So I have an essay due very, very soon that’s supposed to detail what on earth I’ve been doing for the past half year of my Honours degree, which hasn’t really felt all that much, actually… However, I’ve noticed during this time that whenever I do engage in some discourse regarding kitsch in a public domain, it evokes such passionate responses from people – sometimes bemusedly with a hint of derision, or simply with nostalgic affection and warmth as one recalls a different time and place. It got me thinking, we need even more discussion on this very topic; having read many texts already on the subject, I still struggle to define this concept that is kitsch. Is it just a mass-produced object, a failed commodity, some worthless trinket you find in a carboot sale? A pretentious social construct that just brushes sentimentality aside, scorning an object simply because it “looks bad” or in bad taste? Or is it a kind of sensibility/mentality in the way of neo-baroque, or put more crudely, perhaps, an aesthetic/style in itself?
I ask these two questions (that kind of branch out into other modes of thought…):
- What is kitsch to you? Don’t tell me what you think it should be, but how you feel about it. And why do you feel that way (why do you love it, or hate it, or are you simply ambivalent and try to ignore it altogether)?
- Are you a collector? (And no, sexual partners do not count, okay) What do you collect, and what got you into collecting? What makes you a collector, not just a passer-by with a fleeting interest in a certain object? How and where do you arrange your collection/s? (Photos would be a BONUS! :D) Do you find that your collecting impedes on other aspects of your life?
Please note, I may or may not be referencing your responses in my essay, (and I may yet contact you further for more details), and my future exegesis to be published at the end of this year, so if you are not comfortable with my using your name, or responses, please don’t feel pressured into partaking in this questionnaire. General comments are always welcome. ;)
However, if you just don’t feel like having your response published on this blog, please feel free to email me at jen@eveninghour.org with your answers! :)
All I ask is that you leave your name (preferably your real one) and email address. Feel free to answer one section or the other, or both!
Thank you!
Camille
May 30, 2010
2:24 PM
Here’s where I admit that I’ve never really had on opinion on kitsch or anything ‘kitsch-y’ for that matter, nor have I used that word more than the no. of fingers and thumbs an average person is born with.
I even had to look up the meaning of the word kitsch just to make sure my understanding (not wide at all, see above statement) is at least on the right track.
Honestly, when you say kitsch the first thing that comes to mind is ‘colorful’. As in big, bold colors that may or may not look good together.
Old vomit or poo colored wallpaper and carpet from homes of the elderly came to mind as well- don’t ask why, I don’t know.
having googled the topic I guess my opinion would be that it’s tacky and cheap and just not my style so no to the collecting question seeing as I’ve verified I don’t have any. Maybe as a child I bought them and maybe even displayed them. On second thoughts yes we did display them in my grandparents place where I grew up…this may be why I associate kitsch with old people LOL
Little dolls, fake porcelain statues- I guess they’re cute when not in excess.
(I’m doing exam prep so I hoped this helped a little.)
Camille
May 30, 2010
2:37 PM
I’d like to add that I don’t consider old romance novels to be Kitschy because I don’t believe they’re tacky. I find them beautiful and representative of the times.
Foz Meadows
May 30, 2010
2:48 PM
I’m going to try posting this answer again, because something seemed to go wrong before:
For me, the defining quality of kitsch is a lack of self-awareness. It’s something we love about children, but steadily find less appealling in adults. I’d almost use mawkish as a synonym for kitsch, in the sense that it’s pretending to maintain a child-like innocence, cuteness, honesty or whathaveyou, but comes out as melodramatic, simpering or OTT, because it’s ultimately an attempt to achieve artlessness through artistry. Creating is a very insular process, but most of the time, we still subconsciously make things with an audience in mind – specifically, an audience that is more than just a sea of copies of ourselves, and at least one member of which is a critic. Children don’t draw with the idea that anyone will tell them that it’s bad, or that they ought to improve next time: the expectation is only for praise. This fades less because adults begin a steady regime of disillusionment and more because other children are, well, children, and as tactless as they are craving of tact, and adults must inevtiably acknowledge that fact through their own (more tactful, but closer to honest) behaviour. Kitsch, however, is like a rejection of this: it doesn’t want criticism, and so doesn’t anticipate it during the process of creation. It’s what we end up with when adults try to be children. Criticise kitsch, and the creator will likely take that criticism personally, rather than as simply representing a different opinion, because they won’t have anticipated it. Which, I guess, means that I’m partway to defining kitsch as something that comes about as much because of the maker’s (or buyer’s) mindset as because of what it is. The difference is one of irony: the non-kitsch position will involve thought about how the object might be negatively perceived by others, whereas the kitsch position won’t. If that makes any sense? Hopefully it does :)
Annette
May 30, 2010
3:21 PM
I honestly didn’t have a proper clue what kitsch was until you starting ranting about it ;)
Thing is, it’s everywhere. I’m guessing I never really took a good look at it because I considered it a part of my every day scenery. This, however, is only when it’s in small doses. When there is a giant amount of kitsch gathered into any space you can’t help but notice it. I’m quite fascinated by all the tiny details that go into (quite often) incredibly loud pieces of art. Art, because in the end, isn’t that what it is? Someone has taken the time and effort to create these wonderful little space fillers. Some might look upon it with scorn, but what they don’t realise is that their “fancy” little plaque with some heart-felt saying which is hung in the kitchen is also Kitsch. Even their pretty little necklace holder. Kitsch.
My uncle commented on something hanging in my sister’s kitchen: “It’s very kitschy, isn’t it?” She took offence. I find the immediate reaction to kitsch being an insult quite amusing. If people were to take a look around at what their house holds, I’m sure they’d be as guilty as the next person for housing such fugitives.
fels
May 30, 2010
4:42 PM
Actually, I’m rather fascinated by kitsch objects. I do visit shops that sell these and I always spend sometime observing them. If they had emotions, I’m thinking maybe they’re a bit like orphaned children or stray animals, wondering why they exist in the first place and if they would ever find a home. So yeah, they always evoke some feelings of curiosity within me. I do think they represent greed and general disregard to quality.
I collect a bunch of random things; book, little figurines, keychains, phone hangers and other random objects. They’re on display inside my rooms. I guess they represent the kind of popculture I’m living it, they’re mostly from the books I read, games I play or movies/tv series I like. A lot of them are also things I bought during my travels and some are gifts. In that sense, they’re also a memento of my childhood and past experiences. For some items that I really want to own, I’d go on some pretty extreme attempts to own them (i.e. having it imported from overseas etc), so I don’t know whether that counts as impeding my life but for others that’s certainly unusual.
I hope that helps Jen, good luck with the essay~
Matthew C. Kriner
May 30, 2010
10:32 PM
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Parul
May 31, 2010
3:12 PM
Before you had mentioned ‘kitsch’ – it wasn’t a word I had ever bothered thinking about. I vaguely knew what it was about and am still not exactly sure why it is considered tasteless…!? What is wrong with having cheap, mass produced objects? Not everyone is going to have the money or resources to buy very expensive, highly laboured over art pieces and if they don’t what else are we meant to decorate our room with :P I also fail to understand its association with greed (which someone above mentioned). But all this could be because I have never looked deeply into the matter. I know certain things I consider cute and fun can be categorized as kitsch and that’s about it.
I wouldn’t actually classify myself as a collector. The only thing I actually diligently ‘collect’ is books and maybe the occasional DVD, and journals. So I don’t have any special kitsch collection but I do love looking at kitschy stuff in shops and I’ll buy the odd thing now and then. A cute postcard, or a random unicorn figurine, impulse purchases like that.