurs at 07:40 to 07:58. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  8. ↑ Sean Tejaratchi (October 24, 2009). Historic Zinesters Talking: Crap Hound Zine - Sean Tejaratchi (video slide show). Multnomah County Library, Portland, Oregon. Event occurs at 07:04 to 07:40. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  9. ↑ Sean Tejaratchi (October 24, 2009). Historic Zinesters Talking: Crap Hound Zine - Sean Tejaratchi (video slide show). Multnomah County Library, Portland, Oregon. Event occurs at 07:59 to 08:29. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  10. ↑ Sean Tejaratchi (October 24, 2009). Historic Zinesters Talking: Crap Hound Zine - Sean Tejaratchi (video slide show). Multnomah County Library, Portland, Oregon. Event occurs at 08:46 to 09:00. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  11. ↑ Sean Tejaratchi (October 24, 2009). Historic Zinesters Talking: Crap Hound Zine - Sean Tejaratchi (video slide show). Multnomah County Library, Portland, Oregon. Event occurs at 09:04 to 09:14. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  12. 1 2 Sean Tejaratchi (October 24, 2009). Historic Zinesters Talking: Crap Hound Zine – Sean Tejaratchi (video slide show). Multnomah County Library, Portland, Oregon. Event occurs at 00:09 to 00:26. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  13. ↑ Sean Tejaratchi (October 24, 2009). Historic Zinesters Talking: Crap Hound Zine – Sean Tejaratchi (video slide show). Multnomah County Library, Portland, Oregon. Event occurs at 08:45. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  14. 1 2 3 Doctorow, Cory (July 24, 2005). "Crap Hound -- seminal clipart zine -- is back!". Boing Boing. Happy Mutants. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  15. ↑ Sean Tejaratchi (October 24, 2009). Historic Zinesters Talking: Crap Hound Zine – Sean Tejaratchi (video slide show). Multnomah County Library, Portland, Oregon. Event occurs at 01:05 to 01:30. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lynam, Ian (December 20, 2006). "Crap Hound: Clipart mania zine". PingMag. Yes! Communications. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  17. ↑ Harris, Elise (March 1999). "Rock Design - No sellout graphics". Out Magazine. Here Publishing. 7 (9): 39. ISSN   1062-7928 . Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  18. ↑ Duncombe, Stephen (1997). Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture . Verso. pp.  98. ISBN   1859841589 . Retrieved August 1, 2012. Tejaratchi.
  19. ↑ "Craphound". CMJ New Music Monthly. CMJ Network (31): 53. March 1996. ISSN   1074-6978.
  20. 1 2 "Crap Hound". Zines!: Incendiary Interviews with Independent Self-Publishers. V/Search. 1: 34. 1996. ISBN   0965046907.
  21. ↑ Lewis, Georgie (October 14, 2006). "Ghost Prawn: Sean Tejaratchi, A Review". Powell's Books. Powells.com. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  22. ↑ Gallivan, Joseph (August 30, 2002). "Heavyweight wit". The Portland Tribune. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  23. ↑ Sean Tejaratchi (October 24, 2009). Historic Zinesters Talking: Crap Hound Zine – Sean Tejaratchi (video slide show). Multnomah County Library, Portland, Oregon. Event occurs at 00:30 to 00:38. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  24. 1 2 Levy, Shawn (May 29, 2010). "Kickstarter raises money online for artistic endeavors, tapping into Portland ethos". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
  25. ↑ Bowie, Chas (March 29, 2007). "Reading Frenzy's Chloe Eudaly Explains Why the Legendary Indie Shop Needs Your Help". The Portland Mercury. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
  26. 1 2 Peitzman, Louis (March 11, 2012). "Viral Banksy Quote on Advertising Plagiarizes 1999 Zine Essay". Gawker. Gawker Media. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 Tejaratchi, Sean (March 18, 2012). "Taking The Piss: Conclusion". Reading Frenzy. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
  28. ↑ "8 days a week: Needle in the hay". San Francisco Bay Guardian. November 16–23, 2005. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  29. ↑ "Our critics weigh in on local exhibits: Needles & Pens. "The Copyist Conspiracy"". San Francisco Bay Guardian. December 28, 2005. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  30. ↑ Sean Tejaratchi at IMDb Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  31. ↑ "Meet our writers". Live From Here. American Public Media. January 16, 2018.
  32. ↑ Blazenhoff, Rusty (2018-12-10). "LiartownUSA's Social Justice Kittens calendar". Boing Boing. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.