Post #716577 by TikiTacky on Sat, May 10, 2014 12:29 PM

Kitsch is a funny word. On the one hand, it's used as a pejorative term that generally means ugly or cheesy. But it's also evolved into its own sort of cultural style as well. Wikipedia defines it as "a low-brow style of mass-produced art or design using popular or cultural icons. Kitsch generally includes unsubstantial or gaudy works or decoration, or works that are calculated to have popular appeal."

If one looks at the origins of tiki, that pretty much fits the bill. Tiki "artifacts" were generally mass produced—much of it overseas—and it sprouted from the collective psyche of the time. It wasn't generally gaudy, since the origins were Polynesian native art and nautical, and they tended to have a rough and hand-crafted quality, but they were certainly calculated to have popular appeal, at least at the time. It now has more crossover with the lowbrow movement, which is counter-culture and specifically not mass appeal, which I think is very interesting.

Although we may all appreciate the artistic sensibility and history behind tiki, to the uninitiated it generally screams tacky due its rough crafted nature and "out-of-date" style. Since it was mass produced, a lot of it has a cheap feel, particularly the later pieces. Anyone who collects tiki mugs will have seen the reaction of disdain from somewhere along the way. I got it just the other day when a woman at a flea market asked what I collected. "You mean those ugly things from Hawaii?" Fine with me; it helps keep the prices down! :)

[ Edited by: TikiTacky 2014-05-10 12:30 ]