Lyrical Design – Metahaven

This talk will delve into some of Metahaven’s early work, looking at what has sometimes been labeled “critical design.” Is criticality, as creative attitude and mode of perception, sufficient to express the conditions of today, respond to those of the past, and shape those of the future? What does criticality still mean when much of graphic design has liquified onto ad-driven digital platforms, where it performs its precarious attention-grabbing duties in a distressing hypercompetition for likes and followers? Lyrical design, as a nascent approach distinct from critical design, uses elements of immersion and narrativity to expose injustice, and hold reality to account.

The work of Metahaven spans filmmaking, installations, writing and design to provoke new imaginaries that are equally bound to aesthetics, poetics, and politics.