The cloudy territory of “ good ” and “ bad ” taste have always confused me . Who are you to tell me what all unaffordable couch I should or should n’t buy , well - meaning Architectural Digest editor in chief ? Well , back in 1909 , a German art historian nominate Gustav E. Pazaurek invent a organization to assist us all out . rent ’s call it a bad - design - type O - meter .
Pazaurek live during a prison term when modern ideas about functionality were just starting to creep into the conversation . A year before , a critic named Adolf Loos had write an essay calledOrnament and Crime , in which he argued that a truly modern gentlemen prefers legato cigarette cases over dress ones , among other riskier ideas , like the affirmation that people who get tattoo are degenerates .
Pazaurek did n’t go that far . But he did indicate that “ if we want to discern what unspoiled taste sensation is , we must first decimate bad taste . ” So he opened up an archive — a “ cabinet of bad taste , ” as he call it — which catalogued one C of unlike design crimes . His reprehensible archive range from Technical Surrogates , or objects that are machined to look hand-crafted , to Cadaver Chic , or objects like taxidermy , which celebrate man ’s victory over nature .
Pazuarek roll up hundreds of target — dozens of which are on view this month at theMuseum der Dinge(Museum of thing ) , in Berlin . The museum ’s curators have also encouraged people to submit their own contemporary examples , some of which you’re able to seeon their website .
In the remainder , there ’s still no literal way to quantify the severity ( or goodness ) of an object . But Pazuarek ’s instinct — to think about design analytically — was crucial , and pave the agency for the “ manifesto ” acculturation of modern blueprint . He probably would ’ve been appall by the mayhem irony is wreaking in today ’s world , where everything bad is also sort of good .
It ’s still an interesting interrogation , though : if you could nominate one object for Pazuarek ’s cabinet , what would it be ? [ Evil Things : An Encyclopedia of Bad Taste ]
This warning gadget clock offends several of the “ crimes , ” include Unfitting Decorative Motifs and Exotic Ornamentation , described as “ motif and ornament copy from past stylistic electric current and foreign cultures . ”
The skeleton cellular telephone bearer is plausibly Bizarre Materials , but it could also be an Artistic Prank . Same goes for the thumb USB drive . The cellphone falls under Manic Ornamentation , which can apparently “ deteriorate into the “ infective and therefore very grievous malady of ornamentational craze . ”
This rolling , taxidermied guinea pig fall under Cadaver Chic .
Mick heyday crapper is potential Travel Souvenir Kitsch , while the wood wine undoer is Violations of Materials , which describes “ objects made of dead dear materials which are badly or not at all suited to the purpose at hand . ”
The gun lamp and the 9/11 rug are probably Glorification of Violence , the FIJI nursing bottle touches on a fistful of offence , like Waste of Resources and Tropical Ornamentation .
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