Anthrology: One-Stop Fox Shop

A cross section of furry talent with 40 up-and-coming artists…

Anthrology Artbook V1

Indiegogo ending 5/18/14

I’m a’gonna keep this short and sweet, because A) it’s amazing and I can’t do justice to it, B) I have misgivings about the project that make it challenging to be coherent about it, C) it’s pretty straightforward as an idea, or D) my mate wants to grab lunch and is whimpering at me, Pick one. Pick all four.

“Anthrology” is ambitious: a 150+ page color bound collection of art from 40 contributors. More than anything else, it looks like a cross-section of young and talented artists, the sort of thing that, 10 years later, you might look back and say “I knew her when…”

I hope I’m being condescending, it’s not intentional. On the surface, I don’t actually recognize any of these artists, but I’m not super “with it” on furry artists from the last five years or so, more my shortcoming than anything else. But as a way to give all these artists print exposure? Amazing! I’m strongly reminded of the old “American Journal of Anthropomorphics“–second callout to that title this week–where new artists, professional artists, the old guard and the young kits, brushed elbows in what was ostensibly a snapshot of the fandom in 1993, 1994, 1995. Neat stuff, if you can find a copy.

That being said, there’s some things about this IGG campaign that kind of bother me. I love that it’s “all-or-nothing” Kickstarter type funding, that’s awesome, and that it’s such a broad swath or art and styles. Excellent!

On the other paw, and I’d love to know more about this–who’s the publisher? Really, who are they? I can’t find anything about them on Google. What were the criteria for submission? What’s their ambition, their mission? Is there a goal beyond binding 150 or so pictures in a nice product?

The thing that most troubles me is the “now or never” nature of the IGG campaign. This is the only chance you’ll have to get this anthology, and I’m personally very tempted. But as a historical artifact, it’s only going out to the artists themselves and their personal fan bases, which makes it less of a “moment in the fandom, treasure it forever” and more like the old International Anthology of Modern Poetry contests, where the bound anthology of the book was offered for purchase to the 300 or so poets whose ONE print credit, EVER, was in the book.

Cynical, I know. I don’t actually think that, I’m really optimistic about the campaign and the IGG page is very sharp–so sharp that it should have been on Kickstarter–but it’s a spice in this dish that I can’t quite ignore.

Anyway! I can’t possibly do justice to this one, like I said. The video shows art from the 40 excellent artists involved, the IGG campaign is rich with commission oppos and “your character HERE” (where “here” is in the anthology itself) purchase points. Check the video, it says more than I ever could, and the math of “a picture is worth a thousand words” says this would be a 40,000-word post if I went too much further.