WEEKEND READING: Susan Sontag — Notes on "Camp" (1964)

Susan Sontag, the American critic and essayist, introduced the term "Camp" into the mainstream with her iconic 1964 essay. This manifesto defined Camp as an aesthetic of failed seriousness that takes pleasure in excess and stylized beauty.

Initially rooted in the decadent court of Louis XIV, Camp found its intellectual rebirth in the ’60s — an era of sexual liberation and cultural revolution. Sontag saw Camp as “a mode of enjoyment,” one that blurred the lines between high art and pop culture. It isn't about bad taste — it is about self-irony and playfulness.

For designers, curators, and educators, this essay remains a guide to creative freedom and aesthetic boldness.

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