Kitsch Research Articles

Deconstruction as Repair

Deconstruction as Repair: An ecological perspective on the Six Viewpoints is a co-authored article by Josh Armstrong and Meryl Murman. The writing is carried by the personal and subjective experiences of the authors aiming to understand how postmodern deconstruction is an act of ecological repair. The experiences and thoughts that arise are informed by ecological and postmodern philosophy, by Mary Overlie’s Six Viewpoints — both as phenomenological and philosophical theory and practice — and culminate in reflections on practice-led research through the facilitation of becoming-Botanical somatic movement laboratories. Drawing on the personal observations and reflections from regular participants in weekly somatic movement laboratories held in New Orleans from the Summer of 2018 through the Autumn of 2019, including a residential retreat in rural Mississippi, this article focuses on the restorative qualities which emerge as common themes. According to Overlie, the proper deconstruction of the Six Viewpoints should not be confused with ‘mistaken postmodernism’ and the resulting deconstruction that appears as collage, pastiche or Kitsch Art. Overlie’s deconstruction emphasizes the need for a sharp tool and an observant mind to disassemble the materials of performance with a view to better understand them and ultimately to free them from the hierarchical structures that act upon them. This is not a deconstruction of demolition or damage, but of discovering that which was once hidden or unknown — a process of reification that Overlie champions as the basis for both art and science. Through the becoming-Botanical movement laboratories, we apply this performance-based deconstruction in contexts outside of theatre and performance and find that the Six Viewpoints as phenomenological and somaesthetic training can enable participants to mend psychic and emotional relationships with more-than-human life and make reparations and preparations for the inevitable end of the world.

REASONS WHY KITSCH PRODUCTS DO NOT CARRY ARTISTIC ANXIETY

The concept of Kitsch is a concept that has grown in Europe's production mechanism and the change of production Systematics. In the new capitalist structure, It is spread the idea that every object should have a price, creating a way of life for sale and money. İnstrumental in gaining the necessary momentum in the new transformation was influence of the Industrial Revolution on all areas. Kitsch art is a non-aesthetic work aimed at relieving the visual thirst formed by societies away from intellectual knowledge towards art. Even if Kitsch products differ in form according to each taste, they are always the same in terms of integrity. Kitsch products, where there is no institutional knowledge of art, are constructed according to the same logic, though their subjects are different. No Kitsch product has a content philosophically. Kitsch is an anti-intellectual construct. The art phenomenon is not adequately perceived in Kitsch products. Kitsch products appear in front of a wide audience with all their deceptive colors to make sales. Kitsch products, which manage to impress large audiences with formal visuals, create their work by repeating the usual forms constantly. Kitsch doesn't just belong to a particular community. Most are in societies. Kitsch and art are like two opposing beliefs, art feeds on a deep philosophy, while Kitsch feeds on a simpler and more superficial understanding. So it can be clearly seen that Kitsch products have no artistic concern. Keywords: Kitsch, art, sunday

Aleene and Hazel: Tacky Ladies and Handicrafts for Fun

Aleene and Hazel: Tacky Ladies and Handicrafts for Fun

Kitsch, modernismo y tradición literaria en un retrofuturo americano: inmediaciones estéticas para la comunión universal

En The Dream of Perpetual Motion (2010), el estadounidense Dexter Palmer ficcionaliza en clave retrofuturista los discursos en torno a la “Gran División” entre alta cultura y cultura masiva que históricamente atravesaron el debate modernista y en torno al modernismo. Este artículo dilucida las conexiones intertextuales que la novela establece con este entramado conceptual y polémico. En un siglo XX alternativo, el kitsch aporta un sentido de comunión universal en medio del creciente Ruido del mundo. Para ello simula el ideal de una transparencia total de la comunicación (“inmediatez”) capaz de resolver la alienación del individuo moderno. Entre la moral del modernismo y la ironía posmoderna, un escritor fracasado y un inventor consagrado se vuelven sobre la tradición literaria en pos de una “restauración” genuina de este horizonte estético idealizado.

Health, Sport, Education and... The Rest

Everyone talks about change. In such a way that “change” became kitsch as a theme. Some talk about the change that is coming.

Let’s get this over with

> Entering the room, my eyes are welcomed > > by a beam of light sent from the ceiling. > > The team greets me politely, > > wearing their tacky mint-green scrubs > > that contradict the stark room. > It is spotless > > yet has an overpowering aroma, > > as if I’ve been dipped > > into a

“Gucci Dans Les Rues” or May ’68 as Political Kitsch

“Gucci Dans Les Rues” or May ’68 as Political Kitsch

“Gucci Dans Les Rues” or May ’68 as Political Kitsch

“Gucci Dans Les Rues” or May ’68 as Political Kitsch

Effects of Chitosan-Based Coatings Enriched with Cinnamaldehyde on Mandarin Fruit cv. Ponkan during Room-Temperature Storage

The current work aimed to evaluate the efficacy of four coating formulations—chitosan coating (CH), 0.5% cinnamaldehyde + chitosan (0.5% CI–CH), 1.0% cinnamaldehyde + chitosan (1.0% CI–CH), and 1.5% cinnamaldehyde + chitosan (1.5% CI–CH)—on fresh mandarin fruit cv. Ponkan quality maintenance (weight loss, decay rate, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, vitamin C, color index, malondialdehyde, and antioxidant activity) over 100 days of storage at 20 °C. Compared to the control, chitosan treatment effectively reduced the decay and weight loss rates of mandarin fruit cv. Ponkan during storage at room temperature, delayed the decline of nutritional quality in fruits, increased the antioxidant capacity, and inhibited the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA). In comparison to chitosan coating, 1.5% CI–CH did not improve the fruit storage effect, but inhibited the normal color change of fruits and increased the accumulation of MDA. Both 0.5% CI–CH and 1.0% CI–CH effectively reduced the rate of fruit decay, improved the quality of fruits after harvest, and delayed fruit aging. Our study suggests that 0.5% CI–CH and 1.0% CI–CH might be good formulations for maintaining the quality of mandarin fruit cv. Ponkan during room-temperature storage.

Kitsch and Bullshit as Cases of Aesthetic and Epistemic Transgression

Kitsch and Bullshit as Cases of Aesthetic and Epistemic Transgression

Comments on Dadlez’s “Kitsch and Bullshit as Aesthetic and Epistemic Transgressions”

Comments on Dadlez’s “Kitsch and Bullshit as Aesthetic and Epistemic Transgressions”

AI, Kitsch, and Communication

AI, Kitsch, and Communication

The Role of I. V. Stalin in the History of Architecture

The critique of “constructivism” and implementation of “stalinist empire” style in the USSR is regarded as a general trend in the course of revolutionary shift to modern mass society in the West culture, producing “kitch” as a hybrid of aristocratic and popular taste in urban environment. This turbulent process produces a total relativity of moral and artistic values, tastes and the concepts of style. The idea of truth and beauty becomes conventional. The future of postmodernist kitch is still obscure.

Monuments, Kitsch, and the Sense of Nation in Imperial Germany

AbstractThis article shows how the material culture of nationhood can reveal a different perspective on the problem of nationalism. Using simple time graphs and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the article considers temporal and spatial dimensions of “nation objects” in an effort to understand the allusive phenomenon of banal, everyday national identity. Specifically, it brings together quantitative evidence for the pervasiveness of veterans monuments, Kaiser Wilhelm I and Otto von Bismarck monuments, as well as monuments to Germany's great intellectuals, and then examines the world of objects, largely kitsch, that these monuments brought forth. The article argues that, especially in small-town Germany, objects signifying the nation point to a national sentiment governed less by the sharp logic of ideology than by the harmonizing tendencies of kitsch.Dieser Aufsatz zeigt, wie die materielle Kultur der nationalen Einheit eine andere Perspektive auf das Problem des Nationalismus bieten kann. Durch die Verwendung einfacher Zeitgraphiken und Geographic Information Systems (GIS) werden die zeitlichen und räumlichen Dimensionen von “Nationalobjekten” betrachtet, um das anspielungsreiche Phänomen banaler, alltäglicher Nationalidentität zu begreifen. Konkret werden quantitative Nachweise weit verbreiteter Kriegsdenkmäler, Denkmäler für Kaiser Wilhelm I. und Otto von Bismarck sowie Denkmäler für Deutschlands führende Intellektuelle zusammengeführt und im Anschluss daran die Welt der Objekte – größtenteils Kitsch –, die diese Denkmäler hervorgebracht haben, untersucht. Dabei wird argumentiert, dass diese die Nation repräsentierenden Objekte vor allem im kleinstädtischen Deutschland auf ein Nationalgefühl verweisen, das weniger durch klar definierte Ideologie als vielmehr durch die harmonisierenden Tendenzen von Kitsch bestimmt ist.

Realization of Breakthrough Positioning Strategy for Agritourist Objects

This article presents the possibilities and ways of forming an effective strategy to promote agritourism facilities, which as a specific type of tourism product, recently became more popular in the world. This paper analyzes the examples of domestic and foreign practice of promoting agritourism facilities in terms of their accordance with breakthrough positioning tools. The aim of the article is to examine the perspective directions of development of agritourism in Russia and abroad, and identify the possibility of applying the breakthrough strategy of positioning objects to different types of agritourism. The methodology of this study is based on breakthrough tools and matrix of strategic positioning algorithms, which include Matrix General Electric–McKinsey (GE-McKinsey). In this paper, a new kind of competitive positioning matrix tools is presented being implemented in four types of market promotion, including generic, kitsch, high-tech and breakthrough. Breakthrough tools for positioning of rural objects and the ways of its application in the field of agritourism are considered. The paper shows the options for positioning objects of rural tourism via the selection of one of the most promising strategies for promoting. Methodology demonstrates the difference between the ratio of winning and losing positions of positioning objects agricultural tourism in choosing different approaches to their promotion. It is concluded that the development of eco-tourism is a promising direction of modern tourism market positioning and breakthrough strategy is able to provide high attractiveness of agritourism. Application of the breakthrough positioning strategy in the field of agritourism requires taking into account all types of factors and assessment of the winning position based on the characteristics of the chosen promotion strategy.

“Beholding the Man”: Viewing (or is it Marking?) John’s Trial Scene alongside Kitsch Art

One of the grand scenes of the Passion narratives can be found in John’s Gospel where Pilate, presenting Jesus to the people, proclaims “Behold the man”: “Ecce Homo.” But what exactly does Pilate mean when he asks the reader to “Behold”? This paper takes as its point of departure a roughly drawn picture of Jesus in the “Ecce Homo” tradition and explores the relationship of this picture to its referent in John’s Gospel, via its capacity as kitsch devotional art. Contemporary scholarship on kitsch focuses on what kitsch does, or how it functions, rather than assessing what it is. From this perspective, when “beholding” is understood not for what it reveals but for what it does, John’s scene takes on a very different significance. It becomes a scene that breaks down traditional divisions between big and small stories, subject and object as well as text and context. A kitsch perspective opens up possibilities for locating John’s narrative in unexpected places and experiences. Rather than being a two-dimensional departure from the grandeur of John’s trial scene, kitsch “art” actually provides a lens through which the themes and dynamics of the narrative can be re-viewed with an expansiveness somewhat lacking from more traditional commentary.

Accuracy of atmospheric parameters of FGK dwarfs determined by spectrum fitting

We performed extensive tests of the accuracy of atmospheric parameter determination for FGK stars based on the spectrum fitting procedure Spectroscopy Made Easy (SME). Our stellar sample consists of 13 objects, including the Sun, in the temperature range 5000--6600~K and metallicity range -1.4 -- +0.4. The analysed stars have the advantage of having parameters derived by interferometry. For each star we use spectra obtained with different spectrographs and different signal-to-noise ratios (S/N). For the fitting we adopted three different sets of constraints and test how the derived parameters depend upon the spectral regions (masks) used in SME. We developed and implemented in SME a new method for estimating uncertainties in the resulting parameters based on fitting residuals, partial derivatives, and data uncertainties. For stars in the 5700--6600 K range the best agreement with the effective temperatures derived by interferometry is achieved when spectrum fitting includes the H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$ lines, while for cooler stars the choice of the mask does not affect the results. The derived atmospheric parameters do not strongly depend on spectral resolution and S/N of the observations, while the uncertainties in temperature and surface gravity increase with increasing effective temperature, with minima at 50~K in Teff and 0.1~dex in log g, for spectra with S/N=150--200. A NLTE analysis of the TiI/TiII and FeI/FeII ionisation equilibria and abundances determined from the atomic CI (NLTE) and molecular CH species supports the parameters we derived with SME by fitting the observed spectra including the hydrogen lines.

A Study on Kitschy Characteristics and its Consumer s of Webtoon

Most of cultural area which people enjoy and consume is kitsch culture, though the culture is barely acknowledged. In this multimedia era, people create, publish and enjoy contents of "webtoon(web+cartoon)", which is relatively faster and more convenient to enjoy comparing to published cartoon. Contrarily to its physical growth, the webtoon shows difficulty in advancing with other genres, is full of irritative factors and contents, and has tough time to become more sophisticated one. This study derived characteristics of kitsch in webtoon, suggested the way of webtoon as an art by analyzing conditions and usage motivation of webtoon. The conditions of kitsch are uniformity of mass consumption, popular vein, catharsis, vicarious satisfaction, immediate feedback-requiring image flood, and reproduction of techniques. The usage motivations of webtoon are studied as pursuit of information, entertainment, relaxation, socialization, convenience, and effectiveness. Usage motivation factors in webtoon and kitsch culture are almost identical. Contrary to its past of being underestimated and vulgarly considered, kitsch is acknowledged as an "kitsch art". By studying the process of becoming an art, the study has its purpose to suggest the experimental and developing way to make webtoon be acknowledged as "webtoon art".

The Characteristics of Kitsch in Marc Jacobs’ Works

The Characteristics of Kitsch in Marc Jacobs’ Works

Rancière, Jacques, Aisthesis: Scenes from the Aesthetic Regime of Art

Jacques Ranciere. A isthesis: Scenes from the Aesthetic Regime of Art. Translated by Zakir Paul. New York: Verso, 2013. 272 pp.Jacques Ranciere's A isthesis (first published in French in 2011) is a provocative and fascinating rewriting of the history of modernism and of the very concept of artistic modernity. The book is relevant for Whitman studies since Ranciere devotes much attention to Whitman's role in the evolution of modernism.Ranciere's account starts in 1764 and ends in 1941 (but the French philosopher notes that it could be extended beyond that historical moment). In spite of the linear and chronological order of presentation, Ranciere insists that this history happens through events of electrical interruption that take place in different contexts and artistic scenes: sculpture, literature, dance, pantomime, theatre, photography, and cinema. By tracing a series of overlapping patterns, the book shows how figures as different as the German historian and archaeologist Johann Winckelmann, writers Walt Whitman, Stendhal, and James Agee, and sculptor Auguste Rodin all contributed to the challenging of old artistic taxonomies which defined discourse as a body with well-articulated parts, the poem as a plot, and a plot as an order of actions (xiv). Ranciere avoids any description of these figures as isolated champions of modernity, contextualizes their work, and shows how they participated in a networked, gradual revolution that led to a blurring of the traditional distinctions among different arts, thus eroding the classic dichotomous borders that used to separate and life, the artistic and the prosaic, the extraordinary and the ordinary, the and the low, the beautiful and the ugly. This progressive break with established taxonomies caused a radical displacement in the perception of signifies, yielding Ranciere has called in previous works the regime of art.For Ranciere, there have been three regimes of In the regime of art (in which was not even identified as such, and it was fully heteronomous as it served the purpose of providing ethical models for the community) and in the regime of art (in which was recognized in its specificity and autonomy, but only if it followed precise composition rules in order to belong to fixed artistic genres), supported the maintenance of the existing distribution of the forms, fields, and hierarchies of human activities. In the regime, however, ceases to do this and aims instead at (re)distributing the sensible. This latter idea, which had appeared in previous works by Ranciere, such as Dissensus and The Politics of Aesthetics, is in fact at the very center of this new book: in Ancient Greek, aisthesis means what can be perceived by the senses. Liberated from ethical agendas and representative taxonomies, (re) distributes the sensible by becoming a mode of aesthetic experience-an experience that instigates a perceptual rupture, a dissensual (and therefore inherently political) reframing of reality. Ranciere's perspective is clearly in polemical opposition to the Adornian concept of art's autonomy and to the Greenbergian notion of modernism as the exceptional outbreak of an avant-gardist high art that became an end in itself, an thus in opposition to industrialized culture and kitsch art. Aisthesis aims to show that, on the contrary, the motto of modernity, as incarnated by the aesthetic regime of art, became that of shuttling between and life, and that there was nothing exceptional in the avant-gardes of the twentieth century. …