Radical Software

The School for Poetic Computation is running a one-day workshop, Consensual Hacking, taught by Melanie Hoff on April 6from 6-9pm, hosted by the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in downtown Manhattan.

It looks like a fascinating event, and very related to our class this term — in particular as we transition into the second half of the semester and start thinking about hacking as more about care and mutual aid rather than breaking and entering.

From the SFPC event description: "Consensual Hacking is a collective thought experiment and a guided, participatory workshop focused on digital and relational consent. Through conversation, writing, and hands-on computer access, students will explore what it means to give, withhold, or request consent in digital and physical spaces. Students may choose to engage in a consensual process of hacking into each other’s personal computers—a practice that raises questions around control, vulnerability, and care."

Full price tickets are $318, although discounted tickets are available for $159. It looks like free tickets were made available but they have "sold" out. Perhaps you could try emailing to ask if there might be any additional free tickets made available. Sign up here at withfriends.events

For whatever reason, lots of Luddite-related information & events seem to be coming across my various feeds lately, right as we plan to talk abot this subject. Could be "the algorithm" perhaps, or maybe a general interest in the air.

In any case, here is a comedic piece from McSweeney's Internet Tendency, a humor website published by McSweeney's, an independent publisher based in San Franciso:

Kate Tyndall, "Being a Luddite Is Cool and All, but Have You Seen the Hilarious Tapestries These New Looms Are Making?"

The article is a satirical take on machines in the workplace, written from the perspective of someone in the original Luddite milieu, as an allegory for how workers appear to be treating AI today.

Enjoy!