The Joy of Tat

I love tat. I love things that are unintentionally hilarious. This includes ornaments and memorabilia that, despite their creators' best efforts, fall short of what they undoubtedly envisioned.

I'm not art-shaming here. I take umbrage when people say that art is 'bad'. What they mean is that they don't like it. Or that it doesn't conform to their personal definition of 'good'. For instance, I'm a huge fan of so-called Outsider Art or Art Brut (I wrote about it here and here). This is art made by people outside of the art world. They are often people with difficulties in their lives such as mental illness or they are serving a long term in prison. I delight in their naivety and honesty. They are what art should be - created from the heart and with no consideration for commercial worth or whether anyone will like them. Other people would probably see it as childlike and 'unprofessional'.

What I call 'tat' is altogether different. It's generally mass-produced and cheaply made. Here are some examples I bought in charity shops. I find such things irresistable and they usually cost under a quid each.

Who doesn't love poorly-painted matryoshkas? 

The first is decorated with what I suspect are meant to be monkeys but look like a collection of bears and maybe a seal? The second has cats - but cats with very wonky eyes.

Now check out these guys - a goofy teapot, a Queen Victoria milk jug, and three cats - one with an eye-shredding pattern on it, and two with ridiculously long tails and no eyes.

I have so much more I could show you but I'll end with this appalling Dachshund-shaped schnapps dispenser. Its nose is the stopper and small tipple cups hang from its oddly distended ribs.

I don't actually own this piece any more because, in an effort to de-clutter my study/studio, I volunteered it and some other tat as prizes to be given to the panellists on the 2015 'Mix and Match' episode of QI.

Most of the pannellists left them behind in the studio. But James Acaster took home the Schnapps hound.

I wonder if he still has it?

More tat soon.