Post #481937 by bigbrotiki on Mon, Sep 7, 2009 2:01 PM

True about Greek sculpture, and pre-Colombian architecture, too. But in terms of Tikis, more often in Melanesia, less in Polynesia.

Anyway, as far as Tiki culture is concerned, not possible historic authenticity matters, but the IMPRESSION of what was seen as "primitive art", and the concepts it represented in the 20th Century:

To the moderns: The birth of art, the creative spirit of unspoiled man, the freedom from naturalistic form...
To the public: Dark rituals, strange customs, taboo secrets --the opposite of the daily humdrum of the man in the gray flannel suit...

All this was represented by ancient looking, simple but elegant, scary but funny, monochromatic figurines seen in the Oceanic Art exhibitions and books of the mid-century. And this is the way 1950s and 60s artisans re-created them for the modern Tiki temples of that time.

Tikis, as they were found by the explorers and missionaries, are dark and brooding, not happy and flashy, and this contrast to modernity was -for a brief time- what inspired American Tiki entrepreneurs and artists. Later, they became scared of their own gutsiness and began to update them with glossy colors, destroying the effect of aged, archaic relics.

That is why paint jobs on Tikis are most regrettable, no two ways about it. :)