The phenomenon of kitsch in popüler culture and its reflections on the ceramic art

The differences in the social structure of Europe at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century when the popular culture and therefore the popular art tended to be extended, has also created clear-cut class differences. While this transformed the society dramatically, it was reflected to arts in the cultural level. The beginning of the 19th century when the technological developments and popularization of arts emerged is a historical period in which the products of art and therefore its production/consumption relationship moved towards the societal appreciation.With the 20th century, industrial developments in the postmodern process were reflected to the domain of arts, creating developments of cultural character and these developments created cultural commercialization in which the art products were used as commodities. Commercialization enabled mass production and consumption of arts and all other cultural products. Such transformations prepared the objective conditions of kitsch and kitsch has taken over the life and arts with a momentum and zone of influence unattained by any other artistic movement in the history.The term kitsch is as new as the meaning it connotes. It started to be used in the jargon of art circles and painters of Munich in 1860s and 70s and used to define cheap artistic products. The usage of kitsch as an international term corresponds to the first half of 20th century. Kitsch, which literally stands for banality, bad taste or artistic waste, should be analyzed in an effort to define aesthetic inadequacy. Kitsch, which was able to exist in different art disciplines and spread rapidly, has found itself an extensive area of use with the help of peculiar characteristics of the material. Every decorative ceramic product in which the ceramic clay was used and exceeded its original function is in close relationship with the term kitsch in the ceramic art. This thesis aims to analyze the kitsch phenomenon conceptually, and apprehend the existence of kitsch in the area of ceramic practically.