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Global Village Coffeehouse (1990s)

ca. Late 1980s - Mid 1990s

A network of aesthetics emerging in the late 1980s, some an evolution of prog-punk-zolo memphis-y squiggles, keith haring, woodcut revival, a "return-to-the-natural" handrawing movement, reaction against the computer aided design boom, late 80s environmentalism revival, etc. Still very postmodern in the sense of appropriating seemingly endless prior artistic movements, mainly for commercial/corporate purposes. Peaks in the mid 1990s, falling out of favor later on as the pendulum swung back to the minimalism/tech/clean vibes of Y2K Aesthetic & Gen X Soft Club. It's very wide-ranging and could be split into many sub-groups, but this format seems to work better. Common motifs include: woodcuts, 'tribal/ancient imagery and iconography', moons, suns, spirals, hands, eyes, stars, simple styled flowing/curvy figures, 'aroma swirls', coffee cups, natural elements like trees/waves/landscapes, earth tones, hand-drawn look, 'airbrushed dirty look', the earth/globe, hearts, colorful gradated backgrounds, rough irregular borders & lines. Overlaps with 'pop surrealism' from the same time period, though GVC is usually trying to convey 'sincerity' as much it is needed to sell something; sorta faux-naive, down to earth, warm.

Links

  1. Are.na - https://www.are.na/consumer-aesthetics-research-institute/global-village-coffeehouse-qbdtrttfhcw
  2. Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/288047698281354

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