The Well-Read Tikiphile-for BigBro(mostly) - General Tiki

B bigbrotiki Tiki Socialite Tiki Island, above the Silverlake Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 11621	B bigbrotiki Posted posted on Thu, Feb 27, 2003 1:07 PM What is great and important about "Taboo- Art of Tiki" is not the individual art per se (although there is a lot of fine stuff in there), but that it demonstrates what an inspiration the Tiki image provides for all kinds of artists. He has truly proven himself to be the God of the Artists, as the Marquesans saw him. It is uncanny how many creatives I know that are Tiki fans, from the director of "Monsters Inc" to musicians, writers, graphic artists and painters. They are re-introducing Tiki into pop culture with their contemporary work, some better than others, but they are proof of it's creative mana. I am a vintage Tiki fan first and foremost, but I am proud that my research has influenced artists even before Taboo was out, because my love for the arts and visuals made me do it in the first place. The problems that I have with Night of the Tiki are that it has a great concept, the evolution from Native Tiki to American 50s Tiki (Leroy) to Tiki now (Shag), but that it is confusing in it's realization. Too much non-Tiki art (Irian Jaya ?), not enough authentic Tiki, and what is shown as Leroy's works are too few of his originals, and too many machine carved copies of authentic carvings that he just went and overcolored in the "nouveaux" Tiki esthetic, (which began when restaurant proprietors wanted to update their Tikis in the 70s and 80s, a sign of Tiki devolution in my opinion.) This mixing of the carving styles and heritage unfortunately confuses the issue of what Tiki is and is not. This is just my perspective, and in no way negates my greater appreciation for Doug Nason's honest love and obsession for Tiki culture then and now, and I am looking forward to the big work on Polynesian art that he is working on now.

What is great and important about "Taboo- Art of Tiki" is not the individual art per se (although there is a lot of fine stuff in there), but that it demonstrates what an inspiration the Tiki image provides for all kinds of artists. He has truly proven himself to be the God of the Artists, as the Marquesans saw him.
It is uncanny how many creatives I know that are Tiki fans, from the director of "Monsters Inc" to musicians, writers, graphic artists and painters. They are re-introducing Tiki into pop culture with their contemporary work, some better than others, but they are proof of it's creative mana.

I am a vintage Tiki fan first and foremost, but I am proud that my research has influenced artists even before Taboo was out, because my love for the arts and visuals made me do it in the first place.

The problems that I have with Night of the Tiki are that it has a great concept, the evolution from Native Tiki to American 50s Tiki (Leroy) to Tiki now (Shag), but that it is confusing in it's realization. Too much non-Tiki art (Irian Jaya ?), not enough authentic Tiki, and what is shown as Leroy's works are too few of his originals, and too many machine carved copies of authentic carvings that he just went and overcolored in the "nouveaux" Tiki esthetic, (which began when restaurant proprietors wanted to update their Tikis in the 70s and 80s, a sign of Tiki devolution in my opinion.)
This mixing of the carving styles and heritage unfortunately confuses the issue of what Tiki is and is not.
This is just my perspective, and in no way negates my greater appreciation for Doug Nason's honest love and obsession for Tiki culture then and now, and I am looking forward to the big work on Polynesian art that he is working on now.

Post #24638 by bigbrotiki on Thu, Feb 27, 2003 1:07 PM