Glitch Community

Glitch art is as much about community as it is about aesthetics. The strongest work and longest careers usually grow out of networks of fellow glitchers, curators, coders, and collectors who share tools, critique, and opportunities.

Below is a focused guide to the key communities, platforms, and strategies for plugging into the glitch ecosystem.

1. Core glitch art networks & hubs

GL!TCH.INTERNATIONAL

GL!TCH.INTERNATIONAL is one of the most important long-running nodes in the scene: an open, inclusive international platform created by jonCates to map and connect glitch artists, organizers, and researchers. It indexes festivals, initiatives, and participants worldwide and grows out of the legacy of GLI.TC/H, the seminal glitch festival in Chicago and beyond.

Use it to:

Discover artists, collectives, and events across regions
Trace the historical roots of contemporary glitch practice
Find potential collaborators or curators aligned with your interests

Search the participant and project listings as you would a directory: follow people, then follow where they show and teach.

Curated resource lists

A few individuals maintain large, constantly evolving link archives that function like meta-communities:

The Glitch Arts Resources repository on GitHub aggregates articles, books, artists, galleries, tutorials, code, tools, and collectives.
Its “Collectives” and “Tools” sections in particular are gateways into niche sub-scenes (for example, specific software communities, codec hackers, AV performance groups).

Treat these lists as:

A starting map of the culture
A way to verify whether a platform or group is taken seriously by working artists
A jumping-off point for deeper research into any tool or collective you encounter

Glitch art circulates most intensely on visual-first and real-time platforms. Each one supports a different mode of engagement.

Instagram

Instagram remains central for:

Sharing still and loop-based glitch work
Networking with curators, galleries, and festivals that scout visually
Following hashtags like #glitchart, #databending, #datamosh, #circuitbending, #vhsart

Practical tips:

Post in coherent series so curators can understand your practice at a glance
Use specific process tags (for example, #databending, #audioreactive, #vhs, #analogglitch) rather than only broad ones
Save Story highlights for process demos and BTS so new followers quickly see how you work

X (Twitter) and real-time discourse

X still functions as a text-and-link-heavy channel for:

Sharing WIPs, code snippets, patches, and tool experiments
Participating in public threads on glitch theory, aesthetics, and media archaeology
Finding call-for-entries, residencies, and open submissions

Use it to:

Comment meaningfully on others’ work rather than only dropping links
Post short breakdowns of your process or bugs you have intentionally turned into features
Follow festival organizers, AV performers, and media-arts labs who frequently retweet open calls

Discord and private servers

Many glitch-adjacent communities now live on Discord:

Servers for particular tools (TouchDesigner, Max, VJ software, creative coding) often have glitch-focused channels
Some collectives and festivals run invite-only or semi-public servers for members and alumni

Approach:

Join tool-based servers if you want deep technical feedback
Look for community-run “crit nights” or screen-share sessions
Offer help and share resources before promoting your own work heavily

3. Forums, groups, and legacy platforms

Facebook glitch groups

Facebook is less culturally central than it once was, but glitch art groups there are still dense with practitioners:

Longstanding glitch collectives run private or public groups where members share experiments, announce exhibitions, trade hardware, and organize meetups.
Some groups specialize in particular workflows (mobile glitch, databending, AV performance, hardware hacking).

Tips for joining:

Read the pinned rules and intro posts before sharing
Contribute a short self-introduction with 1–3 images rather than a huge dump
Participate in group challenges and “theme days” to get seen by regulars

Reddit & niche forums

Relevant spaces:

Subreddits focused on glitch aesthetics, digital art, and creative coding
Niche media-art forums and mailing lists (for example, video synthesis, demoscene, net art) that intersect with glitch through process and philosophy

Use them to:

Troubleshoot obscure technical problems
Get blunt but valuable critique from outside the glitch bubble
Find collaborators who bring complementary skills (sound design, programming, writing)

4. Events, festivals, and IRL / hybrid spaces

GLI.TC/H and its legacy

The GLI.TC/H festival established many of the norms and networks that still shape glitch culture: workshops, performances, installations, and theory sessions conducted by and for the community. Its legacy continues through newer initiatives and regional spin-offs documented on GL!TCH.INTERNATIONAL.

If you see events citing GLI.TC/H or organized by its alumni, you are likely in serious glitch territory.

Local media art centers & DIY meetups

Even if there is no explicitly branded glitch festival near you, look for:

Media arts centers and labs (often attached to universities or museums)
VJ / AV performance nights that emphasize experimentation
DIY electronics and hacker spaces that host soldering labs, circuit-bending sessions, or video feedback experiments

Practical move:

Offer to run a beginner glitch workshop (even a simple databending or webcam-feedback lab) to become a node people connect through. This often leads to invitations and collaborations.

Hybrid and online events

Since glitch is inherently digital, online events are common:

Livestreamed AV performances and screenings
Online residencies and incubators for experimental animators and video artists
Virtual crit sessions and lecture series

Keep an eye out for:

Artist-led platforms that started as backyard or living-room meetups and later expanded online. These spaces often foreground play, mutual support, and experimentation over commercial polish.

5. Practical strategies for connecting

Show up consistently

Comment thoughtfully on others’ posts instead of leaving generic praise. Mention what you notice in their process or composition.
Participate in open calls, prompt-based challenges, and group shows even if they are small. Shared contexts create relationships faster than one-off likes.

Glitch art communities value:

Documentation of how you break, bend, and mis-use tools
Code snippets, patch screenshots, wiring diagrams, and failed experiments
Reflections on what went wrong and why you kept it

Short process posts often get more meaningful engagement than polished final images, and they signal that you are there to share knowledge, not only to self-promote.

Be explicit about what you are looking for

When you introduce yourself in a new community, state:

What you make (for example, “analog video feedback with DIY mixers” or “datamoshed dance footage”)
What you are seeking (critique, collaborators, performance opportunities, beta testers for a tool you are building)
What you can offer (technical help with a certain workflow, curatorial experience, writing)

Clear signals make it easier for the right people to find you.

Respect the experimental ethos

Glitch communities tend to be:

Anti-gatekeeping but strongly anti-spam
Open to beginners who are curious and generous
Protective of artists whose work is frequently mined for aesthetics without credit

Credit your influences, share your sources, and when you borrow techniques, acknowledge where you learned them. That is how you become part of the conversation rather than just consuming it.

If you treat every community and platform as a studio extension instead of just a broadcast channel, you will quickly discover that glitch art is less a genre and more a living, global network that you actively help to shape.