4. Permanent Collection / Open Depot
The museum displays an extensive collection of design
and everyday objects of the 20th Century in a permanent collection. The objects are compiled in collections
and convey the foundations of the polarizing Werkbund
program and other general aspects of the material, form,
function and usage history of things in the 20th Century.
The collection is placed in various categories: objects by
famous designers and anonymous design, functional and
purist objects, so-called "lapses of taste" or "kitsch," substantial "honest" things and material surrogates, brandname merchandise and no-name products.
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16. EVIL THINGS
AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF
BAD TASTE
If we want to discern what good taste is,
we must first eliminate bad taste.
With this purpose in mind, the art historian and museum director Gustav
E. Pazaurek opened his "Cabinet of Bad Taste" in the Stuttgart state crafts
museum in 1909. Pazaurek developed a complex system to categorize all
kinds of design mistakes, demonstrating them with actual examples.
17. I. Material Mistakes
Bad and Spoiled Materials
Bizarre Materials
Material Obsessions
Violations of Materials
Ostentatious Materials
Material Infringement
Material Decoys
Material Surrogates
Reverse Surrogates
18. II. Design Mistakes
Relief Transpositions
Unbalanced Weight
Unsuitable or Tricky Objects
Cross-Purposes
Functional Lies
Design Decoys and Artistic Pranks
Technical Surrogates
Patent Humour
Cheap Originality
19. III. Decorative Mistakes
Odd Proportions
Manic Ornamentation, Wasteful Decoration
Art as Atonement
Misplaced or Misoriented Ornamentation
Decorative Brutality
Decorative Invasions
Recipe and Chance
Original Decorative Ideas
Unfitting Decorative Motifs
Anachronistic or Exotic Decoration
Primitive Decoration
Naive Decoration and Familiarity
20. IV. Kitsch
Cheap mass rubbish with no attention given to the
choice of materials, forms and decoration.
The most common sub-categories are:
Jingoistic Kitsch (especially World War horrors)
Topical Kitsch
Travel Souvenir Kitsch
Folklore and Sportsmen’s Kitsch
Devotional Kitsch
Commercial Kitsch
21. V. Contemporary Mistakes
Glorification of Violence
Harmful Toys
Child Labour
Waste of Resources
Pollution
Cadaver Chic
Crimes against Endangered Species
Sexist Design
Racist Design
Exaggerated Claims of Exclusiveness
