In 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, a group of artists on Discord found themselves with lots of free time and a series of thorny questions about politics and art. A wave of popular activism surged but focused its efforts on small, decentralized projects eschewing larger goals. New aesthetic languages were formed and refined online yet relatively ignored by the legacy art world. Esoteric right wing body builders made unlikely bedfellows with cat-ear-wearing trans women. We formed the reading group to dig into these questions and published our outputs to the blog.

This summer workshop consists of excerpts from key texts explored in the original DNR reading group. Course materials are drawn from a mix of early Do Not Research syllabi and supplementary material, generally within the “l/acc” (left accelerationist) school. The course will also feature moving image work from facilitator Theresa Tomi Faison’s curated DNR screening events and other relevant artworks. Structured like a bootcamp, the course will be a short and sweet dive into this world of radical thought.

Anyone who wants to enrich or push their understanding of contemporary culture, politics, and art will benefit from this course. It will be especially beneficial to those interested in the broader DNR project who want to “catch up” and get more involved.

This workshop will take place over four Sunday sessions in August: 8/3, 8/10, 8/18, 8/24. Each week, participants will be assigned 1-2 hours of reading or content consumption and be expected to participate in group discussions about the work at the following session. A bachelors degree or background in theoretical texts is strongly recommended.

Enrollment is open now. Space is limited.

Theresa Tomi Faison is an artist and filmmaker from Baltimore, MD. One of Filmmaker Magazine’s 2025 “New Faces of Indie Film,” her video work has screened at New Next, CuFF, ICDocs, and featured as a Vimeo staff pick. As a studio artist, she’s shown in group shows at CCS Hessel Museum of Art, Hudson, NY; MeetFactory, Prague; and NADA, Miami, FL; with a solo exhibition at Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY. She is the founder of Scrapyard Screenings, a three-day experimental film festival, and a core contributor to the digital platform Do Not Research, where she leads artist critique groups and public programming.