Dark Forest OS

Into the Dark Forest

A new podcast season, new releases on Metalabel, and A-Corps on NPR

Earlier this year, the artist and researcher Joshua Citarella and I started a new podcast called New Creative Era.

In our first season we explored how we approach our work as creative people, from practical things like which tools we use to more metaphysical questions like what we've learned or wish could be different. We later edited those conversations into a print book called On the Creative Life.

In the months since, both Josh and I have been busy. Josh has been the subject of fawning profiles in both the New Yorker and New York Times as his Doomscroll series continues to blow up. I've been working on making Artist Corporations —first discussed in our last episode — a reality, among other projects.

Five months later, we are, as they say, so back. A second season of New Creative Era (Apple, Spotify) is upon us, this one with a new focus: Dark Forests.

In this season, Josh I are diving deep into the hidden corners of the internet. Places where groups of people gather to hang out, plan, and socialize in secrecy away from the mainstream. Why do these Dark Forest spaces exist? What are the philosophies of the Dark Forest? What about its economics? What happens in a world overtaken by them?

New Creative Era Season 02 Episode 01

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As Metalabel continues to prepare our upcoming Dark Forest OS release (DFOS.com), Josh and I are scouting the territory to better understand this new world emerging around us.

Today marks the release of episode one of the new season — a catch-up on all we've missed in the past few months. New episodes will go live weekly. Subscribe to us on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen. 🌲🌲🌲

New releases on Metalabel

A few of the many exceptional new releases we’ve been tracking in the Metalabel universe:

Kinfolk Dominoes Set: The exceptional design studio Kinfolk is behind this porcelain domino tile set that combines game pieces with a reflection on strategies of care and communal repair in Black, Brown, and Caribbean life.

THAT TIME I FORGOT AN ABANDONED MECH... by Black Dave MK2: Black Dave MK2 is one of the founders of the Worst Generation, a hip-hop collective out of South Carolina. In his newest album he dives deep into a crossover world of anime and hip-hop.

TYPEFACE by Lucy Ellis: Using MDF, UV print, and discarded keyboard keys, this piece documents the effects of screen fatigue through blurred vision, insomnia, and a growing sense of unfamiliarity with your own face.

More releases catching our eye:

Deli Scum by yohanna baez: A Caribbean sci-fi PS1-themed side scrolling video game. Need we say more?
Dysphoria by NoMovement: A sonic release tracing the lived tension of inhabiting a body that never quite fits.
The Networked Firm by Kevin Owocki, Daniel Stringer & Daniel Ospina: A print and digital exploration of the future of blockchain-based organizations from our friends at Gitcoin (who released one of the first-ever drops with us).
An (imaginary) inventory of ... (palimpsest) plants and gardens in French Colonial New Orleans by Erik Kiesewetter: Few things we love more than imagined histories and the city of New Orleans. This print release has both.
Earth and the Milky Way as seen by NASA's Parker Space Probe by Avi Solomon: We've been consistent collectors of Avi Solomon's unique drops that showcase classic public domain images from NASA as a meditation on the nature of existence, including this one.

Artist Corporations on NPR

Last but not least, NPR just released an exceptional 48-minute program about Artist Corporations, covering everything from the history of creativity in America to thoughts from a dozen members of the A-Corp community on what drew them to the project to news on where we are in the process. Excited by how this turned out, and looking forward to sharing more about where we are soon.