Collecting is a form of participation, preservation, and patronage

Artists and creators get the glory, and rightly so. But no artist is an island. We all depend on tastemakers, curators, collectors, and editorial voices to introduce us to new cultural loves.

But who to trust in times like this, when noise so outweighs signal?

This space aims to be on the lawful side of that battle, filtering a noisy cultural landscape down to works and people we feel are truthful and worthwhile, regardless of pedigree, and even whether they’re on Metalabel (the platform that pays our bills) or not.

Conceptually we imagine this space as a kind of a dinner party where we thoughtfully celebrate a bunch of great people and imaginative work and let worlds intersect and collide. 

The table is set. Now that you’re here, all the guests have arrived. Bon appetit!

LINKS

• “The big slowdown: why museums and galleries are putting on fewer shows”— THE ART NEWSPAPER
• “How do we build a better art world?” — DAZED
• Josh Citarella and Yancey Strickler explore platforms — NEW CREATIVE ERA PODCAST
• Can anyone in LA report back about this show? <3 — ALICE COLTRANE AT THE HAMMER MUSEUM

BEHIND THE RELEASE: INTERNET REAL LIFE

Internet Real Life is a new event series curated by two voices we always pay attention to: social critic and cultural observer Katherine Dee and stoic and cultural philosopher Peter Limberg.

Dee and Limberg have curated four guest speakers (August Lamm, Molly Soda, Sean Monahan, and Günseli Yalcinkaya) to participate in a series of discussions exploring the boundaries and tensions between the internet and physical world.

The talks are available as a complete series to attend virtually or watch after the fact (Collect to participate here | $40).

We reached out to Katherine and Peter to learn more about the release.

METALABEL: Why do you feel it's important to create spaces like this?

KATHERINE AND PETER: Hosting experimental courses and experiences that mostly exist outside the hustle of the attention economy affords a more soulful way of relating to one another and allows us to “find the others.” We can treat the entire experience as art.

If one tries to operate mainly in a social media context, they adopt its unsocial logic, leading to creative burnout, status anxiety, addiction to validation from strangers, weird parasocial dynamics, and a perpetual sense of low status. Not good!

Instead, what has come to be known as “dark forest” experiences allow participants to meet, exchange ideas, and let emergent wisdom unfold. It builds bridges from online to IRL, weaving the two worlds in artful ways.

METALABEL: What is your thinking with structuring the release on Metalabel this way and the economics of including the participants?

KATHERINE AND PETER: I’ve hosted many experimental experiences before but never really found a business model that aligned well with integrity. With Metalabel’s creative communal emphasis, it feels like something has been unlocked. The split payment option is especially a game-changer, as greater collaborative care can emerge during the promoting and performing phases.

METALABEL: If I want to make the most of visiting a dark forest space, do you have suggestions for how I show up?

KATHERINE AND PETER: First, trust the vibe. If something calls you to the space, go for it. Start by peeking your head in, and bounce if you sense the vibes were misleading.

The experiences I host usually happen on Zoom, so it might feel intimate—meeting new people. However, dark forest spaces are so niche that if someone else vibes with an esoteric topic the way you do, you’ll most likely have other things in common.

For an experience like the upcoming Internet Real Life, which will consist of presentations and Q&A, non-recorded collective inquiries, and small group conversations, we recommend coming in with the intent to participate — but only if you feel called to. Being an engaged observer is also welcome.

Ultimately, if you speak truthfully, listen deeply, and honor what resonates, you’ll take something valuable away from the experience.

Collect an edition of Internet Real Life.

From Instagram

EDITOR’S PICKS

Zarina Nares, New York

For her latest release, artist Zarina Nares brings her eye for femininity in virtual spaces to its ultimate source: Gossip Girl(the original, obviously). The new publication grabs forgotten city shots — the streets, buildings and moments nobody was meant to notice — and structures them into a haunting narrative. This ultra limited-edition publication sold out within a day, and we’re pretty half were folks who got notified via our new Release Lists feature ;). Follow Zarina to get first notice of whatever’s next. (SOLD OUT)

Is Not Music

We’ve been seeing this brightly colored newsprint quietly pop up in a lot of our favorite spaces: record stores, art spaces. But until now, it’s been hard to get anywhere else and really dive in. A platform to “create, contextualize, and explore work from artists” (we love!!!), Is Not Music’s debut issue dives into artist-run venues, NYC’s DIY scene, and what's actually worth listening to right now. Available digitally and physically. But important to appreciate how a physical artifact starts conversations IRL. (Collect | Free/$3 shipping)

Elysian Collective, CITY-STATE

What could autonomous governance look like in the US? The Elysian Collective, a Substack-based group of writers who explore utopian ideas, have put together this collection of essays that thinks through the potential and risks of the return of the classic city-state. This collection explores cases ranging from autonomous US states, village-states, garden cities, network states, borderless communities, and other forms of local and distributed governance. Available in physical and digital form. (Collect | Free/$10)

Subtext Books, Fifth Quarter: Derek Jarman, Keith Collins & Dungeness

A 112-page love letter to an artist couple that inspired many — Derek Jarman, behind pivotal films like Caravaggio and Blue, and Keith Collins — where friends past and present crash like waves. The project merges history and memory through photos, essays, and sounds, including Alexander Tucker’s "Fifth Continent" album — a magical posthumous conversation with Collins, stitched together from found tapes and ticking clocks inside Prospect Cottage. Feels like beach-combing for art and friendship. (Collect | $6/$30/$45)

ALSO OF NOTE:

• Issue #2 of the new interview magazine 3 objects tugs at our collector heartstrings by perfectly capturing the emotional connections between people and their most cherished objects including a contribution from Michael Stipe!
• Three artists are aptly criticizing the data-farming ploy of CAPTCHA with a multi-layered exhibition, cassette, sculpture combined release that reminds us what makes us human
• Alex Roth and MOAL together visualize new electronic textures within an award-winning score

THE COLLECTOR’S CUT

The Metalabel squad recently visited the home of an amazing super-collector, Paula Martinez, who we vibe with so hard. Watch this video tour of some of the most prized pieces in her collection:

metalabel__A post shared by @metalabel__

WHAT ARE YOU FEELING RN?

What about you? What are you enjoying right now? 

Let us know and we’ll include your picks in next week’s issue.

<3
Metalabel