Post #233147 by bigbrotiki on Sun, May 21, 2006 4:21 AM

Ron, it looks like you had a swell time! Kona, Doug's place, the City of Refuge snorkeling, and Hilo make the Big Island my favorite too. I did like the Naniloa for its urban archaeological aspects, too, and it sits on a beautiful site.

Forgive me if I use your post to point out a devolution of Tiki style I must warn about, especially in Hawaii. Those two blondewood Tikis flanking the entrance to that home decor place are a classic example of the new misbegotten Poly-Asian style, where vendors that sell Asian Import decor use their connections they have with relatively cheap Asian labor to have Tikis carved.

Philippine and Balinese carvers have great skill and a great carving tradition of their own, but simultaneously lack any background in Tiki culture, and it shows. Flowing lines, (not primitive simplicity), human-like hands and feet, the heads in human proportion to the body (feeble mana !), you name it, they all are "off" somewhere, and not, like the American counterparts, stylized in a creative way. They are just ordered product.

One can see it in the nouveaux Tiki columns in some of the recently opened Trader Vic's outlets, and in a few other carvings offered here in California, but in Hawaii these cheap imports are taking over, and a new generation of tourists sadly will take these Tikis for the real thing. There are just not enough Geckos around there (except the green ones above :) )

I know to some my concerns may not make sense, and I realize that midcentury modern Tiki style was primarily based on commercial considerations too, but I wrote the book that defined what I see as 50s Tiki style, and I like to point out what I personally believe to be not fitting.

Of course this is no critique of your impeccable taste and Tiki knowledge, Ron, I know you just documented these guys, thanks for giving me an opportunity to voice my concerns.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2006-05-21 07:36 ]