Sven Kirsten is the author of the "Book of Tiki", widely acknowledged as the bible of the style, and "Tiki Modern", which further explores Tiki style's relation to mid-century modernism, "Tiki Pop", the complete chronicles of America's obsession with Polynesia, and the most recent "The Art of Tiki".
Born in the port town of Hamburg but conceived in between America and Germany on a freighter from his grandfather's Hamburg-Chicago Line, Sven chose to live in California when he turned 25.
After studying Photo and Optics in Berlin and working as camera assistant for NDR network he enrolled at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1980, and switched to the American Film Institute in Los Angeles the next year.
In Los Angeles he started working on music videos as a gaffer and began shooting music videos himself in 1987 with Tom Waits's 'Blow Wind Blow' video.
More music clips with Billy Joel, The Cramps, Sergio Mendes and others followed, as well as commercials for Toyota, McDonalds, Kellogs and Anacin.
In the mid-90s Sven began D.P.-ing independent feature films, like 'Mistress' with Robert De Niro, and in the last thirteen years he has photographed over 30 Cable TV movies in Germany, Prague, Cape town and St. Petersburg.
He considers himself a visual stylist at home in any genre, on any set, looking for a fresh language for every new project.
It was this love for visuals that inspired Sven to collect and photograph the remnants of the forgotten culture of Polynesian pop in America, leading him to identify the Tiki as its icon.
As a hunter and gatherer of lost artifacts and ephemera of this phenomenon, he began to see the pattern of a unique art form, and decided to publish his findings in the "BOOK OF TIKI" in September 2000.
For the first time, the book presented all the aspects of Tiki style, its design, graphics, architecture, social culture and cocktail mixology, proving that it had been an art form in its own right, a fact which had not been recognized in its heyday.
The book put Tiki firmly on the map of American pop culture, and is regarded as the standard work on the style. As it began to inspire a Tiki revival, Kirsten lectured, wrote and advised on Tiki culture in the United States and in Polynesia. The book went into its third printing and spawned an abridged version with "TIKI STYLE".
Card is in fair condition - please see pics
Card is 2 x 3 1/2.