At the end of this transmission will you still remember it?

Plus an impromptu poem to a star

Featured Release
Antimemetics: Why Some Ideas Resist Spreading

This week social media has been overtaken by AI-generated Studio Ghibli-style images. But at the same time this meme was spreading across the internet, what important ideas weren’t spreading and why?

In Nadia Asparouhova’s masterful new book Antimemetics, published by the Dark Forest Collective, she explores a previously little-noticed quadrant of our information landscape: antimemes.

Where memes are highly transmissible ideas of low consequence, antimemes are difficult to transmit ideas of high consequences. Ideas that are "self-censoring," to quote Nadia's book.

The concept of antimemes was first articulated by the sci-fi writer qntm in a user forum and later in There Is No Antimemetics Division, a 2021 sci-fi book already cemented as a modern classic. Qntm presents the idea not as a theory, but a supernatural creature that a secret intelligence division exists to stop. Qntm’s book imagines a sci-fi universe where antimemes terrorize us. Asparouhouva applies the lens to the actual world, showing how antimemes are real and can terrorize us, but can also be useful too.

As the first nonfiction book exploring the topic, Antimemetics teaches us not just what they are but how to better understand and see them.

We invited Nadia to tell us more about the project.

Q&A: Nadia Asparouhova

METALABEL: What’s an antimeme and why do they matter?

NADIA: Antimemes are self-censoring ideas, meaning that they're hard for us to remember and engage with, despite their importance. Think taboos or cognitive biases, for example.

They're a broad category of ideas that we "don't know we don't know" -- whether that's collectively (like taboos) or individually (like cognitive biases). That doesn't mean they don't have consequences, though, or influence our lives in subtler or unseen ways. So it's important to recognize they exist, and how they shape our behavior.

METALABEL: Why is this idea important to you?

NADIA: Antimemes have always existed, but they've become especially interesting in the last few years with the rise of group chats, newsletters, and other semi-private online spaces. Whereas Web 2.0 was all about going viral, today, many people don't want their ideas to spread too far anymore — and paradoxically, these tend to be the ideas that are most valuable and cherished. Memes definitely explain a lot of our online behavior, but there's a growing parallel, shadow information ecosystem that deserves further examination.

I first came across the term "antimeme" from science fiction author qntm, which he explored in the popular horror sci-fi book, There is No Antimemetics Division. In qntm's universe, antimemes are paranormal creatures who destroy everything they touch, but leave no memory of the experience behind. It's a breathtaking book that got me dreaming about how antimemetics show up in the real world.

METALABEL: Why publish with the Dark Forest Collective?

NADIA: I think books are a reflection of not just their authors, but their editors and publishers. In the best cases, a book is an artifact of an author and editor's unique relationship: the interplay of their thoughts, conversations, and musings to each other. This was certainly the case for Antimemetics. I sat on these ideas for three years before finding an opportunity to publish with the Dark Forest Collective. They're the only group I could think of that would really understand the thesis – or at least what I was gesturing at – and could help it come to life.

Collect Antimemetics ($10+)

Releases we love

Observations Issue 01 — A Gulf Contemporary: The Forefront of International Art

A free digital download of a physical publication exploring the art scene of the Middle East, with special attention to collectives, independent galleries, and pockets of activity beyond the mega-museums. Great photography, quality writing, and a thoughtful overview of a bubbling scene. (Free)

Nika Simovich Fisher, wildflowers.garden vernal equinox

This USB release of artist Nika Simovich Fisher’s delicate web-based work “wildflowers.garden” blossoms with floral sketches, an unexpected lo-fi parallax effect, and a new way of experiencing the web. It’s HTML as artwork, nature as code, website as a garden, spring as art. Love it with all our ascii hearts. ($10)

Camila Galaz, Redes Mousepad

Camila Galaz is an interdisciplinary artist, member of New Inc (a phenomenal program for artists, scientists, and technologists where many Metalabel artists have cut their teeth), and the co-host of an excellent podcast exploring lesser known stories from the history of technology. This release, a mousepad featuring a schematic of the cybernetic system the Chilean government planned to build under Salvador Allende to manage their economy, brings together Galaz’s many interests into one unusual artifact. We already needed a mousepad. Now we’ll have one that reminds us of humanity’s past follies in attempting to control the world. ($35)

Fabiola Larios, Holy Icons Prayers

Artist Fabiola Larios makes physical and digital work that, in her words, probes “the convergence of technology, identity, and representation in the digital age.” In this series of pieces, Larios makes Catholic prayer cards featuring saints and icons more fitting of our day, like Mariah Carey, Beyonce, and other celebrities, each with their own sacred prayer. ($10)

XPIZZA ARCHIVAL ZINE (2022-2024)

A hyper-specific zine celebrating a unique place: a NYC venue called XPIZZA that's part pizza parlor, part multi-disciplinary venue. The zine collects interviews, photographs, and stories from the founders, artists, resident DJs, and others who made an open, inclusive space at the same time the wild unaffordability of the city makes such generosity too rare. The zine is curated by artist and musician Senaida, whose debut KUNST KAPUTT is also available on Metalabel. Smell the pepperoni and feel the love. (Free: digital, $10: physical)

Matthew Liam Nicholson and Nicholas Paul Milosevich, "Cascade of Shimmering Gates (432hz)"

Wow. That’s all we can really say after spending our morning immersed in this multidimensional release that expresses a powerful, echoing 68-minute piano piece as a singular song, a 39-track movement, and accompaniment to two mesmerizing video pieces that digitally manipulate footage of nature. You can feel the love that went into constructing this, which both artists should proudly showcase in their catalogs for years to come. ($15)

In Review:

"First Light"

We were among the first collectors of “First Light” by artist WTTDOTM, a unique project that the artist describes like this:

“First Lights are stars that nobody has ever seen before. Through a process done in consultation with research astronomers around the world, the excess and unimportant stars of astronomy are collected, printed, folded, and sealed completely blindly, so that when you open up a First Light, you become the first person in the world to witness it.”

This morning I took out the sealed envelope and attached letter.

I popped open the wax seal.

Inside I found two pieces of paper. One was a set of instructions and QR codes. The other a photograph of the star I was the first person to glimpse. At the top was the star’s name: Gaia DR3 3327197021163332864.

I decided to sit with the image for a few minutes, doing nothing but looking at the small glowing orb rendered on low-res, home-printed paper. I know this will sound crazy, but I felt something. And the longer I stared, the more I felt.

Without plan or intention, I took out my phone and recorded an oral ode to this star — a verse of what I felt in that moment. The bottom of this message (embarrassingly and sincerely) contains the poem I wrote.

This is not, like, a normal thing for me — to be writing poems on the spot. There’s some essence, some romanticism, some mysticism, that surrounded the experience and inspired it. Maybe it’s in packaging and storytelling. Or maybe it’s in stardust itself.

The second piece of paper includes more details about the star, including its size, general location, and QR codes that link to actual telescopic images. Here’s our dear Gaia DR33327197021163332864 in the flesh:

When I opened the envelope I wasn't sure what to expect. The experience exceeded any hoped-for expectations. Highly recommended as a gift to someone you love (including yourself). Thank you to the artist WTTDOTM for the wonderful piece and experience, and for introducing me to a new friend. Collect "First Light" ($30)

Ode to Gaia DR33327197021163332864

Did I first see you or you me?
Photons phosphorously frolicking through unimaginable blackness
To reach these tired eyes in the morning light
Even though I’m looking at a picture it feels like you’re here
A new friend with a steady heart and kind smile
Is it winter there? What sort of sound does the ice make when the pressure shifts?
I haven’t spent much time on gaseous planets, even less on suns
Much of your existence leaves me in the dark
But across trillions of miles and years, we’re not so far apart

Thanks for reading and subscribing. And thanks to all the artists, creators, and collectors for being part of this growing space. We're so grateful to be with you.

Also: here's the correct link to this week's New Creative Era podcast (we sent a broken link on Tuesday — sorry about that!)

<3
Metalabel

At the end of this transmission will you still remember it?

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