Random examples of items which are part of the canon of Camp:
Zuleika Dobson
Tiffany lamps
Scopitone films
The Brown Derby restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in LA
The Enquirer, headlines and stories
Aubrey Beardsley drawings
Swan Lake
Bellini’s operas
Visconti’s direction of Salome and ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore
certain turn-of-the-century picture postcards
Schoedsack’s King Kong
the Cuban pop singer La Lupe
Lynn Ward’s novel in woodcuts, God’s Man
the old Flash Gordon comics
women’s clothes of the twenties (feather boas, fringed and beaded dresses, etc.)
the novels of Ronald Firbank and Ivy Compton-Burnett
-Susan Sontag, Notes on “Camp”
Whether it’s been tweeted or googled, spoken or thought, the announcement of the 2019 MET Gala theme has left the public with one question: what is camp, exactly?
Let’s rewind. October 9th, 2018: the Metropolitan Museum of Art announces the theme of the 2019 MET Gala- ‘camp’ fashion, inspired by current sociopolitical events and the poignant relevancy of Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay Notes on “Camp”– prompting thousands (well, maybe just me) to frantically scour the internet in a quest for Notes on ”Camp” and some background on what camp is.
The article itself was perfectly easy to find (if you are so inclined, you can read it here). Decoding it, however, was not.
Perhaps it was Sontag’s style, perhaps it was the very concept of camp. The first three times I read the essay, I hadn’t the slightest clue as to what on Earth she was writing about. The article is disjointed- it is, after all, a loosely related collection of musings- and the topic nebulous. If not for my sheer determination to understand the MET Gala theme (or my excitement over Harry Styles hosting the event), I certainly would have given up attempting to untangle the knotted web of “camp” and the contradictions it embodies.
Sontag insists upon the naivete of Camp, the self-indulgent behavior of someone too consumed by empty, flitting desires that everything is whimsical. She notes that Camp is defined by its extravagance coupled with innocence, the unintentional nature of Camp; how it walks the narrow tightrope between kitschy and cliche, cloying and overwhelming. Sontag weaves a vivid, intricate tapestry of excessive beauty and confused ideology; conjuring images of women decked in 10,000 feather boas and over-the-top works of drama.
While trying to uncatalogued the key characteristics of Camp, I ended up making my own list of sorts. Inspired by the visionary herself, here are my Notes on Notes on “Camp”
- “Camp” is not a fashion, it is an attitude- as Sontag herself writes, “Camp is the consistently aesthetic experience of the world”
- “Camp” is inherently a contradiction
- That’s right: just like Fight Club, “to talk about Camp is therefore to betray it.” So by celebrating Camp in such a high profile manner, are we not undermining its integrity?
- ” Camp is either completely naive or else wholly conscious”
- According to Sontag, “pure Camp is always naive. Camp which knows itself to be Camp (“camping”) is usually less satisfying”. Thus, the MET gala attendees are doomed to failure before the event has begun; the style they imitate is defined upon its inability to be imitated.
- See also, “the pure examples of Camp are unintentional; they are dead serious”, and “intending to be campy is always harmful.”
- Camp is bold, it is ostentatious, it is loud, it is flamboyant and boisterous and deadly serious.
How will this translate into fashion? Picture the courtly wear of Louis XIV, the Sun King, and the decadent glory of Versailles. Picture women from the roaring 20s, beaded and bedazzled. Picture the brightest colors, the boldest patterns, the loudest accessories. Though I do not know how many celebrities will rise to the challenge, I do know that the red carpet will be a spectacle regardless.
I still do not know if intentionally imitating Camp defeats the outfit, or when Camp becomes tacky. I do know, however, that this May 6th, I will be watching the stars with a hot pink feathered boa and no cares to give.
Did any of my ramblings make sense? Probably not. But in which case, I justify my nonsensical drivel by pointing out the original work. I still do not know if I understand Camp, or if I ever will, but I am certain of one thing: the MET Gala of 2019 will be nothing short of glorious.
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