Post #558622 by Grand Kahu on Fri, Oct 8, 2010 11:45 AM

BigBro,

You make an important point in reinforcing the contemporary attempt to create a "pure" environment which references the past. But current attempts to "create a past which never existed" or otherwise perfect in our vision, the style, the food, or the overall cultural experience through a narrow lens is what revivals and exoticism have been about for centuries. Poly-pop or anything else. Whether some version of neoclassical style(s), mid-century modern, moderne/Deco, or you-name-it, the tendency is to be selective about those elements which are the most emblematic of our perceptions of the style/culture, even if not the most "typical" of the true period/cultural. Colonial Williamsburg and Disney's theme parks are among the more prominent single entities which practice(d) this approach to cherry-picking cultural elements, though again, one of a million similar approaches.

What I think it ultimately important is that the revival of interest remains valid in its own right, as long as it is not misunderstood as a snapshot of authenticity of another era/culture. It is authentic in its own right, however odd it is to think about in that way -- that revivals create their own new cultural and stylistic brew which will be copied, reformulated, and revisited again in the next generations. The Poly-post-pop revival, perhaps. Such blends of fact and fantasy and past and present are enjoyable enough -- and only unsettling when they are held up as some pure historical absolutes when they are nothing of the sort.

Wow, I have been thinking about exoticism and revivalism too much...

GK