Post #788132 by aquarj on Fri, Jun 29, 2018 2:39 PM

To me, tiki is an esthetic not a pastime. Like anything else, people drawn to it naturally bring their own individuality with them:

Collectors collect
Vendors vend
Organizers organize
Hunters hunt
Creators create
Curators curate
Performers perform
Revelers revel
Explorers explore
Researchers research
Philosophers philosophize
Trolls troll

It all happens in the tiki world, just like any other niche of the rest of the world. Sure, collectors collect, but not all tiki enthusiasts are collectors. I think those are all byproducts of humans enjoying a shared esthetic, but NOT the essence. And if different elements of the esthetic resonate with different people in different ways, that's not a big surprise either. But I still think there's a tangible esthetic at the core.

At least that's my opinion. Sometimes it seems like an unpopular one because it doesn't match the tendency to boil things down to arbitrary simplifications (like "tiki is drunk white guys in aloha shirts buying up mugs"). Those are kinda fun, but usually off the mark.

But since we're on this thread, here are some more oversimplifications, that are probably also off the mark. Some may echo opinions we've seen before, and some may resonate or irritate (mostly irritate?), but they're just for kicks. TIKI IS...

...about having fun
...ohana
...a party theme
...based on Hawaii, but not as good
...anything tropical
...rum rhapsodies
...retro kitsch
...outdated
...materialistic gratification
...hipsters playing dress-up
...lowbrow, underground, and too cool for you, so get lost
...convenient escape for an unwillingness to face the world's problems
...cultural appropriation
...artificial and whitewashed
...phallus worship
...sacrilege
...not what it used to be

-Randy