Tiki is the manifestation of exotic visions of island culture borrowed from tales told by 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 feathers as they danced half-naked during all-night orgies of food and music. Americans seized these visions and incorporated fantasy into reality: mid-century fashion, popular music, eating and drinking, and even architecture were influenced by the Tiki trend.
This enlightening and hilarious guide casts the reader as an "urban archaeologist," exploring the lost remnants of the Tiki culture across the United States and discovering relics from this forgotten civilization in thrift stores, yard sales, and used book and record emporia. A combination of nostalgia and fascinating pop cultural study, this volume is a long overdue investigation into the cult of the Tiki. Almost makes you want to dig up those old grass skirts and throw luau….
This enlightening and hilarious guide casts the reader as an "urban archaeologist," exploring the lost remnants of the Tiki culture across the United States and discovering relics from this forgotten civilization in thrift stores, yard sales, and used book and record emporia. A combination of nostalgia and fascinating pop cultural study, this volume is a long overdue investigation into the cult of the Tiki. Almost makes you want to dig up those old grass skirts and throw luau….
About the author:
Sven A. Kirsten, born in Hamburg, 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. After studying at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, he began shooting music videos in the late 1980s for The Cramps, Tom Waits, Sergio Mendes and others. (His big Hollywood credit is Director of Photography for Mistress, with Robert DeNiro and Martin Landau.) After years of hunting down pieces of the puzzle of Polynesian Pop, Kirsten has developed a singular insight into the Cult of Tiki and has become the country's most eminent Tiki archaeologist.
Sven A. Kirsten, born in Hamburg, 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. After studying at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, he began shooting music videos in the late 1980s for The Cramps, Tom Waits, Sergio Mendes and others. (His big Hollywood credit is Director of Photography for Mistress, with Robert DeNiro and Martin Landau.) After years of hunting down pieces of the puzzle of Polynesian Pop, Kirsten has developed a singular insight into the Cult of Tiki and has become the country's most eminent Tiki archaeologist.
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