SEARCH Volume 2: Kitsch is a contemporary design magazine edited by Julia Merican and Driv Loo.

Kitsch is shallow. Kitsch is too earnest. Kitsch has been accused of catering to consumerism, mass-production, and anti-intellectualism. In this age of supreme information overload, a time when ‘good taste’ has never been more subjective, we find ourselves asking, why now? What is recovered in these rampant reclamations of kitsch-ness? What makes something so bad it’s good? When does ‘tacky’ become ‘classic’? When does a box office flop become a cult film? Is the Y2K fashion trend here to stay? And if so, what is left behind when the trend fades? Does kitch-ness need to be laid-to-rest one last time?

The second issue of SEARCH interrogates the meaning of ‘kitsch’ from a uniquely Southeast Asian perspective. Contributors include Ellen Lee, Lim Sheau Yun, Valerie You and Yvonne Tan.

Format: 156 pages, 11 x 18 cm, softcover
Publisher: Little Ideas Everyday (Malaysia)
Language: English