TurboGod / Ren Clark Mug -- in the Baltimore Sun! - General Tiki

B bigbrotiki Tiki Socialite Tiki Island, above the Silverlake Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 11621	B bigbrotiki Posted posted on Mon, May 14, 2007 9:35 AM Thank you. I aimed at making the Tiki mugs and objects in the BOT look like highly prized museum pieces, and was able to, thanks to my 20 years as a lighting film cameraman. But the attraction of this mug is also clearly the shock value, and the uniqueness of the concept of creating not just a skull or shrunken head for a headhunter cocktail, but a clearly lopped off, bloody, upside-down, realistic human head. It must have been REALLY outrageous in its own time, I still dream of one day unearthing a shot with a 60s bee hived beauty holding one of those. If one uses a good magnifying glass, one can see the mugs on the shelf behind the bar in the brochure on page 44 in the BOT, that's the only vintage evidence I got. The mug's concept was ahead of its time, and befits today's pop culture much better. It also hints at a connection between the "weirdness" attraction of Tikis and the Movie Monster pop culture of the 60s. Years ago we had a Texan member make efforts to locate Ren Clark's descendants and home, which is said to have had his own little theater for his magic performances, but with no success. I would love to hear contemporaries that knew him and his restaurant give their account of the times.

Thank you. I aimed at making the Tiki mugs and objects in the BOT look like highly prized museum pieces, and was able to, thanks to my 20 years as a lighting film cameraman.

But the attraction of this mug is also clearly the shock value, and the uniqueness of the concept of creating not just a skull or shrunken head for a headhunter cocktail, but a clearly lopped off, bloody, upside-down, realistic human head. It must have been REALLY outrageous in its own time, I still dream of one day unearthing a shot with a 60s bee hived beauty holding one of those. If one uses a good magnifying glass, one can see the mugs on the shelf behind the bar in the brochure on page 44 in the BOT, that's the only vintage evidence I got.
The mug's concept was ahead of its time, and befits today's pop culture much better. It also hints at a connection between the "weirdness" attraction of Tikis and the Movie Monster pop culture of the 60s.

Years ago we had a Texan member make efforts to locate Ren Clark's descendants and home, which is said to have had his own little theater for his magic performances, but with no success. I would love to hear contemporaries that knew him and his restaurant give their account of the times.

Post #306216 by bigbrotiki on Mon, May 14, 2007 9:35 AM