a sunday At night, in the middle of Tompkins Square Park in New York City’s East Village, hundreds of people gather in front of a giant paper mache face of a woman wearing a crown. She is the backdrop of a play, her body is made up of curtains that look like a dress but
a sunday At night, in the middle of Tompkins Square Park in New York City’s East Village, hundreds of people gather in front of a giant paper mache face of a woman wearing a crown. She is the backdrop of a play, her body is made up of curtains that look like a dress but have a dual purpose: allowing the actors to enter and exit the stage.
I’m here to see a performance called “Luddite Reenactments,” which is a history of the Luddite movement: a group of artisans and textile workers who resisted the adoption of machines during the early years of the Industrial Revolution in England and whose resistance to being displaced from their work was met with violence by the British monarchy.
It’s one of the opening events of Ludd’s Summer, a week-long series of talks and activities about flirting and dating offline, fixing and learning how to fight data centers, all focused on getting people off their phones and joining the community.
Photography: Vittoria Elliot
Everything is evidently handmade, which gives it the energy of a (free) high school production. A small orchestra, led by people dressed in Pride regalia, sits to one side. Behind them, a table contains 10 different magazines covering everything from how to get off Spotify to the role of surveillance technology in schools to “Why GenAI Sucks.”
Events will continue through July 5, with most of the main parts centered around Tompkins Square Park. (There will be a beach day cookout on July 4, as well as events at nearby locations in the East Village.)
At the beginning of the play, the actor playing Lord Byron, the famous British poet who supported the Luddite movement, tells the crowd of about 300 people the rules of the week: be present and no phones, recordings or photographs are allowed.
None of the week’s events, including the play, are advertised online. Signs around the neighborhood advertise the Summer of Ludd, declaring “only in real life!”, and flyers with the week’s schedule of events have been posted in community spaces around the area.
I found out about the event by chance offline. In early June, I was with a friend in the East Village and we were caught in a summer downpour. While waiting at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, a small place that documents the neighborhood’s history of activism, I found the pamphlet describing the events of Ludd Summer among several other magazines, posters, and pamphlets. So here I am, phone put away, notebook in hand, and sign in hand.
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