PSYOP: An Anthology

by Metahaven (Editor, design), Karen Archey (Editor), Richard Birkett (Contributor)

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.

Genres: Design, Art

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 29, 2018

About the author

The work of Metahaven consists of filmmaking, writing, design, and installations, and is united conceptually by interests in poetry, storytelling, digital superstructures, and propaganda. Films by Metahaven include The Sprawl (Propaganda about Propaganda) (2015), Information Skies (2016), Possessed (2018, with Rob Schröder), Hometown (2018) and Eurasia (Questions on Happiness) (2018). Publications include PSYOP (2018), Black Transparency (2015) and Uncorporate Identity (2010). Their work is screened, published, and exhibited worldwide.