Welcome! You are not alone
Before doomscrolling and dead internet theory became a thing, the internet used to be a place of promise, excitement, and possibility. Surfing the web could be compared to urban flânerie: a surrender to the unexpected, drifting from website to website, from link to link. Serendipitous moments of discovery were free from the aura of suspicion that plagues today’s algorithmically enhanced social media experience (“why am I being shown this content?”), and felt earned, turning linksharing into an act of kinship and community-building.
(W)HOLE shows how, underneath the current desolated surface, the promise of a better digital world is still alive. Understanding the workings and trappings of digital infrastructure is an important first step to revive and fulfill this promise. In the repository, you will find a carefully curated list of initiatives, tools, and resources that aim to study, critique and improve our shared online reality. We invite you to get lost, to find things you didn’t know you were looking for, and to connect with new friends and communities – for the only way to free ourselves from this clusterf*ck, is to do it together.
Welcome! You are not alone
Before doomscrolling and dead internet theory became a thing, the internet used to be a place of promise, excitement, and possibility. Surfing the web could be compared to urban flânerie: a surrender to the unexpected, drifting from website to website, from link to link. Serendipitous moments of discovery were free from the aura of suspicion that plagues today’s algorithmically enhanced social media experience (“why am I being shown this content?”), and felt earned, turning linksharing into an act of kinship and community-building.
(W)HOLE shows how, underneath the current desolated surface, the promise of a better digital world is still alive. Understanding the workings and trappings of digital infrastructure is an important first step to revive and fulfill this promise. In the repository, you will find a carefully curated list of initiatives, tools, and resources that aim to study, critique and improve our shared online reality. We invite you to get lost, to find things you didn’t know you were looking for, and to connect with new friends and communities – for the only way to free ourselves from this clusterf*ck, is to do it together.
NeuroTribes – The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity (NYT Review)
NeuroTribes – The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity (NYT Review)
Summary
A review of Steve Silberman’s NeuroTribes, which redefines autism not as disorder but as diversity. It celebrates neurodiversity as a collective intelligence and advocates for inclusive understanding of difference.
Our Friend The Computer – Zine
Our Friend The Computer – Zine
Summary
A free digital zine produced by the podcast Our Friend The Computer celebrating two years and 24 episodes, compiling essays and interviews that explore alternative computing histories and reclaim forgotten narratives.
PalQuest – Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question
PalQuest – Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question
Summary
Bilingual (Arabic–English) platform by IPS & the Palestinian Museum with chronologies, biographies, places, documents, and highlights on the history of modern Palestine.
Against Platforms – Mike Pepi
Against Platforms – Mike Pepi
Summary
A critical investigation of how digital platforms concentrate power and extract value, calling for alternative models of cultural production and technological infrastructure.
Techno Fossils – by Kate Crawford & Vladan Joler (Published by Printed Matter)
Techno Fossils – by Kate Crawford & Vladan Joler (Published by Printed Matter)
Summary
Techno Fossils visualizes the hidden material and ecological costs of computation. Through maps and diagrams, Crawford and Joler expose the global networks of labor, extraction, and waste behind digital technologies, reframing the cloud as a planetary infrastructure of exploitation.
The New Curator: Exhibiting Architecture and Design – Edited by Fleur Watson
The New Curator: Exhibiting Architecture and Design – Edited by Fleur Watson
Summary
A collection exploring curatorial practices in architecture and design that move beyond exhibition-making toward collaboration, discourse, and shared authorship.
Ten Game-Changing Manifestos – Royal Academy of Arts
Ten Game-Changing Manifestos – Royal Academy of Arts
Summary
This Royal Academy feature revisits ten radical manifestos that transformed art, design, and politics. From Futurism to Ecofeminism, it maps how collective declarations have shaped creative dissent and inspired new imaginaries of social transformation.
Vera Tollmann "Sicht von oben"
Vera Tollmann "Sicht von oben"
Summary
Traces the history of “view from above” imaging - from Sputnik satellites to Big Data - and unpacks how vertical perspectives shape power, territory and visual culture.
Sustainable Web Manifesto – Principles for a greener internet
Sustainable Web Manifesto – Principles for a greener internet
Summary
A six-principle public pledge to create a greener web: clean energy, minimal resources, openness, honesty, regeneration and resilience.
How Beauty Filters Distort Our Sense of Self – MIT Technology Review
How Beauty Filters Distort Our Sense of Self – MIT Technology Review
Summary
This MIT Technology Review article investigates how beauty filters on social media reshape identity, body image, and self-perception-particularly among young users. It exposes the psychological and social costs of algorithmic aesthetics embedded in platforms.
Three Simple Rules for Protecting Your Data
Three Simple Rules for Protecting Your Data
Summary
Offers three simple rules for protecting your data in a world where privacy is nearly impossible: think concretely, share narrowly, and don’t panic.
Tim Berners-Lee, "Why I gave the world wide web away for free"
Tim Berners-Lee, "Why I gave the world wide web away for free"
Summary
Reflects on why Tim Berners‑Lee released the World Wide Web into the public domain - advocating for universal access and now warning that platform monopolies and data exploitation threaten that vision.
The Analog City and the Digital City – The New Atlantis
The Analog City and the Digital City – The New Atlantis
Summary
Critical essay exploring the transformation of urban life through digital infrastructures and the tension between analog experience and algorithmic control.
The Bots Aren’t Listening – The Verge
The Bots Aren’t Listening – The Verge
Summary
An investigation into how AI companies ignore robots.txt rules, exposing ethical and infrastructural breaches in web scraping.
Wikipedia and the War Over Neutrality – The Verge
Wikipedia and the War Over Neutrality – The Verge
Summary
This feature explores conflicts around neutrality and authority on Wikipedia, revealing how community governance shapes digital knowledge and biases.
Technology and the Social (Re)Imaginary – Tiff S Mak
Technology and the Social (Re)Imaginary – Tiff S Mak
Summary
Reimagining tech with indigenous care and Kapwa. From a talk by Rachel Chak: three paths-embodiment, communal world-building, and reimagined digital ecosystems-for more regenerative futures.
Geert Lovink, "Principles of Stacktivism"
Geert Lovink, "Principles of Stacktivism"
Summary
Proposes “stacktivism” as a new form of Internet activism-linking code, standards, governance and grassroots practice to rebuild the Internet as a decentralized public infrastructure.
Building Access: Universal Design and the Politics of Disability – Aimi Hamraie, University of Minnesota Press
Building Access: Universal Design and the Politics of Disability – Aimi Hamraie, University of Minnesota Press
Summary
Aimi Hamraie’s Building Access examines how architecture and design shape disability politics. It traces the history of universal design as both a social movement and a framework for rethinking participation, inclusion, and spatial justice.
Hito Steyerl, "Medium Hot"
Hito Steyerl, "Medium Hot"
Summary
Collects essays by Hito Steyerl examining how AI-generated imagery, climate change and global labour shape the production of images today.
40 Maps That Explain the Internet – Vox
40 Maps That Explain the Internet – Vox
Summary
Vox’s classic explainer: 40 maps and charts on how the internet spread, works, and is used worldwide-cables, speeds, platforms, censorship, and geography in one visual tour.
How Tech Companies Are Shaping the Rules Governing AI – Wired
How Tech Companies Are Shaping the Rules Governing AI – Wired
Summary
Analyzes how major tech firms influenced EU AI-guidelines, steering regulation away from clear limitations toward industry-friendly frameworks.
Introducing Carbon Computing
Introducing Carbon Computing
Summary
The article introduces the concept of carbon computing, proposing ways to measure and reduce the environmental footprint of digital systems and encourage climate-responsible design.
As We May Think
As We May Think
Summary
Vannevar Bush’s seminal 1945 essay envisions the “Memex,” an early concept of hypertext and personal knowledge systems, anticipating today’s digital information networks.
Digital Home Zine
Digital Home Zine
Summary
A digital zine exploring online intimacy, comfort, and belonging, reimagining the idea of “home” within digital spaces through design, storytelling, and collective reflection.
Xenobots: The Promise and Peril of Living Machines
Xenobots: The Promise and Peril of Living Machines
Summary
A broadcast with Claire Evans discussing “xenobots” and the emerging biotechnological infrastructure, probing the boundaries of life, machine and code.
Re-Organizing the World’s Information: Why we need more Boutique Search Engines
Re-Organizing the World’s Information: Why we need more Boutique Search Engines
Summary
An essay exploring how "boutique", decentralized search engines can reshape the internet, proposing individual, human curation as an important factor for the future.
Salvage Computing – XXIIVV Wiki
Salvage Computing – XXIIVV Wiki
Summary
A manifesto advocating for reusing, repurposing, and adapting old or discarded hardware, framing computing as a practice of repair, resilience, and ecological responsibility beyond constant technological turnover.
Geocities Restorativland
Geocities Restorativland
Summary
A community restoration project reviving GeoCities websites, preserving user-made web pages and celebrating the independent, decentralized creativity of early internet cultures beyond platform control.
Small Web – Personal websites, not platforms
Small Web – Personal websites, not platforms
Summary
A friendly gateway to the “small web”: curated indie sites, guides, and tools to help you publish a simple personal website and connect outside big platforms.
Arena Influences
Arena Influences
Summary
A curated Are.na channel collecting books, essays, projects, and thinkers that shape the platform’s ethos, offering an open, evolving map of influences behind collaborative knowledge practices.
Homebrew Computers Website
Homebrew Computers Website
Summary
A repository open to any computer project featuring a home-built CPU. That CPU may emulate a commercial design, but it cannot be just an off-the-shelf chip.
Deleted City
Deleted City
Summary
A visual archive of millions of deleted GeoCities web pages, mapping the lost vernacular of early internet culture and memory.
Website Is A Room
Website Is A Room
Summary
A short manifesto/essay framing websites as architectural spaces, encouraging designers to consider the spatial, emotional and infrastructural implications of web presence.
Awesome Privacy – Curated, Open-Source Alternatives
Awesome Privacy – Curated, Open-Source Alternatives
Summary
Community-made directory of privacy-respecting apps and services-password managers, email, browsers, cloud-with links, notes. Open source, updated via GitHub contributions.
Black Digital Archiving – Mapping UK Collections & Oral Histories
Black Digital Archiving – Mapping UK Collections & Oral Histories
Summary
Community tech project mapping UK Black history collections, sharing research on digital archiving, and hosting “The Oral Tradition” podcast to make Black histories accessible.
Books @ CHSMC – Open Historical Text Repository
Books @ CHSMC – Open Historical Text Repository
Summary
An open-access library preserving and sharing historical scientific works for public scholarship.
Synthetic Ecologies Compendium – Fermentation, Sensing & Living Systems
Synthetic Ecologies Compendium – Fermentation, Sensing & Living Systems
Summary
Serpentine’s Synthetic Ecologies Lab’s living archive (via Are.na) of resources, essays, and prompts on ecology & life sciences. Season 1 centers on fermentation and “Microbial Lores.”
Digital Garden – Hypha Worker Co-operative
Digital Garden – Hypha Worker Co-operative
Summary
Collective publishing infrastructure experimenting with open documentation, distributed authorship, and cooperative digital knowledge ecosystems.
Cyberfeminism Index – A Living Archive of Feminist Tech Resistance
Cyberfeminism Index – A Living Archive of Feminist Tech Resistance
Summary
Cyberfeminism Index is a crowdsourced archive tracing the histories and futures of feminist and queer engagements with technology. Curated by Mindy Seu, it documents decades of artistic, activist, and theoretical interventions that challenge patriarchal and extractive digital systems.
Cybernetics Image Library
Cybernetics Image Library
Summary
An open visual archive collecting historical and conceptual materials on cybernetics, systems theory, and technological imaginaries for research and education.
List of Physical Visualization
List of Physical Visualization
Summary
A crowdsourced list of “data physicalisations”-artifacts and installations that make data tangible, bridging digital infrastructure and material form.
Radical Ephemera Archive
Radical Ephemera Archive
Summary
Staging site for Leftove.rs, a shared archive of radical, anti-oppressive, working-class movements-browse ephemera, test features, and prep contributions before public release.
Diagram Website
Diagram Website
Summary
A web-tool that lets users create and share diagrams online using open formats, emphasising interoperability, collaboration and low-barrier infrastructure.
Public Artist Opportunities List – Google Sheet
Public Artist Opportunities List – Google Sheet
Summary
Curated spreadsheet of residencies, grants, fellowships, and open calls worldwide-links, locations, costs, and notes-continuously updated for artists tracking opportunities.
Creative Connector – Accessibility Resources Database
Creative Connector – Accessibility Resources Database
Summary
A collaborative spreadsheet collecting accessibility resources for artists, curators, and cultural workers, offering tools, guides, and contacts for inclusive creative practices.
Critical Accessibility Resources – Collective Spreadsheet
Critical Accessibility Resources – Collective Spreadsheet
Summary
A collaborative spreadsheet compiling accessibility-related resources, guides, and organizations. It acts as a living, open-access repository to support inclusive design, disability justice, and equitable participation in digital and cultural spaces.
Low-Tech Webring Directory – Slow, Web-1.0 Sites
Low-Tech Webring Directory – Slow, Web-1.0 Sites
Summary
Em Reed’s webring linking personal homepages on low-tech, small game tools, DIY/retro aesthetics, and Web-1.0 creativity-browse members and jump site-to-site.
Ethical.net Resources – Directory of Ethical Alternatives
Ethical.net Resources – Directory of Ethical Alternatives
Summary
Open, community-curated directory of ethical alternatives: privacy-respecting and sustainable apps, services, and guides across dozens of categories, with links, notes, and ways to suggest additions.
AI Ethics Resources – GitHub Gist by Miraculixx
AI Ethics Resources – GitHub Gist by Miraculixx
Summary
Curated list of resources on AI ethics, bias, and responsible technology development.
Awesome Self-Hosted
Awesome Self-Hosted
Summary
A community-maintained list of open-source apps that can be self-hosted, with this section highlighting games that run on personal servers, supporting autonomy, privacy, and platform-free play.
Alternative Internet – Redecentralize Curated List
Alternative Internet – Redecentralize Curated List
Summary
A collaborative GitHub list gathering decentralized, federated, and peer-to-peer projects, offering an open directory of tools and protocols that challenge centralized platform dominance on the internet.
GUIdebook – Graphical User Interface Gallery (Index)
GUIdebook – Graphical User Interface Gallery (Index)
Summary
Online museum of classic GUIs: timelines, screenshots, icons, sounds, tutorials, and extras-browse Mac, Windows, Amiga, IRIX, CDE, and more.
The Handbook of Handbooks for Decentralised Organising – HackMD
The Handbook of Handbooks for Decentralised Organising – HackMD
Summary
A living mega-list of public handbooks & toolkits for self-managed groups-from co-ops and companies to movements-covering decision-making, roles, governance, and remote work.
Handmade Web – Resources
Handmade Web – Resources
Summary
Handmade Web is a curated repository of projects, tutorials, and essays celebrating small-scale, human-centered web design. It advocates for slower, simpler, and more personal digital practices as resistance to industrialized and corporate internet cultures.
Zine Library – Iffy Books
Zine Library – Iffy Books
Summary
The Iffy Books Zine Library hosts a collection of independent publications on hacking, DIY culture, environmentalism, and digital privacy. It serves as a free, community-based resource promoting accessible education and technological empowerment.
Classic HCI Demos – UX’s Golden Age, 1983–2002
Classic HCI Demos – UX’s Golden Age, 1983–2002
Summary
Jack Rusher’s mini-site curating seminal interface demos-from Smalltalk and progress bars to multitouch and ZUIs-tagged by year/topic; a time-capsule for designers and HCI nerds.
Latin American Protest Archive
Latin American Protest Archive
Summary
A digital archive documenting protest arts, materials, and narratives from across Latin America, preserving community struggles and amplifying grassroots voices through accessible, collaborative storytelling.
Memory of the World Library
Memory of the World Library
Summary
Peer-to-peer public library listing downloadable books in critical theory, tech, and culture. Browse/search/read; part of the Memory of the World/Public Library project.
Saint Heron Library
Saint Heron Library
Summary
A digital library and cultural archive dedicated to preserving and amplifying works by Black and Brown artists, writers, and thinkers through open access and collective care.
Queer.Archive.Work
Queer.Archive.Work
Summary
Nonprofit reading room & publishing studio’s open download library: PDFs of hard-to-find, radical publications (urgency, liberation). Includes sets like The Black Panther Party Newspaper. Free.
Recipes – Happy Family MKT
Recipes – Happy Family MKT
Summary
A playful digital archive of “recipes” for collective action, blending everyday gestures, activism, and creative practices as tools for social and cultural nourishment.
Slow Network
Slow Network
Summary
Slow Network is an experimental online repository promoting slower, low-energy web practices. It gathers tools, essays, and artworks that rethink digital speed, efficiency, and constant connectivity as forms of control-advocating instead for mindful, ecological use of the internet.
Solar Protocol – Solar-powered web, routed by the sun
Solar Protocol – Solar-powered web, routed by the sun
Summary
A distributed web platform hosted across solar-powered servers that routes traffic to whichever node has sunlight, revealing the ecological limits of computation and proposing energy-responsive digital design.