An instant classic from Other Internet
When we started working on Metalabel, a neighboring project was frequently at the forefront of our minds: Other Internet.
A digital culture-obsessed crew of writers, researchers, and technologists, Other Internet’s ideas helped define the past and current half-decade of the web. Classic essays like "Headless Brands," "Squad Wealth," and the entire Lore series reshaped the language and vision many of us carry about the web.
While stewing on the initial ideas behind Metalabel, I thought a lot about Other Internet. In fact, one of the first people I sent the original Google Doc exploring the concept of “culture labels” to was Toby Shorin, cofounder of the group. As a loose collective of writers and technologists that published essays and even sometimes software that reflected their worldview, Other Internet were very much a label, in my then-new language.
This week that past comes full circle as Other Internet’s first-ever print publication, Other Internet 2018–2024, makes its debut on Metalabel in a limited first edition.
The book features classic pieces from the Other Internet catalogue, as well as ephemera, footnotes, and a codex/yearbook vibe that captures the spirit of the group from within.
From our vantage, this book and collection could go down as one of the key texts of this decade of web culture, offering ideas people will continue to debate and riff on for internet generations to come.
This Metalabel release marks the first ever opportunity to collect a copy and be part of the lore of lore. Highest recommendation.
Here’s what else is catching our eye this week.
Releases we love
Hard Art, Daddio!
The Hard Art collective continues to show the rest of us what collaboration maxxxing really looks like. Daddio! is a new collaborative novel that features multiple members of the collective — including Alex Lockwood, Brian Eno, and Jeremy Deller — coming together for a multimedia release that unpacks and explores truth, democracy, and the climate. Hard Art doesn't miss.
Crystal Toto, Artificial Artist
A critical exploration featuring the work of three distinct artists — visionary artist Mariko Mori, digital pioneer Micha Klein, and multimedia rebel Nahomi Alvarez — examining the evolving resilience of human creativity. In the face of ongoing global talk of AI's impact on creativity, Artificial Artist is a launching pad for honing in on the distinctly human touch.
Sucking Salt, Take Care
A curatorial project spread across digital media, installations, and a longstanding visual collage instagram account, Sucking Salt archives Caribbean architecture and aesthetics as analysis of colonial histories. Alongside their debut exhibition, the duo brought together some of the brightest emergent voices in West Indian art aesthetics to produce a haunting and vibrant zine of essays, poetry, and visual essays. Now available for digital download.
Aksioma, Internet's Dark Forests
Always excited to see new voices offer up their thoughts on Dark Forest internet theory, this time from writer, blogger, and independent researcher Marta Ceccarelli and our friends at Aksioma in Slovenia. Marta’s writing reads like we’re sitting having coffee together, conspiring about online imaginaries that can serve us better.
Karen Ingram, Biogenetic Blooms
Biogenetic Blooms is a series of floral-inspired paintings made with genetically modified microbes on Petri dishes. The work depicts multi-entity collaborations between different entities: human, robot, and microbe, probing notions of agency and predictability through color. Love!
Beau Bree Rhee, Dystopie Fleur
Visual artist and choreographer Beau Bree Rhee wants to know: how do we sit with climate dystopia? How can we notice the traces around us? Her new release, the debut of a series titled Dystopie Fleur, builds on these explorations in movement and research and compacts them into pointed prompts that allow us to think together. Available digitally, and with a limited edition screenprint.
Links we’re reading
- Loved music producer Nick Sylvester’s latest piece on how the value of record labels have shifted.
- Add this new universe origin theory to the list of things that exploded our perspective this week.
- Love the new work this “best artworks of the 21st century” ArtNews list has exposed us to, but do we have to historicize everything? What do you think?
<3
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