{"id":4894,"date":"2024-03-15T12:26:24","date_gmt":"2024-03-15T16:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/thelantern\/?p=4894"},"modified":"2024-03-15T12:44:29","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T16:44:29","slug":"playscape-playlist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/thelantern\/2024\/03\/15\/playscape-playlist\/","title":{"rendered":"Playscape PLAYlist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inspired by the works in the exhibition <\/span>Playscape: Contemporary Art from the Colby Museum\u2019s Collection<\/span><\/i><\/a>, Museum staff Andrew Witte brings together examples of auditory kitsch from the past 100 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nhttps:\/\/web.colby.edu\/thelantern\/files\/2024\/03\/Edit-A2-f2b-keep-Deadbeats_2.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n


\nSadie Benning, Flat Is Beautiful<\/em>, 1998. Video, 48:58. Museum purchase from the Jett\u00e9 Acquisitions Fund, 2007.003. Excerpted clip, 17:57\u201318:25.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kitsch is all around us. Novelist Milan Kundera claimed it as \u201can integral part of the human condition.\u201d\u00b9<\/span> Kitsch is art for the everyday and the everywhere, often circulated via cheap images and products that find widespread appeal\u2014clip art, pink flamingos, or the landscapes of Thomas Kinkade, for example. The word is commonly used negatively; the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as \u201cart, objects, design, or entertainment having popular appeal but considered to be vulgar, of low quality, or lacking artistic merit.\u201d\u00b2<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Thomas Kinkade, Rosebud Cottage<\/i>. 2011.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In writing about the concept as a specific aesthetic category, however, Tomas Kulka proposes three conditions that may define something as kitsch:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The object or theme depicted in the artwork is effortlessly identifiable by the viewer; it has a certain universality.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The subject is charged with sentimentality, an appeal to simple base emotions (for example, pleasure or grief).<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. The artwork does not substantially enrich our perspective or knowledge of the depicted objects or themes.\u00b3<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
     <\/div>\n

    This definition gives form to the concept of kitsch beyond a subjective opinion on \u2018good\u2019 or \u2018bad\u2019 taste. Kitsch becomes more than a derogatory term; it exists instead as a common condition. Predicated on associations and memory, kitsch oftentime comes hand in hand with nostalgia. In my eyes, nearly all of the works in <\/span>Playscape<\/span><\/i> fit into this defined aesthetic category, and recognizing them as such allows for a new appreciation for the kitsch we see outside the gallery, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"
    Ann Craven, Bear (Climbing Tree and Mountain Sides)<\/i>, 2021. Oil on canvas, 84 x 72 in. (213 x 183 cm). Gift of the Artist, 2021.250.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Using this framework, let’s take a look at Ann Craven\u2019s painting<\/span> Bear (Climbing Tree and Mountain Sides)<\/span><\/i>. As a viewer, I instantly recognize the elements of a bear and a tree.The bear is cute and friendly-looking, with large blue eyes that give it cartoonish proportions reminiscent of a teddy bear or a Disney-fied animal. The recognition of these elements elicits a small, pleasant delight, though it does not significantly shift my perception of bears or nature. A personal conclusion: it’s pretty kitschy. Works such as Ralph Fasanella\u2019s flat and caricatured depiction of a baseball stadium in <\/span>Night Game-Practice Time<\/span><\/i> and the friendly faces of Bernard Langlais’s wooden animal sculptures also recall similar childlike associations.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u200b\u200bKitsch can also extend into the auditory realm, as I illustrate through this PLAYlist. Think of elevator Muzak (\u201c<\/span>Still Life<\/b><\/span>\u201d by Infinity Frequencies), an advertising jingle, or even the bright synth of a Phil Collins song (\u201c<\/span>Two Hearts<\/b><\/span>\u201d). Such tracks highlight simplicity and sentimentality, and they often piggyback off of music we might consider \u2018timeless\u2019 or \u2018classic.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

    The playlist also includes the four songs included in Sadie Benning\u2019s film <\/span>Flat Is Beautiful<\/span><\/i><\/a>, all of which reflect the film\u2019s coming-of-age theme: \u201cCrazy on You\u201d by Heart, \u201cOh Daddy\u201d by Fleetwood Mac, \u201cBillie Jean\u201d by Michael Jackson, and \u201cBig Brother\u201d by David Bowie. These pieces of borrowed media we rewatch through the characters\u2019 eyes underscore moments where the main characters, Taylor and Quiggy, navigate their identities through consumption and escapism. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Tracks included in this soundscape suggest the concept of kitsch, whether they soar in sentimentality, evoke a sense of nostalgia or chagrin that we have attached to trends of the past, or riff off of the mainstay tropes of popular music. <\/span><\/p>\n