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Tiki Modern
Sexy savage: Excavating Tiki's finest offerings TASCHEN's Book of Tiki provided the blueprint for the re-appreciation and revival of Tiki style. Almost completely wiped from the consciousness of Americans until recently, Sven Kirsten's tome put Tiki on the map as a unique pop culture phenomenon. Never before had Tiki culture's visual power and pervasiveness been revealed with such detail and insight. Not only did the book inspire the erecting of many new Tiki bars from New York to London to Berlin to Prague to Waikiki, but also motivated a myriad of Tiki artisans to pick up the chisel and carry on the forgotten tradition, while spurring many others to create their own home hideaways, making "Tiki" a household name again. This new follow-up book, which brings together the two recent retro trends of mid-century modernism and Tiki style, is bound to lift the Tiki craze to a new level. With his usual mixture of ironic detachment and genuine enthusiasm for the subject, Kirsten shows us how primitivism and modernism were two sides of the same coin in the 1950s and 60s. Decor deities and ersatz ancestors outrageously merged in the modern brutalist furniture from the house of Witco, a company that outfitted Elvis Presley's Jungle Room and Hugh Hefner's Chicago Playboy pool. This was design porn at its best. The author: Sven Kirsten was conceived on a freighter of his grandfather's Hamburg-Chicago Line. Following the call of the big world, he moved to California at the age of 25. Kirsten studied at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles and began shooting music videos in the late 1980s for The Cramps, Tom Waits, Sergio Mendes and others. After years of hunting down pieces of the puzzle ofPolynesian Pop, Kirsten has developed a singular insight into the Cult of Tiki and has become the country's most eminent Tiki archaeologist.
335 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2007
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105 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 4, 2021
I caught the white whale.
All during quarantine, I’ve been reading books on tiki bars, tiki restaurant, the art and history of tiki. I’ve delved into spinoff subjects, like lowbrow art, Hawaii in the 1950s, and mid-century kitsch. The work of Sven Kirsten informed a lot of what I was reading; his massive The Book of Tiki was one of the major forces in bringing about the tiki revival worldwide. I devoured that one, and all his other books, learning, obsessing, becoming - against all odds - a tiki guy.
But one book eluded me. The big one. The sequel. Kirsten’s TIKI MODERN came out as the tiki revival was just gaining steam,and was thus able to look even deeper into what made this trend so durable. Lke its predecessor, it was massive and picture-packed, tracing the pop culture history of tiki, Polynesian Pop, and the concept of the "modern primitive."
One of the more interesting aspects about Tiki Modern is that Kirsten doesn't shy away from the racism and misogyny inherent in a lot of early tiki; the images and utilizations of the "beautiful wahine" and the "noble savage" were always a little contentious, especially given the Civil Rights unrest of the time in which tiki was winding down. While Tiki Modern doesn't necessarily provide a key for reckoning with these issues while still allowing us to love this movement, recognizing it in a book as informative and important as this is a great step in the right direction.
One of the early reviews of this book I read, while still trying desperately to find it, complained that it wasn't really about tiki at all, but about Witco, a company that made its name on wood carvings (often made with chainsaws) of tiki and primitive art - some of which was huge and functional, like seats, bars, and tables. I think Kirsten makes a good point that the ascendency of Witco is a big part of what made tiki such a big deal in its mid-century heyday, and how flexible the concept of tiki is, able to encompass cultures beyond what Americans understood as "Polynesia." (And of course, that's always been a part of the bizarre amalgamation of tiki in America: the art and decor is Polynesian, the drinks are Caribbean, and the food is Cantonese. So why not carvings based on African tropes and, yes, cliches?)
Like all of Kirsten's books, Tiki Modern helped me better understand what was so alluring about this whole trend, why it captured middle America so completely, and why it was abandoned so abruptly. And I never would have owned it had it not been for that stimulus that hit my account a few short months ago. I paid down credit cards. I paid some bills. And then I went to AbeBooks and found a listing for a like-new copy of this gargantuan tome of tiki. It was expensive - maybe too expensive - but it was out of print and man, did I want it. And what was a stimulus for, anyway, if not to stimulate? Tiki Modern completely captivated me over a period of six days, and there's nothing more you can ask of a book.
All during quarantine, I’ve been reading books on tiki bars, tiki restaurant, the art and history of tiki. I’ve delved into spinoff subjects, like lowbrow art, Hawaii in the 1950s, and mid-century kitsch. The work of Sven Kirsten informed a lot of what I was reading; his massive The Book of Tiki was one of the major forces in bringing about the tiki revival worldwide. I devoured that one, and all his other books, learning, obsessing, becoming - against all odds - a tiki guy.
But one book eluded me. The big one. The sequel. Kirsten’s TIKI MODERN came out as the tiki revival was just gaining steam,and was thus able to look even deeper into what made this trend so durable. Lke its predecessor, it was massive and picture-packed, tracing the pop culture history of tiki, Polynesian Pop, and the concept of the "modern primitive."
One of the more interesting aspects about Tiki Modern is that Kirsten doesn't shy away from the racism and misogyny inherent in a lot of early tiki; the images and utilizations of the "beautiful wahine" and the "noble savage" were always a little contentious, especially given the Civil Rights unrest of the time in which tiki was winding down. While Tiki Modern doesn't necessarily provide a key for reckoning with these issues while still allowing us to love this movement, recognizing it in a book as informative and important as this is a great step in the right direction.
One of the early reviews of this book I read, while still trying desperately to find it, complained that it wasn't really about tiki at all, but about Witco, a company that made its name on wood carvings (often made with chainsaws) of tiki and primitive art - some of which was huge and functional, like seats, bars, and tables. I think Kirsten makes a good point that the ascendency of Witco is a big part of what made tiki such a big deal in its mid-century heyday, and how flexible the concept of tiki is, able to encompass cultures beyond what Americans understood as "Polynesia." (And of course, that's always been a part of the bizarre amalgamation of tiki in America: the art and decor is Polynesian, the drinks are Caribbean, and the food is Cantonese. So why not carvings based on African tropes and, yes, cliches?)
Like all of Kirsten's books, Tiki Modern helped me better understand what was so alluring about this whole trend, why it captured middle America so completely, and why it was abandoned so abruptly. And I never would have owned it had it not been for that stimulus that hit my account a few short months ago. I paid down credit cards. I paid some bills. And then I went to AbeBooks and found a listing for a like-new copy of this gargantuan tome of tiki. It was expensive - maybe too expensive - but it was out of print and man, did I want it. And what was a stimulus for, anyway, if not to stimulate? Tiki Modern completely captivated me over a period of six days, and there's nothing more you can ask of a book.
June 23, 2021
#leyendofuerte sobre la popularización del arte Tiki entre los años 50’s y 70’s. Mucho colonialismo y popurrí, apropiación cultural y poco respeto por cualquier arte aborigen que se atrevían a reinterpretar. A mí personalmente me gusta mucho la parte camp de la versión más pop de la tendencia, aunque de eso no hablan mucho en el libro. Le doy: un par de palmeras 🌴 🌴, media playa 🏖 y una paleta de acuarelas 🎨
June 6, 2024
So disappointed that most of these places have been demolished. I'd have liked to visit one in its heyday.
January 24, 2008
I just got this in the store. It's amaaaaazingly cool! Gorgeous cloth binding. Fascinating history of the coolest Tiki style architecture and furnishings of all time. Taschen just rules, that's all. Retails for only $39.99.
December 19, 2008
Patiently waiting its release!
July 25, 2010
Definitely a must read for any tiki aficionado. Expensive, but worth it. Glorious photos, good text, great history of the movement.
September 21, 2010
If you have any interest in Tiki this book is a must. It sadly doesn't mention Disneyland or Walt Disney World though :(
August 31, 2013
Loved the Intro by Josh Angle!
April 6, 2014
This is beuatiful book
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October 30, 2007
Beautiful, comprehensive, awesome. Nora you've got to have it.
August 12, 2016
the best of the best
April 12, 2017
Not nearly as compelling as the later, easier-to-obtain (hence less expensive) Tiki Pop. I'd erroneously assumed that Tiki Modern was going to be about the latest flowering of Tiki, but no, it's about the classic Tiki period. Tiki Pop covers the ground in more, better detail. Half of this book is really a salute to Witco, a company that specialized in chainsaw carvings of tiki scuplture/furniture. If you read Tiki Pop, this is emininently skippable.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews