The 30 best Metalabel releases of 2025
"Best" is a false construct, but these are things we really, really like
In 2025 Metalabel saw more releases, more collectors, more creators, and more of, well, pretty much everything. This year there were:
- 440 labels releasing work (+206% from last year)
- 944 releases (+246%)
- 2.7 releases / label (+44%)
- 18,000 unique collectors (+109%)
- 27,000 unique collects (+125%)
- $480,000 spent by collectors (+30%)
This was also the year we introduced shared treasuries on Metalabel; started the New Creative Era podcast (new episode available on Apple, Spotify, and the bottom of this post); launched Artist Corporations; and announced the Dark Forest OS.
Best of all, Metalabel hosted some incredible creative work covering a wide swath of mediums and formats. We've gone through everything from the past year to pick out thirty releases that especially stand out to us.
PRINT RELEASES
Best release innovation
A Sexual History of the Internet by Mindy Seu
What it is: A 700-page book from superstar artist-researcher-academic Mindy Seu that tells the intertwining stories of the internet, technology, and sex.
Why it’s notable: Not only is the book itself a one-of-a-kind aesthetic object, Seu introduced a new financial tool, Citational Splits, to enable profits to be shared with people whose work is referenced in the book.
Best graphic novel
The ArchAndroid by Janelle Monae
What it is: The first chapter of Janelle Monáe's long-awaited graphic novel expanding her Afrofuturist universe.
Why it’s notable: Monáe's been building the world of Metropolis across albums and stories for years, and this release, written with longtime Wondaland collaborators, marks a special limited edition manifestation of her universe on the physical page.
Best IYKYK release
Antimemetics by Nadia Asparouhova
What it is: A guide to the unseen worlds of our social life.
Why it’s notable: Nadia Asparouhova’s Antimemetics arrived earlier this year with an entirely new way of thinking about the world around us. Named one of Dazed, Art in America, and The New Yorker’s best books of the year, it identifies the domain of important but not shared information where many of society’s ills and taboos live.
Best touch-grass release
The Internet Phone Book by the Living Web Institute
What it is: A physical guide to unique, personal websites on the internet.
Why it’s notable: Could 2025 mark a cultural turning point when the physical began to push back against the relentless march of digital everything? We can imagine a “return to IRL” timeline that takes off starting now. If it does, this artifact might mark the shift in vibes.
Best zine (tie)
Body Images by Liz Bar and A Few Essays on Taste by Ruby Justice Thelot
What it is: A zine exploring how photography and publishing technologies have shaped beauty culture from 1839 to the present day; and a collection of cultural criticism on fashion, trends, and aesthetics.
Why it’s notable: Both Liz Bar’s Body Images and Ruby Justice Thelot’s “Taste” zines deliver substantive ideas in tight, beautiful packages. One traces the technological lineage of how we see ourselves, the other dissects the mechanisms of cultural taste. Essential reading.
Best roadmap (tie)
Exocapitalism by Marek Poliks and Roberto Alsono Trillo and Boom and Bust by Jason Reed and Barry Stone
What it is: Exocapitalism by Marek Poliks and Roberto Alonso Trillo argues that capitalism is a transcendental algorithm, not a social system. Boom and Bust depicts a 40-mile Texas highway stretch between Midland and Odessa that shows the rise, fall, and re-rise of capitalism in the physical world.
Why it’s notable: Exocapitalism is an info-hazard—a rigorous, terrifying rethinking of how value actually works through software, finance, and arbitrage at impossible scales. Boom and Bust captures the physical landscape where extraction and economy collide. Together they map capitalism's indifference to human scale.
Most needed release
What it is: A community-funded book by Nergiz redefining power and reimagining society beyond patriarchy's 6,000-year reign.
Why it’s notable: After 30+ rejections from big publishers, the author stopped waiting for permission. Written in the fire—literally and spiritually—this book argues that patriarchy was not always here, and we can choose to live differently.
ART & DESIGN OBJECTS
Best olfactory illusion
11:11 Cigarette incense by Boy Vienna
What it is: A pack of cigarettes, only incense instead of tobacco.
Why it’s notable: Many a day this year Metalabel HQ was warmed and scented after sparking up an 11:11 incense cigarette. Thanks to Boy Vienna’s clever and elegant design, cigarettes (making a comeback, regrettably) are socially acceptable once more.
Best design object (tie)
Tycho Koll Maw Ashtrays by Tourist and So Screwed Dish Tray by Life Machine
What it is: A ceramic ashtray straight out of Arakis; a small drama in a dish tray.
Why it’s notable: Two objects we use almost daily. The ashtray to burn our 11:11 cigarette incense (not joking), and the dish tray in our home bathroom sink. Seeing, touching, and using both brings us daily delight.
Best art object
What it is: A programmed light board with exposed guts.
Why it's notable: Of all the releases we wanted to buy this year but didn't, this piece by ceramicism continues to haunt us. A unique installation piece combining a pad of minimalist lights and exposed inner workings make something both beautiful and technical that we haven't stopped thinking about.
Best surveillance art
Stage 2 Ceiling Cat by Eva & Franco Mattes
What it is: An internet meme becomes art
Why it’s notable: The influential artists Eva & Franco Mattes released a limited edition series of “Stage 2 Ceiling Cat,” an internet meme turned Pokemon card turned now artwork. The only work of art hanging in Metalabel’s NYC office.
Best playable art
Fishin' for Average Caucasian Boyfriends by Jackie Liu
What it is: An artist turns their real life experiences into a Gameboy game
Why it’s notable: Jackie Liu's "Fishin' for Average Caucasian Boyfriends" is one of those indescribable works that must be seen/experienced to be believed. An interactive artwork structured as a Gameboy game, with deep dives into sexuality, belonging, and the games we all play.
Best grout-adjacent release
Extremely Online Delft Blue II by Do Not Research
What it is: Traditional Dutch Delft tiles reimagined with feverish internet memes and conspiracy imagery.
Why it’s notable: You’ve never seen old meeting new the way this release does it. Pairing extremely online memes with a classic Dutch tile technique makes for an object so unusual it’s unnerving. In a good way.
Best recyclable release
New York City Garbage by Justin Gignac
What it is: A cube of NYC garbage. Actual garbage. You read that right.
Why it’s notable: The artist Justin Gignac, who has an enormous list of unusual projects in his catalog, has spent the past year bringing back to life the New York City Garbage project, which involves carefully curating trash from the streets of NYC and its many notable locations into a form of limited edition art. Over the past year, several of these drops have sold out, sending flotsam and jetsam from New York all around the world.
Best accessory (tie)
Cosmic Crumbs bag by Reza Hasni and Morningstar Flail Chain Bracelet by Hammerhead Audio
What it is: A neon-green tote bag covered in digital-sacred symbolism from Berlin-based artist Reza Hasni, and a bracelet that reimagines medieval weaponry as wearable art.
Why it’s notable: It’s hard to put into words the colorful vitality of the Cosmic Crumbs bag by Reza Hasni, except to say that its name is somehow perfect. One of our regular tote bags on our local grocery store runs, its colors and patterns flash pure, carefree cosmic swag. In our ideal world, we’d also be rocking the Morningstar Flail Chain Bracelet, a subtle piece of mediaeval weaponry turned fashion accessory. Both are a big yes from us.
Best hands-on release
Faceloops Flipbook Blind Boxes by Traceloops
What it is: Finger-held physical flipbooks
Why it’s notable: These flipbooks by the artist Traceloops are pure joy: juicy, stark line drawings dance and move across the page, making us slack-jawed and mute in delight. Wonderful.
Best USB-compatible release (tie)
MY_PHOTO by Cory Arcangel and ARCHIVE by Verite
What it is: Digital art meets archaic mediums in two unusual releases
Why it’s notable: The legendary digital artist Cory Arcangel surprised us this year with MY_PHOTO, a release collecting photographs shot on an early Sony digital camera, preserved and exhibited in a virtual folder. In ARCHIVE, the musician Verite built a digital and physical archive of their entire catalogue of work, released in digital form for just $1, but also in a limited edition USB stick. Here’s to physical media!
Most romantic release
What it is: An envelope containing the first glimpse of an unobserved star.
Why it’s notable: This release from the conceptual artist WTTDOTM feels like pure romantic fantasy to us. The recipient receives an envelope containing the photograph of and coordinates to a star in deep space that you are now observing for the first time. So moving it inspired us to write poetry. Lovely.
NEW MEDIA RELEASES
Best new media release
"Sampling the collection" by Powerhouse x Jlin
What it is: A multimedia documentation of one performance and song by the musician Jlin.
Why it’s notable: The Australian art institution Powerhouse hosted the American composer JLin last year for a special performance and documentation. This year that performance was put out as a pay what you want digital release that shows off not just an exceptional piece and performance, but also what a thoughtfully produced digital release looks and feels like.
Best release as a practice
The Artist’s Way Exercises by Empowa
What it is: The practice of the Artist’s Way rendered as a Notion template.
Why it’s notable: Bay Area-based artist Empowa dropped the most collected release of the year on Metalabel, with this clever and extremely useful Notion-based companion to the classic The Artist’s Way.
Best public good release
Legal Structures for Creative Practices by 1000 Forests
What it is: A free PDF with practical advice on creative legal structures.
Why it’s notable: 1000 Forests released this indispensable choose-your-own-adventure guide to choosing a legal structure for your creative practice. The upshot of which is that no perfect options exist, which is why many artists end up making custom, expensive structures. All reasons why we’re working on making Artist Corporations a new default option.
Best digital releases (tie)
Lance Weiler, Lavisha_01, Avi Solomon
What it is: A trio of digital works exploring new forms of storytelling, interaction, and online experience.
Why it’s notable: Each pushes at the boundaries of what digital work can be—not just content for platforms, but actual artifacts with weight and presence. They prove that "digital" doesn't mean disposable.
Best glitch in the matrix
What it is: Digital art, like waves in the ocean.
Why it’s notable: We’ve been closely following the elegiac work of artist Ruby Bailey, whose creations range from video work to unusual objects to pieces like this digital expression of waves through the medium of a Quicktime media player window.
Best collab
Chicago Artists to Watch by These Days
What it is: These Days Magazine's final annual feature spotlighting emerging Chicago musicians including m.e.h., Menace4hire, Mike DFG, Mvte, Sparklmami, Teala Vera, The Era, and Woes.
Why it’s notable: Seven artists get real interviews, real photography, and real context. A release that doubles a celebration of other releases. Curation as community care.
Best manga
What it is: Five collaborative manga zines created through Creasidence's international workshop programs, featuring artists from 25+ countries working in yonkoma comics, yōkai folklore, and webtoon formats.
Why it’s notable: Each volume documents real collaboration between artists learning storytelling techniques like kishotenketsu. The work is joyful, heartfelt, and genuinely international in spirit.
New Creative Era
This week on New Creative Era, Josh and Yancey explore the lifecycles of Dark Forest spaces. How do they start? How do they mature? How do they die? Listen in as we look at how our micro personal experiences and macro group dynamics collide (Apple, Spotify).
Peace and love y'all,
Metalabel
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