Sorry, but this is not an interview with the makers of a B science fiction flick. It is an interview about Southern Exposure, Miranda July, local artists, and brown paper packages tied up in string converging. The genius behind bringing all these things together lies with Jonn Herschend and Will Rogan, who conceived of a subscription art project called The Thing. The concept is simple; every three months you get a household object that incorporates text made by an artist, wrapped up and mailed to you. The current roster of artists participating is Miranda July, Anne Walsh, Kota Ezawa, and Trisha Donnelly. Subscribe now and your first edition of The Thing, by Miranda July, will arrive in a few weeks.

If you can’t wait that long we have two suggestions. The first is to read the interview below in which you will find that Will and Jonn have a lot of great suggestions about things to do and see in our beloved city. The second is to join Jonn, Will, and the Southern Exposure crew at a wrapping and launch party this Wendesday, August 15th from 6:00-9:00 pm at the corner of 25th and Mission. Which means that you’d be next to SFist fav (and as it turns out Will and Jonn’s as well): La Taqueria. Yes, the fates really do seem to be coming together.

How did you come up with the idea for The Thing?
We came up with the idea while we were at UC Berkeley’s grad program. We were both interested in the way text transforms an everyday object, changing it from something ordinary into something special. And we both wanted to find a way to explore this intersection on a much larger and yet more intimate scale.

Are you aware of any other art by subscription?
We took inspiration from places like McSweeny’s, Wholphin, and Parkett, and were interested in creating something in the spirit of these publications, but wanted to do something that focused more on objects.

How many people have signed up so far?
We just began and we’re at 500 right now, but we are receiving about 20 new subscribers a day.

Are you particularly adept at wrapping things in brown paper?
Very

Introduce yourself in one sentence
Will: Hi I’m Will; do you still have my pen?
Jonn: Hello I’m Jonn; someone put this in my shoe (gestures to a small dice or rock).

Age and Occupation
Young and fast, slow and sloppy…also wise (like owl) and elephant.. also squirrel

Home Town
Branson, Missouri (home of Shoji Tabuchi the Japanese Fidel Player)
Lafayette, Colorado

How long have you lived in the Bay Area and Where?
We both came here at different times but for the same reason that the hippies came here (also gold miners): to live free and to love.

Favorite local business
Cole valley hardware (say hello to Alice Lee at the downtown store) Ape Do Good Printing (in the Mission)
Fayes Video and Espresso Bar, Dolores Park Café, Tartine (butter), McDonald’s Books

What I'm currently Reading
Will: “Between a rock and a hard place” Aron Ralston
Jonn: “Grapes of Wrath” Steinbeck

Favorite mode of transportation
Bicycle!

Best Band or Musician to come out of the Bay Area
Total Shutdown
Court and Spark
Virgil Shaw
Richard Buckner

Favorite local hangout
Fay’s Video and Espresso Bar
Jack Hanley Gallery

SF has the BEST
Burritos

You've never lived in SF until
You first move here.

Favorite Bay area politician of past or present
Matt Gonzalez

Now that Mayor Gavin is single, who are you going to set him up with?
A slice of pizza from cable car pizza.

SF would be soooo much better if only
…there were more bike lanes

Best Burrito
El Toro (Jonn)
La Taqueria (Will)
I forgot about that one. I change my mind and go with La Taqueria also (Jonn)
I’m also a big fan of Cancun too (Will)

Best Restaurant
Blue Plate
La Taqueria
Chez Spencer (only once a year)

Favorite author to come out of the Bay Area
Phillip K. Dick
Jack London

Place you always tell visitors to check out
See a movie at the Castro Theater
La Taqueria Squirrels over at UC Berkeley. They are crazy.

Favorite Bridge in the area
(Jonn) I like the really long one down by Hayward.
(Will) I only use tunnels.

You have two hours and $15 bucks to kill in SF, what are you going to do?
Ride Bart on an excursion fare (which allows you to ride all day on the entire system).

I want all the SFists out there to know
That our website is www.thethingquarterly.com and we extremely excited about our first issue.