How do you use the internet mindfully?

As the internet continues to expand and mutate, it would be easy to allow it to swallow us whole. I’ve often wondered, how can we use the internet more intentionally? How can we be proactive, rather than passive, in the ways we consume and deploy digital information? How can we find more meaning online?

Inspired by the above questions, I led (alongside Leo Shaw) a partnership between The Creative Independent and Are.na, the platform for connecting research and ideas, to co-organize the Library of Practical and Conceptual Resources. Launched in spring of 2018, the Library is composed of a series of internet-focused essays (edited by me) and "resource collections"—intimate networks that gather ideas, links, references, and media compiled by participating artists around a theme of their choice. Originally published on The Creative Independent's website, the series was adapted into a book, titled How do you use the internet  mindfully?, which I edited and wrote an introductory essay for.

You can download a PDF of the publication here, or read more about the partnership here→

After the book's publication, the topic of "using the internet mindfully" continued to gain momentum. Leo and I adapted the topic into a workshop for the Internet Age Media conference in Barcelona, and subsequently for Software for Artists Day at Pioneer Works.

You can download a version of the worksheet we used during our workshops here, and spend ~30 calm minutes auditing your own use of the internet.

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Artsy’s Alexxa Gotthardt wrote a great piece about this collaboration: Artists Are Teaching Us How to Use the Internet More Mindfully. 

Garage Magazine’s Erin Schwartz wrote about the Library (and even picked up on its Borgesian-ness): There’s a Library for Digital Mindfulness, So You Actually Never Have to Log Off