Book — Nov 29, 2018

Designed by Metahaven and co-edited with curator and critic Karen Archey, Metahaven’s latest publication PSYOP: An Anthology is published on the occasion of the EARTH and VERSION HISTORY exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.

Metahaven’s work is characterized by their deep investment in global politics, most recently focusing on the warring relationship between truth, fiction, mass media, and digital platforms. Their projects trace how information technologies affect our lives, both personally and politically, and how ideologies seep into our daily experiences. Their work builds upon a lineage of filmmakers and artists who use investigative and speculative methods to pinpoint the urgent questions of our time, imagining new realities and potential futures.

Referencing Psychological Operations, a political strategy aiming to influence people’s emotions, motivations, and thoughts, PSYOP: an Anthology brings together contributions by many of today’s leading practitioners in the fields of contemporary art, music, fashion, film, technology, and poetry. Through the book’s texts, design, images, and scripts, PSYOP is subtly positioned as one of society’s greatest challenges today, its various faces both vigorously studied and delicately appropriated in Metahaven’s arguably prophetic practice.

Design by Metahaven, editing by Karen Archey and Metahaven, 158 pages, 24,5 x 34 cm, softcover, English, €14,90 in the museumshop, ISBN: 9783960983620.

With contributions by

Karen Archey, Richard Birkett, Benjamin H. Bratton, Kate Cooper, Laura Cugusi, Mathew Dryhurst, Anastasiia Fedorova, Maryam Monalisa Gharavi, Bart van der Heide, Holly Herndon, Lil Internet, Stefan Kalmár, Maria Lind, Suhail Malik, M.E.S.H., Metahaven, Jasmina Metwaly, Malka Older, Eugene Ostashevsky, Philip Rizk, Ana Teixeira Pinto, Brian Kuan Wood, Yulia Yefimtchuk, Juha van ’t Zelfde.

  • 82-83: The Sprawl (Propaganda about Propaganda) 2015.
    82-83: The Sprawl (Propaganda about Propaganda) 2015.
  • 122-123: Possessed, 2018, fiction documentary, 63 min, English, co-directed with Rob Schröder.
    122-123: Possessed, 2018, fiction documentary, 63 min, English, co-directed with Rob Schröder.
  • 52-53: Interference, 2015, music video for Holly Herndon, courtesy of 4AD/RVNG Intl.
    52-53: Interference, 2015, music video for Holly Herndon, courtesy of 4AD/RVNG Intl.
  • 18-19: Checkpoint Truth, 2016, billboard, Bucharest Biennale 7, 2016. Platform, 2015, album cover, courtesy of 4AD/RVNG Intl.
    18-19: Checkpoint Truth, 2016, billboard, Bucharest Biennale 7, 2016. Platform, 2015, album cover, courtesy of 4AD/RVNG Intl.