chronology

the story – kitsch

psychographs

thursday, august 22, 2010

01. new day, another lunch brake and another trip north on my tomos [scooter].

02. this time it is a longer drive until I noticed first psychograph [psychographs guidelines]. I went around famous pacific mall. it turned out that this is advertised as one of most popular tourist attraction in toronto, even thou it is technically in the city of markham, just across the border. small house squeezed in a row of similar ones looked quite strange. [psychograph 01 ]

03. plenty of parking space. now I am in the walking stage of this little drift. visually it is looking promising, pleasant space with signs of what was waiting for me were everywhere around.

04. steeping inside one of the mall buildings was with no surprise. I was here several times before but what was different now is a way I was seeing and sensing surrounding ambient. pacific mall was built in 1997 and to this day it is a largest covered asian mall in north america. to me it represents hong kong – china, and according to what I've heard it is conceived that way even by visitors coming from the asian side of the ocean. even corridors are named by streets in hong kong. original chinese name is - Tai Gu Guang Chang derived from the name of the largest hong kong mall. what I've experienced this time was an ultimate festival of kitsch. not the "same old one" but unfamiliar new XXI century implementation. [psychograph 02 ]

05. kitsch is not easily defined or described, it needs to be practically deciphered and understood. poor esthetic and poor quality is just the beginning. in this wide category we can fit everything in this mall. I am not talking only about objects, what is striking me so hard is also false, fabricated, imitation of needs of urban population. this is combined with extorted picture of "american [canadian] dream" presented in a "handsome" package of oriental - chinese belief system. of course they are hitting low: shining, glimmering, golden, bright colours, cheese, calculated to have popular appeal [this is standard definition of kitsch]. here it is exaggerated to the extreme level, as if it was done with purpose in mind. historically kitsch objects are produced just as cheep imitations of the original art or craft. it was traditionally manufactured with cheep components and taste to fulfill the uneducated masses. I am utterly convinced that western "civilization" [and not only western!] was doing this intentionally for ages to make their life of governing [democracy??!] easier. 

06. ultimate festival of kitsch present in this condensed – pacific mall form [this is still very rear sight] is stepping over the historical limitations. [psychograph 03 ]. is there a possibility that, known as very smart people with art and civilization thousands of years old, asian people, behind most of artifacts present here, are doing something else? is genius loci of this place revealing elaborate plot? plot to very quietly and on the long run and without "bloody" events this old civilization revenge years of oppression. plot to reverse the roles! what do you think?

07. look at those two last photos left. this might make your opinion even harder to make. first one [with red ribbons] is from pacific mall. raw of cheap imitation of expensive golden gifts, some of them with religious connotations. second "peace of art" called "end of an era" by damian hirst, exhibit at "pop life - art in material world" - in national gallery of canada, ottawa. this installation with hundreds of diamonds enclosed in a glass box is valued at "millions" of dollars. both of these sights represent same cultural stage – identical "low blow", an insult and an unscrupulous attack, on our civilization and goes way BEYOND KITSCH. [you can see why and where].

:: select new psychograph from start up page ::