New internet aesthetics in a NYC movie theater
Quality Drop 05: The Idiot Film Exhibition
Over the past few months, we at Metalabel have been working behind the scenes with more than a dozen groups of creative people to help them introduce (and reintroduce) their work to the world.
Collaborating with people we admire to put work in front of appreciative audiences fills us with joy. There are few things we love more.
So far Quality Drops have released a whitepaper by three notable figures, two concerts in NYC, a global citizen-journalist zine, and an art and poetry book from Japan.
What holds these works together is they’re all products of creative collaboration. Individual artists and creative visions coming together to make work that’s bigger than what any one of these people could do on their own.
This is the spirit of Quality Drops and everything Metalabel releases and stands for. Quality Drop 05, launching today, is no exception.
The Idiot Film Exhibition
Quality Drop 05 is a film exhibition celebrating new work from the depths of the internet. The Idiot Film Exhibition features work from eight internet artists and filmmakers screening IRL at arguably the best movie theater in NYC — the beautiful Metrograph in the Lower East Side.
The Idiot is inspired by Byung-Chul Han’s book Psychopolitics, in which the Korean philosopher explores how capitalism became so deeply embedded in culture that it’s even become part of our brains. According to Han, one of the only ways to escape capitalism’s clutches is to become an Idiot – someone willfully ignorant of society’s rules and expectations.
Curated by the internet artist Jay islate, The Idiot Film Exhibition shows works that reflect this theme. Participating artists include Charlie Curran, Spiral Jette, Wonderful_cringe, Fotolog.exe, Network Glass, Sam Stewart, Jay islate, and Leïth Benkhedda.
The slate of films will be screened at the Metrograph in NYC on Sunday June 11 at 7pm. Tickets are available exclusively through this Metalabel Quality Drop via credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay for $15. Seats are limited.
For those who cannot make the physical screening, 100 limited-edition onchain records (.008 ETH/$15 USD) are available. Record collectors receive a guest seat at a Twitch livestream, a digital program, original artwork, and the satisfaction of celebrating, preserving, and stewarding collaborative internet culture.
The first offchain Quality Drop
The Idiot marks the first Quality Drop to be released both offchain — with tickets available via traditional credit cards — and onchain — via limited edition record.
Metalabel’s goal is to support creators by connecting them with audiences who are excited by and want to support their work however they’re most comfortable. We believe helping others make and support creative collaborative work matters more than the technological paradigm or implementation behind it.
Whether you’re buying a ticket to hang out with the filmmakers and Metalabel squad IRL or collecting an onchain record to support and participate from afar, Metalabel and Quality Drops have an option for you.
If you’d like to explore releasing your own creative collaborative work with us, reach out here. We’re happy to hear from you.
Inspiration
Further reading
Anicka Yi on Instagram: “An artist in our current age is not an individual, but rather a hub of creative activity.”
Cool event alert: Naive Yearly, an event in Copenhagen featuring several of our friends (Marty from Poolsuite, Laurel Schwulst from The Creative Independent, Chia Amisola from Developh.org) as speakers.
We’ve always admired the hyper-collaborative Interintellect and enjoy their manifesto.
Eyecandy: Endless pleasure for film and video nerds.