Post #449591 by Tiki Shaker on Sat, Apr 25, 2009 9:09 AM

This has always reminded me of when I use to deal in vintage/MCM furniture and vintage barware. 10 years ago the buzzword was "Eames". Everything was Eames. Everything was attributed to Eames. Eames Egg Chair, Eames painting, Eames light fixture, Eames rug, etc. After a few gallery shows showing the Eames' work and a few books, Eames become the generic buzzword (especially early, on Ebay) that everyone used. So basically their popularity amongst the few (well few compared to society at large), trickled down to the rest of society, "Eames" became a generic term. Their fantastic designs popularity amongst the people "in the know" and its subsequent trickle-down was the cause of their name being attributed to every MCM design out there. And even though their name is used on many fantastic designs they had nothing to do with, by doing so, people sometimes lose track of the fantastic designs they were involved in creating.

Tiki has gone thru the same thing. Ever since a few select gallery shows in the 90's and a certain someone's (ahem) book came out, tiki has now become the all encompassing term used to describe any number of loosely related styles and objects. The word has become watered down from it's true meaning, yet has become more powerful than ever.

The less of itself it is, the more it becomes.