What was solid yesterday feels uncertain tomorrow
What do 75 creative people have to say about the year ahead?
Last week we launched the first ever ANONYMOUS Creative Futures Report where 75 artists and creators shared their honest thoughts about 2025. The responses were surprising.
Yes, there were the expected concerns about AI, algorithms, and financial uncertainty. But there was also a current of possibility running through it all – artists imagining new ways forward, even as the ground shifts beneath our feet.
We’re already seeing this spark new conversations in the comments, our DMs, and with people out in the world. There’s disagreement about the pros and cons of artist-to-artist circular economies. Artists we admire are questioning whether the “no day job” idea is a worthy dream or just a fallacy of a system catered to those with independent wealth. Friends are curious about how to do their own version and keep the conversation going.
In many ways, this was the point. Creative people already have loads of ideas about what the future holds: what’s out there that could help us or deter us. What kinds of conversations can we have when we honor what we know and where our dreams can take us?
"What was solid yesterday feels uncertain tomorrow," one creator told us through the report. It's the kind of sentiment that hits different when you realize others are feeling it too. Putting these individual perspectives together shows a bigger picture of where we're headed and where we might want to go.
All 75 anonymous contributors are on the earnings split, meaning they’ll each get a portion of any sales this release makes. These 75 voices co-wrote this project, but don't all agree on the future. But together they map out the key tensions shaping creative practice today: independence vs. networks, digital reach vs. local impact, abundance vs. scarcity.
What makes this report unique is not just the insights of any individual creator, but the weight of these perspectives when brought together. There's power in sharing these stories and knowing we're not alone in our questions about what comes next.
In addition to the physical printed version we launched last week, you can now get your hands on a free digital version and pick out your own points of inspiration. We’ve also added a physical edition for collectors outside the US.
ANONYMOUS Creative Futures is not a blueprint. It's something better: an honest look at this moment through the eyes of people actively working to shape what comes next. Maybe something to return to periodically across the year.
Get a copy, find your people, tell us your thoughts.
RELEASES WE LOVE
ART OBJECTS
Extreme Animals, Should I Delete My Channel?
Jacob Ciocci and David Wightman combine new music, Tiktoks, VHS trailers, and new video into a new piece that blurs the past, present, and future of moving image formats. The result is as frenetic as this month’s Tiktok debacle and the discourse around archiving digital media that came with it. Abrasive edits galore.
McKee Frazor, Invite/Archive
MFART's "Invite/Archive" transforms the exhibition invitation into a three-part conceptual piece exploring presence and permanence. Each laser-cut QR code invitation connects to a growing digital archive, while physical visitation cards collectively animate Link from The Legend of Zelda. A clever meditation on how art shows live on. Limited to 100.
Nolen Strals x Soft Labor, AMoM shirt
What we love about this new release from designer Nolan Steals and Soft Labor—besides the fact that proceeds support artists and arts workings impacted by the LA fires—is how they made the process a part of the story: notes, sketches, and all.
PRINT PUBLISHING
Pierce Day, A Phone of the Artist as a Young Man
When your phone becomes both canvas and prison. Pierce Day's debut novel explores digital consciousness through 18 iPhone functions, asking what's left of us after the screen goes dark.
Maddie James, Modern Chaos
Channel surfing isn't just scrolling — it's a way of seeing. Modern Chaos is a new zine by artist Maddie James that explores and reflects how information flows through us and shapes our reality. We downloaded the free digital copy first, loved it, then went back to buy the physical. Recommended!
DIGITAL MEDIA
Carl Woodcroft, Beautiful Brutalism
Sound and vision merge to explore Britain's bold architectural legacy. Jo Underhill's striking photographs meet Carl Woodcroft's ambient compositions in this limited edition celebration of stark dreams. When concrete sings.
Underground Art and Design, Worlds Unfolding
Artists and designers share real tools for crafting virtual spaces that serve human needs. Not just another metaverse manifesto.
glbkst, Entire Catalogue
Stories that sound like memories. glbkst's collection pairs hand-drawn illustrations with original soundtracks — each piece a small world where music and narrative meet. A growing catalog of gentle experiments in digital storytelling.
Laura Sinisterra, Calender 2025
Calendars continue to pop off as the hourglass flips to 2025. This limited edition 2025 calendar uses topographic contour lines to frame your days.
Thanks as always for reading.
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Metalabel
I'm so thrilled this community exists. Collaboration is the way of the future. Sans algorithms. Thank you!
Thanks Metalabel, highly encourage anyone thinking of using Metalabel for their work to go for it !