Serendipitous Liquidators (2023)


Live Coding audiovisual performance

While computer algorithms play an increasingly central role in our financial, political, and social affairs, live coding defies technological determinism by transmuting teleological operativity into a form of free play. Editing code while it is being run can be seen as a mechanism that drives evolution in our biological, ethical, cultural, legal and informational systems towards alternative futures. As artistic expression, live coding can have various manifestations (sonic, visual, poetic and performative) that aestheticize the fundamental methods of subversion and transcendence. Our approach to live coding brings a social dimension to the forefront.

While traditional practices emphasize the virtuosity of the live coder, often beginning from scratch, we utilize creative code written by other coders and apply remix techniques to synthesize complex entanglements. The sourced code is primarily in the format of SuperCollider tweets for the audio and Hydra sketches for the visuals. All authors are cited on screen during the performances along with links to personal webpages and social media profiles. The computerized visuality and musicality of the authors are coupled and liquidated through serendipitous encounters with digital glitches and nonlinear exteriorizations. Noise is inevitably perceived as the code snippets carry aesthetic manifestations of the authors’ diverse cultural histories, which result in unorthodox and viscous improvisational flows.

In collaboration with Aaron J. Juarez 

Serendipitous Liquidators