C
Joined: Apr 09, 2003
Posts: 3837
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C
On 2010-12-12 21:58, Phillip Roberts wrote:
Aloha,
I got a really nice review in the in today's Honolulu Star Advertiser I am stoked!
"WAIKIKI TIKI — ART, HISTORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS," by Phillip S. Roberts (Bess Press, $22.95)
Don't let the compact size fool you. This hugely enjoyable ride through our mutated cultural landscape, as defined by carved wooden tiki statues, probably has more cool dope per page than any other Hawaii book we can think of.
Tikis are the icons, the graven images of tiki culture, born of that sunset lounge experience of exotic music, flaming torches, grass walls, bizarre, fruity rum-based drinks and black velvet paintings of nubile maidens glowing in the dark. Watching over it all are the statues hewn from wood, eyes bulging, mouths grimacing — the kitschy kids of Hawaii's sacred kii by way of Easter Island and Hollywood.
Kii are sacred; tiki are commercial props, and Phillips' mania for recording the cultural grab bag of tiki production seems to know no bounds, ranging from enormous wooden pillars for architectural purposes to tiny reproductions. Henry Kapono, in a charming introduction, reveals that one of his first toys was a tiki key-chain dangler with glass eyes.
This is one of those instant nostalgia books that maniacally delves into a previously overlooked corner of pop mythology. It covers the era when Waikiki evolved from a beach with some hotels to a gloriously overcooked homage to romanticized South Pacific fantasies. And it's already fading as Waikiki becomes more international and generic.
We like this book a lot.
They also did a Sidebar interview with me
Nice!
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