1. Aesthetic Problem: What constitutes the
aesthetic of a sweet kitsch?
References: Kathleen Higgins, “Sweet Kitsch” Anthony Savile,
“Sentimentality
Robert Solomon “On Kitsch and Sentimentality”
2. Characterization of a sweet kitsch and
consideration of some suggested accounts of
the effects sweet kitsch has on the observer
who appreciates it
Discuss the charges that have been raised
against sweet kitsch as a social and political
evil
Question of what makes kitsch-objects kitsch
Conclude what constitutes the aesthetic of a
sweet kitsch
3. (English
pronunciation: /ˈ kɪtʃ/, loanword from German)
-characterized as a form of “really bad taste”, “an
incarnation of evil”... (Higgins)
-art, objects, or design considered to be in poor
taste because of excessive garishness or
sentimentality, but appreciated in an ironic way
(Webster dictionary)
-purely for commercial purposes rather than
works created as self-expression by an artist
(Wikipedia)
- unacceptable in human experience/ existence
- it resists precise definition (Calinescu)
4. Kitsch
became defined as an aesthetically
impoverished object of shoddy production,
meant more to identify the consumer with a
newly acquired class status than to invoke a
genuine aesthetic response. In this sense, the
word eventually came to mean "a slapping
together" (of a work of art)
5. kitsch example of late 19th century
popular lithograph of a humorous
painting by Frederick Dielman.
7. -art that appeals unsubstly and
unapologetically to the softer “sweeter”
sentiments (Solomon, 1991)
-evokes emotions of the “touching” or
“stirring” sorts (Kathleen Higgins)
-suitably described as “touching” or
“inspirational” by an appreciative observer
14. 1.
Sweet kitsch makes the world sweeter and
excludes what is intolerable
2.
Sweet kitsch provides easy, effortless
catharsis
3.
Sweet kitsch serves as an aphrodisiac, a
means of self-enjoyment
4. Sweet kitsch reassures its audience
15.
16. If the greeting card is effective, we identify
with the couple wandering in nature. What
we enjoy is certainly not some other people
having a lovely time in love, but our own
potential lovely times in love.
17.
18. At the time we see the ad. We are in
love, and are immediately stimulated
to think beyond the ad to
practicality: “I’ll buy some
champagne before my date with Paul
tomorrow night”
20. Important social concerns
Presence of popularity of kitsch in modern
life
They are often mentioned as paradigm
instances of “bad art”
Its sentimentality and its virtues
For some artists, the best emotions seem to
be the worst emotions “better shocking or
sour than sweet?”
The art world of the time perceived the
immense popularity of kitsch as a threat
to culture
21. kitsch criticism is based on Immanuel Kant’s
philosophy of aesthetics.
Kant describes the direct appeal to the senses as
"barbaric“
As an effect of these aesthetics, working with
emotional and "unmodern" or "archetypical" motifs
was referred to as kitsch from the second half of the
19th century on. Kitsch is thus seen as "false
As Thomas Kulka writes, "the term kitsch was
originally applied exclusively to paintings", but it
soon spread to other disciplines, such as music. The
term has been applied to painters, such as Ilya
Repin, composers, such as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky,
whom Herman Broch refers to as "genialischer kitsch",
or "kitsch of genius
22. “Kitsch is mechanical and operated by
formulas”
“Kitsch pretends to demand nothing of its
customers except their money—not even
their time”
23. “True art is good. Kitsch is evil”
Accuses kitsch of not participating in the
development of art
Kitsch involved trying to achieve “beauty”
instead of “truth”
Any attempt to make something beautiful
would lead to kitsch
Ex: Avant-Garde and Kitsch (arose in order to
defend aesthetic standards from the decline
of taste involved in consumer society)
24. Concludes that kitsch is thus more reflective
than simple enjoyment in that it detaches
itself from the original emotion in order to
enjoy it
26. Sweet kitsch can be used for propagandistic
purposes
-it exploits the human capacity to respond to
an image as an “icon”
- “categorial agreement” with the being
- It can provide a sugar-coated for virtually
any kind of ideology
The art is controlled and formulated by the
needs of the market and given to a passive
population which accepts it
27. “Artis supposed to be subjective,
challenging and oriented against the
oppressiveness of the power structure
31. Kitsch is rather light hearted enterprise that
tends to make our world somewhat more
charming if we are not put off by its
ridiculousness (Lyell Henry)
Sweetening of life is the fundamental aim of
sweet kitsch
Evil attitudes toward kitsch take it to be socially
harmful
The problem lies in our poor opinion of the
emotions in general and in particular, the
“softer” sentiments
It should be guarded more against the superficial
understanding of sweet kitsch than against it
34. As a result of this redefinition proposed by
Nerdrum, an increasing number of figurative painters
are referring to themselves as "kitsch painters" and
members of The Kitsch Movement
they downplayed the formal structure of the artwork
in favor of elements that enter it by relating to other
spheres of life.
Despite this, many in the art world continue to
adhere to some sense of the dichotomy between art
and kitsch, excluding all sentimental and ”realistic”
art from being considered seriously. This has come
under attack by critics, who argue for a renewed
appreciation of academic art and traditional
figurative painting, without the concern for it
appearing innovative or new.
Knock knock! Who’s there? Kitsch. Kitsch who? Wag mo kong kurutin diyan, masaKITSCHen eh.
-cannot be defined from a single vantage point-it is subjected to different kinds of objections for artists –there is a sheer technical incompetenece the for ignorance of the medium, the tradition and its history, the current fashions and the tastes of time -”no-eye” (the failure to understand a color and composition) “bad art”aesthetic form of lying aesthetic ideal of all politicians and all political parties and movements (Kundera) Excessive sentimentality often is associated with the term.loanword from German)
Exaggerated sentimentality and melodrama
With the emergence of postmodernism in the 1980s, the borders between kitsch and high art again became blurred
-in a broad sense, Swee Kitsch is often characterized by sweet nothings, “cute”, “charming”-representational image to be essential to ascribing sweetness or inspirational quality to the kitsch response -effective kitsch that commemorates motherhood evokes the “kitsch” -effective kitsch that inspires patrionism evokes the “sweet kitsch”
Intolerable- impossible to deal or bear with Catharsis –the process of expressing strong feelings that have been affecting you so that they do not upset you anymoreAphrodisiac- a food, drink, or drug that makes people want to have sex4.) Sweet kitsch functions to provoke a response. It integrates several of the suggested accounts of the sweet kitsch effec
-In enjoying sweet kitsch, one enjoys, not the object but one’s own state of mind -it is the essential move that constitutes kitsch