I didn't like it the first time, and I didn't like it this time. I found it overly-long, boring and pretentious - just the sort of thing that would be published in "The Partisan Review". But it did make me think about camp, and the role it plays in my life.
At the risk of sounding like a high-school essay, Webster's defines camp as "something that provides sophisticated, knowing amusement, as by virtue of its being artlessly mannered or stylized, self-consciously artificial and extravagant, or teasingly ingenuous and sentimental.", which is much more concise and easier to work with than that whole Sontag thing, so let's just go with that.
In one regard, I suppose that Chez Vel-DuRay - in itself a campy name - could be considered camp. Through the years, I've gotten used to the statements upon first seeing the place, and there are three general sentiments:
"Oh my God! This is just like my Grandma's house!" (Not usually meant as a compliment)
"I feel like Rob and Laura Petrie are going to walk around the corner any minute" (Mostly meant as a compliment)
"God, this place is beautiful. I love deco"
The last one is the only one that bothers me: The idea that ANYTHING in the house is Art Deco appalls me. I HATE Art Deco in residential applications (although I do like it in stores and theaters: Big, grand structures - which Chez Vel-DuRay certainly is not - are the only ones that can do Art Deco justice.)
For the record, Chez Vel-DuRay is Mid-Century Modern. Specifically, it is styled for the Eve of the Kennedy Assassination.
Except when it's not, of course. Which is where I sometimes let what I regard as campy rear it's Somewhat Different Head. Take this, for example:
I'm usually not into velvet paintings - especially velvet paintings of bullfighters. They're too cliched, and of the wrong period (The heyday of the velvet painting was the 70's.) And I'm not into drag queen-y swag lamps either - again, they're more from the late 60's - early 70's, and they are more tacky than campy.
But put the painting and the lamp together - particularly since the cabalero is being thrown from the bull rather than mastering it, as is typically the case in these paintings, and the whole thing works. It meets all of Webster's criteria:
Sophisticated, knowing amusement? Check
Artlessly mannered or stylized? uh huh
Self-consciously artificial and extravagant, or teasingly ingenuous and sentimental? Yup.
The whole result is sort of a camp tableaux. Not something I'd want in every room, of course, but a nice little rest stop on the visual highway that is Chez Vel-DuRay.
But back to the bigger picture of what is, or is not, camp. I bring you article two:
This, of course, is the new art I've been talking about over on Facebook, as well as a new lamp to compliment the new art, and some new plants for the planters. This, I do not regard as campy - although some of the elements, taken on their own, are campy. To me, this is a pleasing tableaux of approximate historical accuracy - which is the best we can ever hope for around here.
But let's drag old Webster out here again, to be the final judge:
Something that provides sophisticated, knowing amusement? Well.....yes, but as a side note. I think can be appreciated on its own merits as well. It's not just artifice.
Artlessly mannered or stylized? Artlessly mannered? No. It's not evocative, like the bull fighter and the swag lamp of the camp tableaux. It's not trying to be something its not. Stylized? Well, I'll give you that one. But what man-made thing isn't Stylized? Even dogs are stylized to appeal to our own aesthetics.
Self-consciously artificial and extravagant, or teasingly ingenuous and sentimental? I'd have to vote no on this too. Maybe it's a bit extravagant, but not compared to its surroundings. Teasingly ingenuous? No. Sentimental? Certainly not. After all, like Margo Channing, I detest cheap sentiment (ed. Note: Now, THAT is campy).
Admittedly, the early 60's were a campy time, at least in retrospect. And Chez Vel-DuRay is an exaggerated representation of that time - it's more like a stage set than something that real people would have lived in - but I would not regard it as campy. Unless I myself am too campy to see the real truth - which is a distinct possibility.
And who's to say that today's granite countertops and ridiculously oversized furniture won't be tomorrow's camp artifacts? I think sectionals with pull-out footrests and built-in cupholders are a thousand times more campy than anything you'll find at Chez Vel-DuRay.
But all I know for sure is, my house is not deco!
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