Kitsch Can Work

"I'm sorry, Steve, I was only dating you for the kitsch value."

Kitsch is a snooty word. Calling something Kitsch is a way of looking down your nose at something, to say it is in bad taste. To the left is a classic big-eyed painting; pure Kitsch.

The opposite of Kitsch is Avant-garde. Avant-garde means pushing of the boundaries of what is accepted, to experiment and find something new. Avant-garde is cool. As we have discussed in previous posts, this kind of challenging art does not usually work in hospitals.

Can Kitsch work in HealthCare?

Kitsch can work in healthcare if done thoughtfully. Kitsch relies on repeating a convention or formula. Much nature photography follows a formula. If one followed the "formula" for HealthCare art outlined  in Chapter 7 of "Putting Patients First" the results would probably be fine.   

Many Artists would say that Thomas Kinkade is the most famous living painter producing kitsch. If kitsch means commercially produced items that are overused and lacking in originality then, yes, his work probably is kitsch.

Would his work be appropriate in a Healthcare setting? If you read the specific suggestions of the experts I would argue that his work would be perfect. He creates non-threatening romantic landscapes that are easily appreciated by the general population. 

Hopefully the ideal art for HealthCare would be something in between Kitsch and Avant-garde. Something conventional but fresh. Something that Evidence-based research supports but also something that is new.

But please, no big-eyed paintings...

Incidentally, Susan Orlean wrote a wonderful article for The New Yorker about Thomas Kinkade called "Art for Everybody". You can download the article from Susan's website by clicking here. I highly recommend it.

I found the above cartoon by J Dator in the May 7th 2007 issue of the New Yorker.

Comments

[vaughn]

"I would argue that his work would be perfect."

henry- are you nuts?

[hdomke]

"are you nuts?"
Well, many of my best friends would say yes! Hah!

But the issue here is not about me but rather about what kind of art is appropriate to use in hospitals and medical clinics.

I would encourage you to skim over the posts that are listed in the Categories called "Controversial" and "Research" on the upper right hand side of the page.

If you try to look at the issue objectively, and not let your preconceived notions of taste get in the way, then you too may learn to accept Kitsch.

Who knows, maybe you will start collecting Thomas Kinkade prints instead of vintage audiophile equipment.