Post #449304 by bigbrotiki on Thu, Apr 23, 2009 9:31 PM

I just don't understand...WHY would it be "as Tiki as it gets", when there is no primitive art in it? It might look like it would have LENT itself to be Tiki style IF...! This simply is tropical mid-century modern, or Polynesian pop, or Hawaiian modern.

Sorry, but this incessant need nowadays to term anything that is Hawaiian/Polynesian style as "Tiki" is misleading.
I will never tire of this: Tiki is characterized by the use of the Tiki image, and especially by the juxtaposition of primitive and (mid-century) modern style in ONE place. If it ain't got that, it's not "Tiki", it is what it always was, BEFORE the Tiki revival got people obsessed with the term: Hawaiian, or exotic, or nautical, or..... and so on.

And the reason that there are more Tikis in Kona and Hawaii nowadays is in large part because of the commercialization of the Tiki revival. I visited the big island, Oahu, Maui and Kauai during the 90s, and found less than 10% of the Tiki population that the mainland could boast. And about 8% of those were exact copies of authentic originals. It was simply not cool to use them.