Metahaven – City Rising
Metahaven is a research and design studio by Vinca Kruk and Daniel van der Velden based in Amsterdam. Metahaven's work - both commissioned and self-directed - reflects political and social issues in graphic design objects and media.
In addition to international presentation of design and research projects, Metahaven has published numerous essays such as ‘Uncorporate Identity’, a design anthology for our dystopian age.
Metahaven’s ‘City Rising’ is a homage to Constant Nieuwenhuys’s ‘New Babylon’; a utopian architectural project based on the idea of an alternative, fully automated society in which human labour has become unnecessary. The video is an exploration of the conditions of life, work, and intimacy under neoliberalism. ‘City Rising’ uses the architectural models of Constant’s ‘New Babylon’ as its backdrop while proposing that through constant networked communication and the integration of work into every part of life, love is the most binding contract founded on mutual debt.
The studio was awarded the CoBRA Art Prize 2013. Selected exhibitions include MoMA PS1, Gwangju Design Biennale 2011, Walker Art Center and Manifesta 8.
Metahaven’s work will be on display as part of the exhibition ‘the fluidity aspect’, which runs from the 25th of September until the 5th of October. Find more information about the exhibition here.
