What is Ludd Lives?
In an age of enshittification and fascistoid techno-accelerationism, “Ludd Lives” offers a moment of unity with our fantastic timeline, a timeline brought to humanity by Great Men™. There has never been a better time to be human than the digital age. The information highway is full of manna, delivered uninterruptedly to our smartphones. The leaders of the technological revolution offer a saving light, a beacon not seen by humanity since the Enlightenment. Commerce flourishes, enriching the masses in a sea of opportunity through influencing or dropshipping. One could say that we live in an age touched by the Finger of God. Then, humanity’s technological devices located that Finger, cut it down, and now we are all able to consume some of this Holy Finger in the form of protein powder.
To celebrate this moment, Pedro has spent the last few years devising a mystical ceremony to awaken the cyborg within the audience, making them embrace technological bliss. Through a series of intricate rituals centered around the most powerful means of communication yet, PowerPoint, he passionately shares the gospel of prosperity in the digital age.
Iterations
Right now there have been three iterations of the performance:
- Iteration 3: MFRU, Maribor, September 2025
- Iteration 2: Raumschiff, Linz, January 2025
- Iteration 1: Improper Walls, Vienna, June 2024
Technical information
The performance is quite simple to set up. I just need:
- a beamer and a surface to project OR a screen big enough for the audience to enjoy the PowerPoint presentation,
- some type of audio system for playing sound effects and music,
- in case of a delicate floor: wood or cardboard protection for it.
The performance can be in four different languages: English, German, Spanish, and Catalan.
Future topics to include in the performance
Office automation
Histories of local Luddism & other forms of rage against the machine
Apocalyptic visions from tech overlords
Server farms, submarine communication cables, and other digital physical phenomena
Iteration 3: MFRU Maribor, September 2025
The 31st International Festival of Computer Art / MFRU31, themed Esoteric Ecotechnics. Irrational Computation and Conspiratorial Networking. It examined the underground and secret connections between media technologies, users, knowledge, and information circulation. The festival sought out spaces of noncompliance and resistance to the current climate of warfare and technological authoritarianism, as well as the ideologies of artificial intelligence and venture capital. The featured artistic positions were informed by secretive, symbolic, and peer-oriented intentions while imagining the interaction of society, knowledge, and digital technologies.
The dramaturgy of this iteration
Ludd Lives!: The Holiness in the Machine
Act 1
Rejoice! Our Timeline is Wonderful
A celebration of the GreatMen™ that are actively brining us to what can be undeniably understood as the best timeline possible we could be in.
The act is a eulogy of the GreatMen™, done with a projection and reading from a booklet. The booklet is a fanzine titled “Ludd Lives!: The Holiness in the Machine.” One could use the space of the church to mimic liturgy.
Materials: Booklet, beamer
Act 2
The cleaning
After learning about the GreatMen™, the audience is invited to find a moment of solace with the device that works as a device of the Wonderful Timeline. Through a moment of ritualistic cleaning of their phones, they will find a blessed communion with the Most Liberatory Technology Ever.
During this act, the performer walks through the audience with a sacred cloth and holy screen cleaner and asks members of the audience if he can clean their phones. If they say yes, he kneels, cleans them, and makes them realize the Infinite Love of the Device.
Materials: screen cleaner, cloth, beamer
Act 3
iCandl
What if there was a solution to shadow banning? What if algorithmic bias could be definitely dealt with? Is there a way to completely avoid account suspension? Can you go viral without going fascistoid? The answer to all of these questions used to be a rotund no. But thanks to the new Physical Quantic Thermodynamic Application “iCandl”, you can combat many of the malaises radicals and progressives face in the conglomerate social media landscape. Buy it now!
This act will use the iCandls , which are physical apps that use the laws of thermodynamics and quantum effects to liberate the user of things like shadow banning or make them go viral. The idea is to use the candles that are in the exhibition and sell them to the public. It is important here to note to the curators, that the iCandls are actually cemetery candles with a cool illustration glued to them.
Materials: iCandls, lighter, beamer
Act 4
The Trial
A crisis of faith brings the performer to repudiate technology. A trial against different examples of digital and technological horrors (Instagram, Smartwatches, Waymos, etc.) ensues. The performer channels the resentment of the audience and ritualistically destroys electronic devices with a hammer. Violence cleanses the soul. Ludd lives!
Materials: electronic garbage, hammer, beamer
Iteration 2: Raumschiff, Linz, January 2025
At the Initiative Raumschiff in Linz, the performance combined preachy exaltation of the Great Men of Technology, a presentation on the Luddite movement in 19th-century England, and some useless devices smashing. Due to some smoke detectors recently installed in the venue, I had to change the use incense with cleaning the phones of the audience, which now is a high point of the show.
Iteration 1: Improper Walls, Vienna, June 2024
The idea for the performance “Ludd Lives!: A popular trial on technology” was born from my many obsessions around technology. Improper Walls was celebrating 10 years, and Barbora Hoská commissioned a performance + comic for the ephemeride. This Viennese alternative space has been a home for me since arriving in Vienna. I was beyond excited to participate in this celebration.
You can read about the first iteration of performance in this comic published in Improper Dose:
https://improperwalls.com/improperdoseyouneed/ludd-lives
