Camp

Camp is the good taste of the bad taste. It is often way over used to the point where the meaning of it is very over used. It's also mass marketed to the point where it has reached epidemic proportions and cannot be considered eccentric says A Designer's Guide to Schlock, Camp and Kitsch - And the Taste of Things to Come.  1930's musicals, Art Nouveau and Art Deco, Mickey Mouse, Chrysler building, Barbara Streisand(singing) and Coca-cola collectibles are all good examples of Camp.

Coca-cola collectibles

Chrysler Building in New YorkI also pinned some things on Pinterest.

Kitschy Kitschy Koo

Kitsch is difficult to define, not because the word is difficult to understand, but because there is not one common definition.  Some say it is synonymous to schlock.  Others say camp.  From what I gathered, kitsch is the middleground between the two.  Kitsch seems to be anything that is functional while attempting at good taste, oftentimes failing.  Another definition seemed to define kitsch as something that was once relevant and will be relevant again in the future because trends cycle as a result of nostalgia.  Maybe the definition of kitsch is within the combination of both definitions. 

Crocs: the epitome of function over form

Leggings

http://pinterest.com/hmmster/kitsch/

Ordinary, Yet Extraordinary

If there were such a thing as a Vocabulary Bee and I had to define schlock, I would had not won. I had never even heard the word schlock until last Thursday. After researching it online and chatting with other classmates, I have gathered that schlock means cheaply made. It is mass produced and common. A schlock object, however, does not have to be ugly or useless. Take a clothes pin, for example. It's usually wooden, plain-looking. Take some paint, add some polka dots, attach a picture with it to a string of twine, and you have a lovely, cheap arrangement. Schlock iteams can be everyday use items. In my opinion, the simple things in life are sometimes the most beautiful. Schlocks are simple, but they can be beautiful, too.

http://utkid.squarespace.com/ids-212_12-journal/picture taken by Rachel Craddock

Twine is cheap. Clothes pins are cheap. The arrangement is pricelss.

Picture taken by Joanna Bernardini

Curtain Rods are most commly used to hold up curtians. However, my roommate uses them on her closet rod and hangs her necklaces. Clever!

To see more examples of schlock items, visit: http://pinterest.com/jojolb92/schlock/

Campy

Jean- Claude Suares describes 'camp' as the "good taste of bad taste" in his article "A Designer's Guide to Schlock, Camp, and Kitsch-and the Taste of Things to Come". If an object is described as campy, it has been mas produced and seen so many times by so many people that it is not recognized as ugly or in bad taste. Camp is considered to be tacky, cheezy and in many cases is drawn up or based on something from the past. These keepsakes are circulated throughout society depending on what is popular at the time and one can never predict what campy item will be hot next. 

My Pinterest shows examples of campy items. 

The original Mickey Mouse cartoon. 

Mickey Mouse is a cultural icon and is liked by children and adults. The mouse was transformed by Disney from cartoons to movies and from black and white to color. It is not uncommon to find him in nearly every convenience store and in general public places.

Camp

After doing some research on "camp" art, I have discovered that it is much like "schlock" and kitsch" but aqcuires both good and bad tastes. As http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/postmodernism/terms/camp.html states, it is "A sensibility that revels in artifice, stylization, theatricalization, irony, playfulness, and exaggeration rather than content".

I have also understood from the article titled "Schlock, Camp, and Kitsch- And the Taste of Things to Come" that camp is definitely overused. Interestingly, the book talks about how things can be described as "campy" which would imply that something is "good because it is so beautifully awful". Camp objects include art deco (probably the most common form), Mickey Mouse collectables, people such as Flash Gordon, Charlton Heston, Buck Rogers, and many more.

I also have pinned a few things on Pinterest of "campy" art.

Below are a few examples of "camp" art with labels of the exact type:

Horror Movies

Art Deco

Art Deco

Mickey Mouse Collectables

James Dean

Carmen Miranda

Empire State Building

Casablanca

Norman Rockwell

And finally...

Gone with the Wind