The Anthropologist launch party

photo from The Anthropologist

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to attend a launch party for The Anthropologist. Hosted by Anthropologie, the party featured all three of the artists currently featured on the site. The site is an expansion on the things that inspire Anthropologie. Though the site is not an e-commerce site, in seeing what inspires the designers I’ve seen the site on two levels. The first is strictly exploring it much as a designer searches for inspirational motivation. There is observation. There is comprehension. There is retention. But then a second gear kicks in, and the process moves towards deeper layers. Suddenly there is introspection. And from there comes motivation and action. It’s been really fun to find my own inspiration from the site. You can read more about it in this post.

Knowing that the site’s focus was abstract prepared me for the party. It was in the same place where I’d seen Leifsdottir’s Spring 2010 presentation in September but it was redone into a whole other world. The room was transformed into an art gallery, with a central multimedia hub allowing partygoers to surf the site while each wall was dedicated to photographs and biographies of each artist.

I started with David Eustache‘s work. For his contribution, he took a three-week road trip with his daughter Rachel. What daughter didn’t take at least one with his Dad? Mr. Eustache spoke of wanting to delay the inevitable inertia from child/dependent to adult/independent. All of the photos were of his daughter doing different innocuous acts — playing a guitar, sitting somewhere, walking somewhere, etc. In the photos where she is looking away from the camera we truly see the world through a father’s eyes: proud, protective and maybe just a bit sad to watch his little girl grow up. (Or perhaps this is what I read into the photos.) This photo below was particularly touching to me:

Still a young woman but she is growing into a proper adult. I found myself thinking about my drive out to college: three days from Connecticut to Colorado on I-70. Just me and Dad. I was a pretty rebellious teenager and thought I was ready to be on my own until it was time for my Dad to fly home, at which point I didn’t want him to leave at all. Very interesting to see this tug from the other side. The letters they wrote each other are a fitting summary (click on the thumbnail that says “I love you” in Mr. Eustache’s section on the Anthropologist site to see). Will Rachel remember the clothes she wore and attach memories to certain stops on the trip? I can still remember what I wore on: my first day at the campus radio station, my Senate picture, my Sorority yearboook photo, and so on.

Next I looked at Jane Campion’s contribution. She made a visual scrapbook from the set of her most recent movie, Bright Star. As one of only three women to ever be nominated for a Best Director Academy Award and an Academy Award-winning screenwriter her storytelling qualities are clearly top notch. I did not speak to her directly at the party. (I found her to be pretty shy! Although I also might have been a bit shy myself.) Instead I listened as she told a small group about wanting to capture the human emotions of the love story. Imperfection was OK as it made the story seem more real. The photos on display captured quick flashes of emotion. Her section on the Anthropologist site reinforces this further.

It includes vignettes from staff members and Ms. Campion herself, plus storyboards from the movie. My favorite anecdote is the extra who is told of his duties and fee, so he asked when he should pay the crew for having a part in the movie. I laughed, only because at one time I probably would have asked the same thing! Her story is recorded in photos, drawings and stories much as each of our lives are. The parallel in clothing for me is that I have special memories attached to certain pieces. Some have bad or good luck attached and some speak to a time in my life that may have passed. This was an engrossing photo essay by a talented visual artist.

A good portion of my time at the party was spent flipping through three of Andrew Zuckerman‘s books on display. I am familiar with his book “Wisdom” but had never seen “Bird” or “Creature” before. His work is instantly recognizable for the stark white background upon which the most mesmerizing photos are placed. Out of the three artists, his was the collection from which I saw the most literal design inspiration. Some of the bird photos in particular looked like fabrics. Especially the close-ups. Just amazing.

I’m a big text art fan and “Wisdom” is filled with intriguing type placement. Line breaks, spacing and size all speak volumes about the message the words themselves yield. Likewise, each of us has our own style. Some of us are preppy, some are boho, some are trendy and some are a mix of different inspiration sources. Yet while we’re each unique there is a language to our clothing that is as clear as the words we speak. Our outfits say when we’re happy, and sometimes they say when we’re sad. It all ties together in both spoken and written word mixed with nonverbal communication.

I had a wonderful time at the party. Thank you to Anthropologie’s Community Team for the invite.