Post #403455 by Rum Demon on Sat, Aug 23, 2008 6:38 PM

Hello? Good lord it's been a while since I've posted anything ANYWHERE on tiki central. Sure, I've lurked around every now and then to see how everyone is doing, but... I've missed this place.

We've been busy in life (who hasn't), but still manage to sneak into the studio and work every now and then. Katie in particular has been knocking them out left and right. Thanks to these efforts we've managed to keep our "3 mugs on ebay at all times" promise. But with limited runs, it's imperative to keep injecting new designs into the formula.

For a good while now we've been trying to enlist our friends to create their own Rum Demons. Most of them seem pretty interested, but nothing has materialized, until now. Without further ado, I give you the newest addition to the Rum Demon family: Mike Wellin's KING MUSHOOKA, the cargo cultist!!

"This sculpture is of King Mushooka, the most revered Kings of the Koopa Ki tribe. The Koopa Ki tribe was one of the fiercest tribes of headhunters to inhabit the countless unnamed islands of the South Pacific. The Koopa Ki were one of a few primitive tribes to exhibit traits of what is referred to as a cargo cult which dates back to the early 1800s. Cargo cults are any primitive people who have had no contact with modern societies. When these tribes encounter modern people they ultimately assume that the encounter is a mystical and godly visitation. Usually, these visitations were brief which added to the mystery of the experience. Often allied forces would stop to get water, meet up with refueling vehicles or perhaps dump unused or exhausted equipment." -MW

"These tribes, still rooted in the Stone Age, assume that these advanced technologies, like canned food, lighters, radios, and flashlights were mystical and ultimately worshipped them as sacred objects as well as revering their deliverers as Gods. The Koopa Ki had a brief encounter with US troops in WWII. Military personnel in the South Pacific were combing every island looking for enemy bases and installations, strategic locations or strategic materials for the war effort." -MW

"The most famous cargo cult story included a tiny island in New Guinea. A military plane landed briefly to make repairs. Repairs were made, tribespeople met the soldiers, traded some items before the plane quickly flew off. The natives, so impressed with this visitation, and seeing other planes flying over from time to time, built their own airplane out of natural materials. The idea wasn’t for their plane to actually fly, but in their limited understanding of planes and confusing them with birds, instead set up their plane in hopes that other planes would see their “decoy” and come down to visit again." -MW

Mike Wellins 43, is an artist, filmmaker and commercial director living in Portland, Oregon. His art has been seen at the MET, in NYC, and other various shows and galleries over the years. Wellins was also the curator and contributed to a gallery show of sculpture and art entitled the “The Museum of Unnatural History.” Wellins has made over 100 films both animated and live action, including three feature projects. He also published a text book on animation as well. Wellins work can be seen at Freakybuttrue.com

YAY MIKE!!

This is a fairly labor intensive design, as you might imagine. So we're keeping the run to 30. Some monochromatic, some fully colored. Keep your eye on ebay over the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for looking! And many thanks to Mike for participating in the Rum Demon adoption program!
-Joe