The Imaginary Foundation

The Imaginary Foundation's roots are mysterious. Their About section is an obtuse discreption of their nature as a Swiss based think tank that bases their work on the Dadaist movement from the 1920s. A "small clandestine" team of designers and intellectuals are apparently headed by a wise and knowledgeable figure head simply called the "Director". I have read that this "Director" is the son of the creator of the Dadaist Movement. The Dadaist movement primarily involved visual arts, literature, theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti war politic through a rejection of the prevailing standards in art through anti-art cultural works. Dada activities included public gatherings, demonstrations, and publication of art/literary journals. Passionate coverage of art, politics, and culture filled their publications. The movement influenced later styles, Avant-garde and Downtown music movements, and groups including Surrealism, Nouveau Réalisme, Pop Art and Fluxus.



The Imaginary Foundation conducts its business from San Francisco however, which leads me to believe their About section and manifesto may be simply a back story explaining the companies anonymity and visual ideologies, developed by a much less sensational group. This speculation is simply that, a unreferenced hypothesis to what I think the Imaginary Foundation might really be. Although they claim to maintain anonymity and concentrate on producing their visual messages, I feel that if the staff behind Imaginary Foundation was as elite and sophistcated as their description suggests, I would be able to find news and info beyond bloggers simply commenting on their shirts.



Regardless of Imaginary's staff or its roots, they certainly know how to develop phenomenally positive, inspiring and colorful fabric and art prints. Many of their pieces are parallel to the Dadaist ideals that they pledge commitment to, with both vibrant and distressed tributes to higher thought, art processes and creative realms. Much of their work also pulls from surreal and post modernist ideals.



Check out Imaginary Foundation on the web @ imaginaryfoundation.com