Tag: kitsch

Paperchase

November 16th, 2010

During a brief stop at Borders bookstore, I found myself exclaiming “Sweet glittering Jesus!”

And I meant it entirely literally.

Paperchase is now selling products at Borders, and among them you will find some of the sparkliest religious superstars on the shelves this season. The photos don’t do justice to how they glimmer in the light.

Jesus also comes in black (apparently they are money boxes, but at first I didn’t realize they served a purpose).

Mother Mary comes in blue and pink.

Although it was the absurdity of these kitschy disco icons, Paperchase really does have some cool products. Check out their other Christmas decorations here.
Oddities Shopping, NYC

May 17th, 2010

I’ve had this collection of pictures on my desktop for what feels like eternity. They are from my last shopping excursion in NYC. I think they give a fairly good idea of what my little eyes like to drink up along my travels. Here are a few of my favorite oddities hot spots.

Giant Robot is PACKED with adorable kitsch and random imported goodness. They also have art displays in the front of the store.

Atomic Passions looks like grandma’s attic…if you happen to have the most awesome grandmother in the history of the world.

Ah, Obscura…a favorite indeed. These antique acquisitions are nothing short of impressive. Wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, the place is overflowing with amazing things to look at. My imagination gets lost in the stories contained in these pieces.

I never tire of looking around Evolution, which I’ve posted about before. On this particular day, the upstairs section was closed, so I missed checking out the incredible taxidermy specimens (which, for my own sanity I MUST believe died of natural causes…don’t ruin it for me).

Clearly, I like densely packed displays of meaningful objects! So beware, if I ever ask you to go “shopping,” I won’t be referring to 5th Avenue boutiques…there will be antiquated medical instruments and rotting dolls involved. Usually, anyway. I also like bookstores. 🙂
Image Odyssey: Leprechaun

March 17th, 2010

I’m about to say something that might make me very unpopular: I’ve never done a thing for St. Patrick’s Day. I appreciate the idea of a cultural celebration, but perhaps I associate this day too heavily with those who use it as an excuse to get rip roaring drunk and puke on their own shoes…or someone else’s shoes.

But, since people seem to get very into this holiday, here are some goodies I dug up for the occasion.

Let’s bring on the crafts!

For a nice relaxing sleep after drunken festivities…

Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you…

I wonder if these were mass produced, and there are a bunch of people walking around brandishing one of the most irritating grammatical mistakes in the English language:

(If [your] not able to make a grammatically correct button, fake it!)

I wish I had come up with the idea to slap a label on five green jelly beans and market it as a holiday novelty (at 800% profit per package).

Mmmm…tastes like psychosis.

Have fun…be safe…
John Purlia

January 17th, 2010

I wanted to post about John Purlia a while back, but I wasn’t able to save images from the website (appropriately titled Wind Up Dreams and Vinyl Nightmares).

These photo collages of vintage toys, kitsch and ephemera are rather close to my heart because Mr. Purlia and I have a surprising amount of artifacts and images in common (particularly the Kewpie dolls and robots).

I’ve been wanting to get my hands on one of those devils!

I’m not going to spoil it by typing them out here, but all of these little vignettes have titles that further add to to narrative. They are really fun to look at.

See more in the galleries.
Christmiscellany

December 24th, 2009

Here’s a little grab bag of random things I came across…

Were people really this glowing and happy decades ago?

If you haven’t made a habit of browsing vintage holiday ads the way I have, you might be surprised at the proliferation of firearms.

Ah yes, peace and goodwill toward mankind…isn’t this the true embodiment of the season?

This is my favorite; the basis of yearly holiday photos this time around (no, that’s not my real hair).

Bet you didn’t know orange was a Christmas color. Love the TWO sets of quotation marks, too.

Now this is a gift I would have wanted:

And here’s a gift for the ladies that hovers somewhere between a daisy and a medieval torture device:

Love this shirt from Kawaii Not:

Now for some sexiness…

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!
Xmas Updates

December 19th, 2009

Just a few snapshots of odds and ends…

I dug out the holiday lollipops Louisa gave me last year, to find that they had been exposed to too much heat and had melted slightly. This only adds to their greatness.

Santa candle got it too (check out that leg)…

If you’re curious about how Hubert Cumberdale is doing (which you probably are not), he’s enjoying the festivities in his new residence:

And last but not least, we have our nativity scene, SheWalksSoftly style:
Serving in Santa

December 6th, 2009

I never quite understood the human drive to serve things in Santa heads, yet there has always been a decent market for the decapitated icon.

Most of the mugs and punch bowls I’ve seen have an eerie cold, dead look in their eyes. Why?

GAH!

Some even have a sickly “overdose” kind of look…

What SPECIES is this one?

At least this vintage one look happier, if not a bit surprised.

I had collected a bunch of these images on my hard drive, but a few are from this awesome site dedicated entirely to Santa mugs.
Image Odyssey: “Kitsch Nativity”

December 1st, 2009

Well, this is really a two for one special since I also searched “awful nativity.” The season of premium holiday kitsch is upon us, so I figured this is a great way to get in the spirit.

Shall we start with some animal versions? Dogs + religious scenery = instant kitsch.

Then we have the light up variety…

Lite Brite…Lite Brite…turn on the magic of colored lights…

I love this one. Curbside.

I think these were baked a little too long:

This was bound to be made…

For the Creationists out there, I present Dinosaur Surprise Party!

Is that a palm tree?

Here we have some nativity “live actors:”

And the sartorial equivalent of the scene:

I actually kind of like this one because it epitomizes the vintage plastic artifact:

Pre-made commentary!

If anyone has other examples, feel free to submit them for me to add.
Portia Munson

June 12th, 2009

I saved the entire image collection from Portia Munson’s Pink Project.

In this installation, Munson collects and assembles thousands of inexpensive, mass produced pink items. The result is an overwhelming barrage of kitsch that really drives home the cultural significance of the color.

Tables, piles, cabinets, rooms…overflowing with saccharine plastic sweetness…

I’m so used to seeing these items spread out on store shelves that I rarely step back to think about the sheer proliferation of them.

You can see the rest of the images and read the artist statement here.

In a similar vein, Green Piece; Lawn collects environmental objects.

“It is interesting to see what is mass produced in green plastic and how, once again, color is used as a marketing tool. Almost anything you can imagine that has a relationship to nature, good or bad, can probably be found in green plastic.”

The Garden centers on the plastic procreation of nature; visions of artificial fertility and beauty.

Munson has quite a talent for crafting dense landscapes of cultural suffocation. Not a bad thing to immerse oneself in for the sake of a little consumerist perspective every now and then.

See more (plus some very cool paintings) on her site.
Barnaby Barford

March 28th, 2009

I can always count on the fantastic Wurzeltod to uncover the gems I may have somehow overlooked in my web wanderings. One such example is Barnaby Barford.

Barford creates twisted, sardonic narratives from vintage ceramics and found objects.

I truly enjoy the use of past kitsch and ephemera to comment on modern indulgences.

Look how these cherubic figurines gorge on delicious trans fats!

See more here.