Home Cultures Volume 3 Issue 3 The Journal of Architecture, Design and Space

by Buchli, Victor; Clarke, Alison; Upton, Dell

• ISBN13: 9781845205027
• ISBN10: 1845205022
• Format: Paperback
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

Special Issue: Reconsidering Kitsch Berg is pleased to announce "Reconsidering Kitsch," a special issue of Home Cultures: The Journal of Architecture, Design and Domestic Space. Kitsch defines a category of intriguing objects that defy usual definitions of fine art and design and reflect the ways people make sense of the world through artefacts. This issue of Home Cultures explores the meaning of kitsch with the aim of understanding popular taste. As an extreme form, kitsch has much to tell us about changing attitudes to aesthetic value. It can be found in all manifestations of visual culture, from high art to seaside souvenirs, but is most commonly an ornamental non-functional object associated with the domestic interior. Kitsch has been described in various ways - as a vehicle for fascist demagogues, a serious critique of high art, or simply bad taste manifesting itself in popular culture. Drawing on anthropology, art and design, material culture and ethnology, this special issue unpacks and contextualises kitsch as a paradigmatic postmodern style offering a genuine aesthetic experience that is packed with meaning.

Author Biography

Victor Buchli is Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, University College London. Alison Clarke is at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna. Dell Upton is at the University of Virginia.