For an entire year beginning on May 10, 2014, the Fondation Cartier celebrated its 30th birthday.
For the occasion, we had first thought of a remote visit, using drones that the user could pilot at the night. Or, an “enhanced” journey in which visitors who were physically present inside the Fondation’s walls, on boulevard Raspail in Paris, would each “host” an Internet user by wearing a camera around their neck, and creating virtual meeting places around the artworks.
In the end, we decided to revisit the exhibits, collaborations, and events that marked the last 30 years of the Fondation’s existence. So we created Mémoires Vives, an anniversary site built to work like a genuine galaxy of memories, and tells the story of 30 years spent at the service of contemporary art.
Mémoires Vives is a matrix and an exploration module consisting of 30 stories that allow the user to revisit 30 highlights, through the untold stories of artists whose collaborations left their mark on the Fondation’s history, relationships between artists, and never-before-shown images and archives.
César, David Lynch, Paul Virilio, Jean Nouvel, Raymond Depardon, Alessandro Mendini, Patti Smith, Moebius, Ron Mueck, Takeshi Kitano, William Eggleston, Yanomami: as with so many others, they have all at some point or other contributed to the Fondation Cartier’s history.
It therefore made sense for them to also contribute to the celebration of this anniversary, by recounting, in their own way, what they remembered about the Fondation, what they saw, experienced, gave – and received.
Each one of the 30 stories revisits key dates and describes the progression of the unique and lengthy collaboration that takes place every time between the artist and the Fondation.
The site also allowed any contemporary art lover to embed the matrix within their site or blog and offer their audience the possibility of diving into the Fondation Cartier’s history.
A device optimized for viewing on both desktops and tablets, in two languages, designed in close collaboration with the Fondation Cartier teams. A fond memory, which we hope the Fondation will also remember when its 50th anniversary rolls around.