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The Art of Tiki is a passionate study of the Tiki idol as an art form. For the first time, contemporary Tiki art is united and presented equally with what inspired it, original mid-century Polynesian pop. Author Sven Kirsten combines his first-hand experiences in exploring the birth of Tiki style with his intimate knowledge of the Tiki Revival, painting a vivid, visually arresting portrait of a unique, always new art genre. The Art of Tiki is published in conjunction with the 20th Anniversary Tiki Art Exhibition at La luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles.

Cult of kitsch: The art and history of the Tiki phenomenon Tiki culture at its height was a manifestation of exotic visions of island culture inspired by the tales of American soldiers stationed in the South Pacific during World War II: trees loaded with exotic fruits, sleepy lagoons, white-sand beaches, and gorgeous people wearing grass skirts as they danced half-naked during all-night orgies of food and music. Americans embraced these visions and incorporated fantasy into reality: mid-century fashion, popular music, eating and drinking, and even architecture were influenced by the Tiki trend. With unfettered enthusiasm--ignoring scholarly authenticity and political correctness--American artisans molded the Tiki into their own image, creating a mid-century pop culture genre that was forgotten until the 2000s, when urban archeologist Sven Kirsten wrested the figure of the Tiki from obscurity with his pioneering TASCHEN books "The Book of Tiki "and" Tiki Modern." This book traces the development of Tiki as romantic vision and kitschy cultural appropriation, from its earliest beginnings when James Cook "discovered" the Pacific Islands in the second half of the 18th century to Herman Melville's South Sea adventure stories like "Moby Dick" and Gauguin's exuberant, exotic paintings to the jungle fantasies of the Hollywood dream factory. Published in connection with an exhibition at the prestigious Musee du quai Branly in Paris, "Tiki Pop" the culmination of Sven Kirsten's research efforts. With his widely lauded visual style, the author places venerable ancient godheads next to their Polynesian pop counterparts. With hundreds of previously unpublished images, the story of Tiki the 20th-century pop icon unfolds from its earliest beginnings to its spectacular downfall in the dawning awareness of the Western world's colonial misdeeds.

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.

Polynesian Pop Icon: How Tiki became an American dream Urban islands and bamboo hideaways set the stage for a pop culture phenomenon like no other. In mid-century America, the imaginative appeal of Tiki penetrated fashion, music, eating, drinking, and architecture. Published in connection with an exhibition at the prestigious Mus�e du quai Branly in Paris, Tiki Pop traces the development of Tiki as romantic vision and cultural appropriation. Follow Tiki from James Cook's first Pacific Island expeditions, through Gauguin's exotic paintings, Hollywood jungle fantasies, and elaborate temples erected to celebrate Tiki as the god of recreation. With hundreds of previously unpublished images, Tiki the pop icon unfolds from its earliest, enthusiastic beginnings to its spectacular downfall in the dawning awareness of the Western world's colonial misdeeds. This book is the culmination of the extensive research of Sven Kirsten, urban archaeologist, Tiki sage, and author of earlier TASCHEN books, The Book of Tiki and Tiki Modern, which first recovered the figure of Tiki from obscurity. In his widely lauded graphic style, Kirsten places venerable ancient godheads next to their Polynesian pop counterparts, movie posters next to matchboxes, comic strips next to Robinson Crusoe illustrations. The result is at once a visual feast, a piece of cultural history, and a tribute to a very particular vision of paradise. Text in English, French, and German

South Sea Dreams around the cocktail bar - on the trail of the forgotten Tiki cult of the Fifties. One of the most bizarre chapters of American Pop Culture awaits rediscovery.

Palm Springs Tiki presents a visual exploration of a mid-century tropical paradise in the California desert. From the 1930s through the 1970s, Palm Springs and other desert communities embraced the mid-century fantasy of a home-grown Polynesian paradise. The concept of the oasis and that of the tropical island shared the qualities of exotic escapism for the urban dweller, these would-be islanders under the desert sun. Sprouting from the arid desert were Polynesian restaurants, bars, nightclubs and lounges, hotels, motels, apartments, and trailer parks decorated with Tikis. Celebrities frequented Palm Springs’ Don the Beachcomber, the El Mirador’s South Pacific Room, the Bamboo Room at the Racquet Club, and Aloha Jhoe’s. Average Americans vacationed at the city’s Tropics Motor Lodge with its Reef Bar and the Tiki Spa; and resided at the Aloha Palms and Kauai apartments and condominiums such as the Royal Hawaiian. In Rancho Mirage, the “Fly In / Drive In” Desert Air Hotel hosted luaus attracting over a thousand people, and at Bing Crosby’s Blue Skies Village was parked a trailer disguised as a Polynesian hut surrounded by Tikis. Palm Desert, the Salton Sea, Desert Hot Springs, and far-flung desert outposts all had their own tropical hideaways. Through myriad captivating objects, historic photographs, vintage postcards, colorful architectural renderings, and other ephemera, Sven Kirsten’s and Peter Moruzzi’s Palm Springs Tiki shows readers the many imaginative concepts that proprietors developed in creating a tropical paradise in the California desert. This book is a brightly colored gem full of historical information for both lovers of Tiki and mid-century Palm Springs.

With the summer heat just around the corner, Your Impossible Voice #4 is here to refresh and delight! Our latest issue brings new work from Fulbright Foundation fellow R. Zamora Linmark, National Endowment for the Arts fellow Geraldine Connolly, Norma Farber First Book Award winner Karen An-hwei Lee, Donald Hall Prize winner Kirsten Kaschock, David Bajo, Chris Yamashita, Racquel Goodison, Michael du Plessis, Sven Hansen-Love, John Beckman, Christopher Kondrich, Sammy Greenspan, Peter Burzynski, Bryce Emley, Monica Macansantos, Sierra-Nicole Qualles. Cover art by Jason Trbovich."