Hi—

In the last weekend of May alone, you can ...

join the final organizer meeting for the Summer of Ludd before the festival begins (5/29)

catch some of a phone-free dumb.co concert at telos.haus (5/29)

stay up all night reading Whitman with SoRA people (5/30)

meet a creature born beneath a data center & see what it has to teach us (5/31)

That would be a nice weekend—wouldn't it? Maybe we will share it with each other.

Remember to email henry@commonalitymag.com with technocritical pitches—800-or-so word essays on whatever.

The Summer of Ludd starts on June 28—in about a month! Email theofficialsummerofludd@proton.me for more info, and/or complete this form to volunteer. Look out for the full week's schedule coming soon.

And call 877-846-HOWL for a surprise.

Onwards & off old gutterspout bad tech pipelines—

—Nick

★ ★ ★

Rest of May, & the June horizon

Tues., May 19 | websites, n.a.m.a.n! @ 6 p.m., Your Email Inbox

I am going to explain the concepts needed to make your own websites to the best of my ability. Feel free to correct me. I might also go over cooler ways to be online.

Newsletter Advice for Making Adjustments Now is a presentation series delivered through e-mails over the course of an hour. Topics involve small changes you can make to divest away from Big Tech.

RSVP by emailing knavehaven@pm.me with subject heading: "websites naman."

Tues., May 19 | Event Organizer Meetup @ 7 p.m., Wonderville

Join us for the NYC Event Organizers Meetup — a monthly gathering for connecting with the venue hosts and organizers behind New York’s art, DIY, and music events. The goal is to share resources, connect across scenes, and help each other make things happen.

RSVP here.

Thurs., May 21 | Design It for Us Monthly @ 5:30 p.m., Online

Design It for Us (DIFU) is a community of young people (26 and under) from around the world fighting to hold Big Tech accountable and improve our digital ecosystems.

Members are encouraged to attend monthly calls to learn more about state and federal tech policy, join campaigns, and directly advocate for legislative change.

Join here.

Thurs., May 21 | Attention Lab COALITION @ 6:30 p.m., DUMBO

The School of Radical Attention's flagship "Attention Labs" are experiential, participatory workshops dedicated to the joint exploration of human attention. Through group attention practices and guided discussions, we create and test tools to rebuild the art of sustained attention, which has been under attack by persuasive technologies.

This lab's focus is COALITION: the collective potential for attention activism.

Sign up for any lab here.

Tues., May 26, Jun. 2 & 9 | Attention Activism 201 @ 1 p.m., Online

Another session of AA201, this time in the AFTERNOON!

Wed., May 27 | Attention Lab SANCTUARY @ 6:30 p.m., DUMBO

The School of Radical Attention's flagship "Attention Labs" are experiential, participatory workshops dedicated to the joint exploration of human attention. Through group attention practices and guided discussions, we create and test tools to rebuild the art of sustained attention, which has been under attack by persuasive technologies.

This lab's focus is SANCTUARY: creating social space free from the influence of Big Tech.

Sign up for any lab here.

Thurs., May 28 | Escape the Internet @ 6 p.m., Museum of the Moving Image

The internet is in shambles … and it’s time to leave it for good. In this game built for a movie theater, you and other audience members play as internet refugees armed only with your phones. Your mission? To escape the AI slop apocalypse and reach the Island of Sanctuary, rumored to be the last good place on the internet.

Lucas Rizzotto’s Escape the Internet blends cinema, gaming, and theater to create a live interactive game to be played in person with lots of people. Hot off of its SXSW premiere and before it heads to audiences across the globe, experience a preview of the game at MoMI!

FREE with RSVP. Capacity is limited.

Thurs., May 28 | Unplatform Creatives Workshop @ 6:30 p.m., 875 Third Ave. POPS

It's no secret that extractive digital platforms have taken over creative life. Creating culture of all kinds has never been more precarious, and imagining a world where you're able to making a living off your art without worrying about appeasing algorithms seems harder than ever. The good news is that a better world is possible - but only if we go there together.

The Unplatform project invites artists, musicians, writers, and all other creatives from across NYC to come together for a conversation where we'll collectively imagine a vision for creative life outside the shadow of Silicon Valley—and, more importantly, think about how to make that vision a reality.

RSVP here.

Thurs., May 28 | BEHOLD! A Film Photography Meetup @ 7 p.m., TBD

The photography scene lives on after Instagram!

Event details in the poster below—email beholdfilmphotos@gmail.com for the location.

Fri., May 29 | * SUMMER OF LUDD * End-of-Month Meeting! @ 6 p.m., 15 Rutherford Pl.

The Summer of Ludd monthly organizing meeting is open to all. Just show up to the Quaker meeting house. This is our last of these meetings—there is just month left until the festival!

Questions: theofficialsummerofludd@proton.me.

Fri., May 29 | Cut the Chord @ 8 p.m., telos.haus

Do you miss MTV Unplugged? Are you tired of having your view blocked at a concert by someone's iPhone video?

Do you like music?

Welcome to the first edition of Cut the Chord — the phoneless concert series presented by The Vinyl Word × Dumb.co.

We're throwing it back to the mid 90s with unplugged sets from 3 stellar musicians

More here.

Sat., May 30 | Walt Whitman All Night @ 8 p.m., DUMBO

SING THE BODY ELECTRIC! Join Peter Schmidt & Nick Plante at SoRA for a celebration of one of the oldest human technologies: lyric poetry. On May 30th, we'll best hosting an overnight collective recitation of Walt Whitman's Song of Myself—a rapturous ode to the possibilities of pluralistic democratic life. How can the simple act of reading verse aloud bring us together? What kind of world can this create?

We'll convene at 8 p.m., start reading aloud at 8:30 p.m., and go straight through to the early morning. Bring a copy of Leaves of Grass, if you have it—though we'll provide if you don't.

RSVP here.

Sun., May 31 | CREATURE EMERGENCE @ 7 p.m., Luminescence Sculpture in Hunters Point Park

Come gather at the seven moons' spiral of Luminescence. This is a participatory performance and a moon ritual. You are invited to bring any forlorn tech with you: the laptops, iPhones, or other technological beings that no longer turn on but still occupy space in your life.

Ritual begins at 7:30pm—please don't be late!

JUST SHOW UP—bring anyone you wish, & bring that old tech.

Sun., May 31 | Earth Chrxch @ 7 p.m., 15 Rutherford Pl.

Join at 15 Rutherford Pl. for Rev. Billy & friends' monthly service. 1 preacher, 35 singers, and a crowd of earth loving humans. Step into the Fabulous Unknown.

Tues., June 2 | 'Your Attention Please' New York Premiere @ 6 p.m., BRIC

This film shares some moments from the budding resistance against Big Tech—from parent movements & phone-free school legislation to protests & community efforts like the Offline Club.

Info & tickets here.

★ ★ ★

Weekly Gatherings

Every Sun. | Luddite Club @ 2 p.m., Central Library

The Brooklyn Luddite Club returns, at its original meeting place. All are welcome. First meeting 4/12.

Email loganlane1@proton.me for more.

Every Sun. | CIRCLE TIME (Parallel Play) @ 4 p.m., Bushwick

You always want to ask people what they're working on at the cafe? NOW YOU CAN! This is Circle Time. Sundays, BYOPP (bring your own passion project) and prepare to share.

Format: Intros → Focus Time → Optional show & tell

Hosted by Rebecca Lipsitch of How Do We Play.

More info here!

First and Third Sun. | Date with Détournement @ 9 p.m., Various Locations

Join public art projects that push back against alienating tech.

First and third Sundays.

sighren.ludd@proton.me if you want in.

Every Wed. | Technocritical Writers Room @ 10 a.m. / 7 p.m., Hybrid

Writers from across the community engage in generative sessions to share stories, visualize futures, and push critiques of digital technology towards new action.

10 a.m. at Jefferson Market Library, and 7 p.m. on a Jitsi call.

Facilitated by artist and organizer Amalia Mayorga. Email rosemayorga@proton.me for more.

Every Wed. | Phone-Free Adelphi @ 7 p.m., Fort Greene

Screen-free night of creativity from 7 to 10 p.m. We turn off our phones, work on something creative (or just read or meditate), then reflect on the experience.

Capped at 15 people. Please only come if you can stay the whole evening!

Stay up to date and RSVP for any week using this form. Email danmaxfox@gmail.com with questions.

Every Fri. | Crafternoon @ 1:30 p.m., Stavros Library (SNFL) First Floor Corner Space

Two hours of freeform crafting and conversation every week at the midtown Manhattan library. Bring your own project. We have tools and materials for sewing, painting, fiber, and paper arts, and are always happy to assist you in finding books related to your creative interests. Walk-ins welcome. More info here.