The Metalabel Gift Guide
Here in the frothy stages of late capitalism, all content must be gift guide content. A guide to buying this. A guide to buying that. Normally we’re not into the “go buy” movement, but if the train is moving anyway we’d love to get some things we believe in on board. (We’re not monsters — we like gifts (giving and receiving) too.)
Sure, it’s good to resist the temptation, but then we remembered what it feels like to collect something you really love and be a part of an artist’s story. What’s wrong with giving the gift of that experience?
Here are ten releases available on Metalabel we’re gifting, and that all ship by Christmas.
1. An affordable gift for artists to give other artists
Brian Eno + Bette A, What Art Does $1 limited edition PDF
From the beginning, Brian Eno and Bette A’s What Art Does has been an exploration in collaboration and form. What started as a book forty years in the making became an initial artist edition release last month, and now, to ensure every artist can afford a copy, it becomes a $1 limited edition black & white PDF. Available now for one week only. Collect one for yourself. Collect one as a gift for a friend. All come with unique collectors numbers, and a new book from Brian Eno that will be released in hardcover and ebook formats in the New Year.
Collect and gift What Art Does
2. For long-distance (possibly unrequited) love
Spencer Chang, Field Companions
One of the latest releases from our Fall/Winter season, artist and technologist Spencer Chang has found and repurposed two dozen stones found in specific places around the world. With each stone he recorded the location and soundscape at the moment it was found, then embedded that moment inside an NFC chip he put into the rock itself. We love the long-distance whispering and romance of working so hard to capture a moment in time.
Collect and gift a Field Companion
3. For the friend who still plays with Legos
Traceloops, Cutout Flipbook
A most beautiful sculpture toy made meticulously to feel good to hold and experience, artist Traceloops brings his lauded handmade animations to life with this limited run of flipbooks exclusively on Metalabel. We collected one and the artist himself hand-delivered it (thanks M!), explaining the precision and care he brings to his work. The results are one-of-a-kind objects that create IRL ASMR.
Collect and gift a Cutout Flipbook
4. For the friend who needs to stop comparing themselves to others
Zarina Nares, EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED NOTHING HAS CHANGED
Zarina Nares’ work is sharp and clever. Never saying much but saying everything at the same time. Her first art/commentary zine with Metalabel — completely sold out — dissected reality TV and how women interact with each other using nothing but screengrabs and actual closed captions from the show, framed on milky white pages just-so.
Her newest book is even better. A wordless pairing of depictions of women from classic art alongside images of influencers, thirst traps, and similar icons from today. Funny, sharp, witty. Limited to just 25 editions. You won’t be disappointed.
5. For the friend who won’t put down their phone
August Lamm, You Don’t Need A Smartphone
Into the thankless, difficult battle that most of us have with our smartphones wades the artist and writer August Lamm, whose crusade against the zombification of existence took the form of a lovingly made, wonderfully written pamphlet written by August and produced by Metalabel, which sold out earlier this year. But you can still get a digital version of August Lamm’s Assessment Worksheet — a savvy, pointed, and just-judgemental-enough tool to reflect with friends and family on how badly we might need to walk away.
6. For the e-girl in your life
Yoona, A Surreal Kind of Normal
The absurdity of how we build our digital selves meets a fresh new perspective on “girlhood” in this browser-based work that takes you down a rabbit hole of stock images and digital artifacts you won’t want to leave. Available as both a digital download or — perfect stocking stuffer! — a physical USB drive packaged inside a ‘90s DVD case. You know you want it.
7. For the edgelord whose ideas you pretend to understand
Joshua Citerella, Class Fantasy
Joshua Citerella, artist, internet culture writer, and (lucky for us) current Metalabel curator, merges fantasy classes and political ideologies for the ultimate gamification of modern political discourse. Maybe your family and work gatherings just needed a political icebreaker like this all along.
8. For the stylish friend who already has everything
wiklundwiklund & SdVVVorks, gilded popcorn
You know the friend. Everything they already have is the best version of whatever it is. They think they have everything, but do they have a big piece of elegant, 3d-printed, gilded popcorn? The Swedish art duo wiklundwiklund collaborated with the multidisciplinary label sdVVVorks to make this wonderful object that we ourselves collected earlier this year and absolutely love. People who come into our space make comments like: “Is that a…” they start. “Yes,” we say, “it’s an oversized piece of gilded popcorn.” Can your friend say that?
Collect and gift gilded popcorn
9. For the terminally online (if they finally DM you back)
Rhizome, internet hat
What’s the point of an internet that doesn’t last forever? Enter Rhizome, ultimate internet stans, home of born-digital art and culture, and the folks behind preserving a lot of your favorite digital works since 1996. They’ve released this hat with Metalabel that gets people a piece of instantly iconic swag and makes them members of Rhizome. Help them pay their server bill and look awesome at the same time.
Collect and gift the internet hat
10. For the conspiracy theorists in your life
Dark Forest Collective, The Dark Forest Anthology (Second Printing)
Grand times for conspiracy theorists these days, but are there ever any bad ones? No matter how far down the rabbit hole you go, there’s always another rabbit hole to explore elsewhere in whatever we’re calling this specific shared reality these days. In this conspiracy-friendly book, eleven of the most influential voices on the web and culture come together to reflect and conspire against our current internet landscape and the corporate entities behind the curtain. A moment worth keeping a pin in.
Collect and gift the Dark Forest Collective
Best of all, when you collect and gift any of these releases, you’re directly supporting the artist and community behind them.
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