Post #248087 by bigbrotiki on Thu, Aug 10, 2006 12:16 PM

Good morning class, your big brother is STILL watching you, and will continue his brotherly advice (not supervision, I must differentiate):

To answer GROG's post:

CLASSIC mid-century Tiki style was NOT as rigid as it may appear on this thread. It existed between two aesthetic poles:

The densely filled, floor-to-ceiling bamboo/rattan/native weapons/masks/Tikis/Beachcomber-lamps decked out places (classic Poly Pop Tiki) on one end, and on the other end the high design mid-century modern places, where the primitive carvings worked IN CONTRAST to the modern interior or exterior ("classy", modernist Tiki). Tiki style exists in many variations between these two poles.

The Florida bar with all the swank folks and the black rock wall and floor belongs to the modernist end of the spectrum, and is CLEARLY TIKI because of the presence of great Tiki carvings. Much more, it is a perfect example of the absurdist JUXTAPOSITION of primitive art and a "modern" white clientele, and thus a perfect example of THIS FACET of Tiki style. A palm front hut with original Tikis and natives in Polynesia is not as fascinating to me because it bears no surprise. (That is the reason why I purposely kept any reference to Hawaiian or other Polynesian island Tikis out of the Book of Tiki (x-ept a few Coco Joe/Hip items)).

I love mid-century modernism, and I love 20th Century POP PRIMITIVISM, which I hinted at in my chapter "Primitive Art in Civilized Places", and which I will define further in my upcoming book "Tiki Modern and The Wild World of Witco" (sorry, more new terms!). The Tiki style I like best is in a convergence of the two. It has little to do with today's Tiki revival (other than it was its inspiration), which I also appreciate in its own right. On this thread these are now getting all thrown together which makes things confusing to some.

Photoshopping the Tikis out of that bar interior OR showing a Tiki Bob mug/statue and totally ignoring its historical context (revealed in the Book of Tiki) is like taking a fish out of water and throwing it through the air, saying "Hey, it's not in water and it flys, It's NOT a fish!"

The sense of humor and whimsy found in the design of the Tiki Bob logo Tiki (not based on the Mortlock, but on an African FANG mask, as first pointed out by Tiki Fish on this very board!) is quintessential 50s modernism. It's mainland heritage and form of application is quintessential TIKI. If you are intent on ignoring all that, fine, it's not Tiki, but then you are not a Tiki-phile.

Now, taking that vintage Chicago Bamboo lounge postcard out of the book and bringing it into this discussion gets you a D minus as it did get the person who ignored the "Evolution of Polynesian Pop" chart (also relevant here), because what BOT chapter does it hail from:
"PREEEE-Tiki and the birth of Polynesian Pop"

And the bar of the Kona Cove with the mural is clearly a case of so many classic Poly Pop elements being in place, it IS Tiki. I always stated that TECHNICALLY two classic LA Poly Pop joints, Bahooka's and Daimon's, are not Tiki because of the lack of actual Tikis, but that the amount of Beachcomber and Trader-style decor concepts in them puts them on par with the rest of the best.