Lecture // Internet’s Dark Forests: Subcultural Memories and Vernaculars of a Layered Imaginary
Internet’s Dark Forests
Subcultural Memories and Vernaculars of a Layered Imaginary

w/ MARTA CECCARELLI

LECTURE PERFORMANCE

08.01.2026 / 17:00 / @./studio3

Online is not a place we go: it is a place we cannot leave. In an increasingly hegemonic internet ecosystem, where do we find temporary spaces for refuge? A possible answer are Dark Forests: partially hidden digital spaces that nurture community, experimentation, and alternative ways of being online. Nestled in-between, hiding in plain sight, the Dark Forests promise to be a space for forgiving communication, crafting alternatives to the Clearnet’s data extracting practices, algorithmic moderation and peer scrutiny. Today, when it feels easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of META, how can we reclaim different ways of inhabiting the web?