Saturday 27 October 2012

Kitsch football

"The Centre Pompidou art gallery in Paris unveiled a 16-foot bronze statue that depicts the national sporting hero ramming his head into the chest of Italy’s Marco Materazzi, capuring an infamous moment in sports history.

Artist Adel Abdessemed created the statue based on the 2006 World Cup soccer final when Zidane lost his cool and lashed out at Materazzi."

Read full article.


www.goal.com

thesun.co.uk

More: Zidane statue causes controversy

Monday 22 October 2012

Oggi il Kitsch (G. Dorfles)

Exposition at the Triennale di Milano, 2012.



Full article

A cura di Gillo Dorfles Con Aldo Colonetti, Franco Origoni, Luigi Sansone e Anna Steiner 

La Triennale di Milano presenta la mostra Gillo Dorfles. Kitsch - oggi il kitsch curata da Gillo Dorfles, insieme con Aldo Colonetti, Franco Origoni, Luigi Sansone e Anna Steiner. 

 Nel 1968 esce “Il Kitsch. Antologia del cattivo gusto” edito da Mazzotta, una serie di approfondimenti teorici che hanno aiutato a descrivere il concetto di kitsch in tutte le sue articolazioni; concetto che Dorfles per primo ha contribuito in modo decisivo a definire, a livello internazionale. 

Il testo di Dorfles è una vera pietra miliare per la comprensione e l’evoluzione del “cattivo gusto” dell’arte moderna; afferma che alcuni capolavori della storia dell’arte come il Mosé di Michelangelo, la Gioconda di Leonardo sono “divenuti emblemi kitsch perché ormai riprodotti trivialmente e conosciuti, non per i loro autentici valori ma per il surrogato sentimentale o tecnico dei loro valori”. 

“L’industrializzazione culturale, afferma Dorfles, estesa al mondo delle immagini artistiche ha condotto con sé un’esasperazione delle tradizionali distinzioni tra i diversi strati socio-culturali. La cultura di massa è venuta ad acquistare dei caratteri assai diversi (almeno apparentemente) dalla cultura d’élite, e ha reso assai più ubiquitario e trionfante il kitsch dell’arte stessa.”

Sunday 14 October 2012

Long live kitsh!

Some kitsch touristic destinations all around the world.

See full article at El País.

Bar Tiki Ti, Los Ángeles (California)
(elviajero.elpais.com)

Parque de las Grutas, Druskininkai, Lituania
(elviajero.elpais.com)

Rocky Balboa, Žitište, Serbia
(elviajero.elpais.com)

Parque de Grottenbahn (Austria)
(elviajero.elpais.com)

Wednesday 10 October 2012

Nautilus House (Javier Senosiain)

Read article.

"Looking at some designer’s creations one can be astonished by the power and the creativity of the human mind. This can be said about the Nautilus house located near Mexico City. It is a unique shell shaped house designed by Mexican architect Javier Senosiain. The house design is very innovative, unusual and audacious. Javier Senosiain decided to bring the life aquatic into architecture. This house turns the form of the Nautilus shell and is wonderful to look at and to be in. The interesting feature of this huge shell is a striking entry cut into a wall of colorful stained glass. Inside it casts multi-colored spots of light onto walls. But it’s not the only surprise you will find."

worldarchitecturenews.com

cdn.home-reviews.com

cdn.home-reviews.com

cdn.home-reviews.com
worldarchitecturenews.com

Friday 5 October 2012

Kitsch and Its Object (T. Kulka) II

Part I

hoodedutilitarian.com
"Before turning to the question of how to paint - that is - to the question of the stylistic properties of kitsch, let us consider what further specifications should guide the choice of the subject matter, and what type of emotional response the painter should aim to elicit. Let us take, for example, the theme of the crying child that figures so prominently in kitsch depictions. Our painter should be advised to choose a nice and cute little child rather than a wicked ugly-looking one. The cry shouldn't be irritating or hysterical, but rather a sob of the soft and quiet variety; the child should elicit a sympathetic response. The painter should avoid all unpleasant or disturbing features of reality, leaving us only with those we can easily cope with and identify with. Kitsch comes to support our basic sentiment and beliefs, not to disturb or question them. It works best when our attitude toward its object is patronizing. Puppies work better than dogs, kittens better than cats. The success of kitsch also depends on the universality of the emotions in elicits. Typical consumers of kitsch are pleased not only because they respond spontaneously, but also because they know they are responding the right kind of way. They know they are moved in the same way as everybody else. This psychological aspect of kitsch was also stressed by Milan Kundera: "Kitsch causes two tears to flow in quick succession. The first tear says: How nice to be moved, together with all mankind, by children running on the grass! It is the second tear that makes kitsch kitsch" (Unbearable Lightness 251). The aim of kitsch is not to create new needs or expectations, but to satisfy existing ones. Kitsch thus does not work on individual idiosyncrasies. It breeds on universal images, the emotional charge of which appeals to everyone. Since the purpose of kitsch is to please the greatest possible number of people, it always plays on the most common denominators.

The examples of kitsch themes mentioned above belong to what one may call universal kitsch. They play on basic human impulses irrespective of religious beliefs, political convictions, race, or nationality. They exploit universal subjects such as birth, family, love, nostalgia, and so forth, which could, perhaps, be further analysed in terms of Jungian archetypes. However, alongside universal kitsch we also find more specific types of religious, political, national, and local kitsch. "Kitsch has its source in categorical agreement with being," says Kundera. "But what is the basis of being? God? Mankind? Struggle? Love? Man? Woman? ... Since opinions vary, there are various kitsches: Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Communist, Fascist, democratic, feminist, European, American, national, international" (Unbearable Lightness, 256-57).

We may  thus distinguish between different types of kitsch of varying degrees of universality. Christian kitsch - exemplified by plastic Jesus babies, pictures of the Virgin Mary or scenes of the Crucifixion - combines the universal elements of kitsch with symbolism relating to the articles of Christian faith. Communist kitsch - depicting smiling workers in factories, young couples on tractors cultivating a collective farm or building a hydroelectric power station - played on the mythical valued of the joy of work and the enthusiasm for building a classless society. Capitalist kitsch, exemplified by advertising, on the other hand, uses class distinctions and status symbols to create artificial needs and illusions to foster the ideology of the consumer society. There can also be even more specific national kitsch that exploits the sentiments associated with national symbols and leaders: Mao Tse-tung leading the Great March, Lenin speaking to the workers, or good-hearted Hitler holding a child in his arms. The subject matter of kitsch may vary considerably in accordance with beliefs and traditions. What remains constant is that the consumer of kitsch is never emotionally indifferent to what the picture represents. [...]

Kitsch depicts objects or themes that are highly charged with stock emotions."

Kulka, Thomas (2002 [1996]) Kitsch and Art. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press. pp 25-27.
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