The Mermaid Myth and Kitsch

A Treasury of the Kitsch Experience

Reading the book 'The Artificial Kingdom' by Celeste Olalquiaga has been a great supplement to my studio practice. I have read most of the chapters so far, and it has opened my eyes to the beginnings of the development of what we call ‘kitsch’ today. I read about the changing times from the rise of the alluring arcades of Paris to the spectacular Crystal Palace that housed the Great Exhibition in London, as well as how industry took over the natural, and moulded it into something else altogether.

The black and white pictures and drawings included add a flavor of nostalgia, and also a glimpse into traditional documentation methods from that time.

Firstly, what is kitsch? Kitsch is art or other objects that, generally speaking, appeal to popular rather than "high art" tastes. Such objects are sometimes appreciated in a knowingly ironic or humorous way.

What, then, about mermaids?

The last few chapters of the book are extensively about the myth of the mermaid and all of its connotations and complexities. With Ariel as one of my favourite Disney princesses, these chapters fascinated me even more.

1)Historically, mermaids were considered not to have depth of emotion until they turned human. Before that, they didn't really have a 'soul'.


2)It was P.T Barnum, famed American showman, who cleverly popularised and fetished the notion and existence of a fossilised mermaid to the American public which, of course, was fake. While people were disappointed by what they eventually saw (the torso and head of a juvenile monkey sewn to the back half of a fish), the fact that Barnum had successfully popularised this in print media before its actual display cemented his position as the creator of anticipation.



      


3)Mermaids had the quality of metamorphosing into rocks, thereby becoming a symbol of melancholy and petrified nature.

4) It was rare for mermaids to have 'happy endings', unlike the Disney-appropriated version of The Little Mermaid of the original fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson.