Category: Spring 25

The concept of “liveness” in live coding, as discussed in the article, offers a chance for me to rethink what it means to live: “to have bodies, to communicate, to act.” By blending the real-time creativity, improvisation, and certain kinds of performance, live coding challenges conventional notions of both coding and human-computer interaction. It encourages us to think beyond code itself. What we need to emphasize are the human thoughts and contexts that are included while performing.

Live coding uniquely frames coding as a public performance, where the audience witnesses both the creative process and its immediate output. Unlike traditional programming, which often happens behind closed doors, live coding reveals the coder’s thought process, mistakes, and decisions in real time. This openness highlights the coder’s humanity and makes it different from the polishness that is featured in a written program. That is why live coding is an act of communication not only with the machine but also with the audience.

Live coding also makes me think differently about what it means to be “live” in today’s digital world. By showing coding as it happens, live coding pushes back against this invisibility and invites people to actively participate, even if they’re just watching. It reminds me that being “live” is about being present, involved, and taking action—an important idea in a time when digital interactions often focus more on efficiency than real connection.

I spent a lot my time in New York City hanging around Washington Square Park between study breaks from Bobst. One of my most memorable encounters was with a jean skirt-wearing Jewish fella who liked to dance and spoke about how they believed their dead grandmother still lived in their hands. I think they danced because of this idea––that they were, in a way, facilitating communication between their grandmother and the audience through their living body. I commented on how this form of person-to-person interaction was more important than ever in our time of image saturation. Today, between the Internet and social media, we are constantly inundated by what I call “dead” material, or, material that has left the alive, breathing body into fixed positions, such as poetry that has been written down, or photographs. While these mediums are beautiful and important, the links between living things to other living things have been increasingly replaced with various methods of digital pseudo-connection, which could help explain the loneliness epidemic. The true poem is the one that Walt Whitman was constantly rewriting and sharing from his heart. I believe in tangible communication. I believe in dance.

That is why I believe in live coding. I signed up for this class in order to use computers towards this end. I really resonated with the idea that “we do not use computers; they use us…” All we have to do is look at how dependent we are on our phones to realize that we might be the ones being used. But computer manipulation is a way of responding back; of admitting awareness in this current technological landscape, and saying it takes two to tango––I am going to shape you just as you shape me. Within the confines of capitalism and production, most technology is used to manipulate and exploit, but within the framework of this class, I am really excited to collaborate with technology and engage in it as a means of physical, living communication. Get out of the DMs and into the techno raves! I say. One last thing I wanted to mention was the notion of “Being a User,” which entails acknowledging that there “there is, whether visible or not, a computer, a programmed system that you use.” All of us live within inherited systems and ideologies that perpetuate a lot of destruction and suffering. Whether we realize it or not, these ideologies form our thoughts, dreams, jokes, and very realities, and it is our responsibility as thinking, alive humans to question and challenge these often-invisible frameworks so that the world can actually start to change for the better.

To be a User is to be alive. Becoming a live coder means becoming an active participant in and hopefully challenger against whatever systems you find yourself in. It means observing with intent and responding real-time. This reading inspired me to keep this philosophical groundwork in the back of my head as we all start to exercise this practice.

What is live coding?

It’s safe to say that any programmer would agree—coding in front of an audience is incredibly challenging. It’s inevitable that one misses some semicolons, or misspells functions leading to bugs. My first thought when I heard about live coding was “That sounds insane”. The thought of facing an audience and writing code in real time felt daunting. I didn’t mind the whole improvisation thing, because I’ve done it before as a musician. However, unlike playing an instrument, where mistakes can sometimes blend into the performance, coding errors are glaringly obvious. On the other hand, unlike other kinds of performances, Live Coding allows performers to create something insanely cool from something as boring and abstract as code.

Displaying the code on the screen during the performance fosters a deeper connection between the performer and their audience. Without the visibility of the code, audiences can question the authenticity of the improvisation. They might think the performers are just triggering pre-prepared tracks. But by removing that barrier, the performer transforms the experience from a mere spectacle to an interactive, shared journey. In my opinion, the coolest thing about the show is not the visuals or audio but witnessing how performers converse with the machine in real time. Live coding not only spotlights the abstract interaction with the machine, but also opens up the conversation on what kinds of art and creative self expression is possible using the rawest forms of technology. Which is actually kind of insane.

To define something is to stake a claim to its future, to make a claim about what it should be or become. This makes me hesitate to define live coding.

This quote caught my eye as soon as I started reading the text, it resonated with me because I think it captures the fluid and dynamic nature of live coding. It is fascinating to see live coding not just as a technical practice but as an artistic/creative approach that challenges programming norms. Before this class, I associated the phrase “live coding” with writing efficient code in real time for some work related things. However, now I think of it as an improv performance, something similar to rap freestyles, thus making me rethink the rigid perception of programming.

I found it kind of intriguing how live coding embraces transparency, exposing the thought process behind the code and allowing the audience to witness the creative journey in real time. Of course it comes with some extra pressure on the programmer/artist because everything needs to be done live and mistakes can make the performance a bit awkward. This visibility challenges the traditional black-box approach in tech, where software operates behind the scenes.

Live coding changed the notion of coding for me, now I see coding as an entity that adapts and evolves with me as a potential performer. The more I practice, the more I would be able to create and express via coding. It is safe to say that I started to appreciate coding not just like a tool but as a medium of self-expression.

As a new form of performance that features creating audio and visual effects via text editors, live coding is both a primitive and advanced form of human-computer interaction. The performers are directly editing the performance by accurately controlling the effects digit by digit, it provides more accuracy and more space to experiment with as the technology of shaders and audio editors keeps evolving.

I remember someone saying this during ICLC 2024 to describe the experience of live coding: “Everything is impossible, but nothing is easy”. Theoretically, there can be countless possibilities of a combination of effects created by coding, but advanced performance will take much time and energy for experiments and research. Live coding is realized by programming and requires lots of experience with both programming and composing, so it might be very complicated for those who are not familiar with computers and programming, and the way to practice live coding is not like to practice playing traditional instruments by following the existing scores. However, it still has its significance compared with other performances like DJ or jazz sessions, which as well contain improvisational content, as coding is also a part of the performance. The audience can observe the complete process of coding.

The primitive nature enables live coders to implement all kinds of JavaScript libraries to the text editors, which gives them great freedom for self-expression. They can type their feelings in the text editors, add 3D models, or even add their real-time drawings to the canvas, which is a groundbreaking revolution for performance in my point of view.

As computer science keeps evolving, I’m thrilled to witness how the form of art can be changed, and the emergence of live coding is a good showcase.

“live coding makes software strange”

This particular quote from the reading was especially captivating as it illuminates upon the expansive possibilities of coding that goes beyond the rigid, structured nature many associate with programming. It reframes coding as a more fluid, flexible and expressive act akin to playing a musical instrument. It highlights programming as not just a (behind the scene) tool for solving problems but as a more dynamic, performative practice that blurs the line between technical precision and artistic expression.

In this sense, live coding is impactful as it challenges our ‘traditional’, one-dimensional understanding of programming. It deconstructs widely perpetuated understandings of coding to be a linear act of instructing machines to perform and produce specific, predetermined outcomes and instead propels a multidimensional perspective on what programming can be. This is why I think Live Coding as a class perfectly embodies the essence of Interactive Media as a major; it showcases its interdisciplinary nature as a blend of the sciences and arts.

These paragraphs explore the concept of live coding and why it attracts people. As an interdisciplinary practice combining coding, art, and improvised performance, live coding appeals to both technicians and artists. It provides a unique medium to appreciate the beauty of coding and the artistic aspects often hidden within what is typically seen as a highly technical and inaccessible field.

I encountered live coding for the first time while working as a student staff member at ICLC2024. These performances gave me a basic understanding of live coding as a layperson. Reading this article later deepened my perspective and sparked new thoughts.

The article describes live coding as a way for artists to interact with the world and each other in real-time through code. Watching live coding performances, I initially assumed artists focused entirely on their work, treating the performance as self-contained and unaffected by external factors. However, I may have overlooked the role of the audience, the venue, and the environment in inspiring the artists and adding new layers to the improvisation. As someone who loves live performances, I now see live coding as another form where interaction between the artists and their surroundings is crucial.

The article also mentions how projecting code on the screen as the main visual makes the performance more transparent and accessible. While I agree with this, it also raises a concern. A friend unfamiliar with live coding once referred to it as a “nerd party,” commenting that it’s less danceable than traditional DJ performances and difficult for non-coders—or even coders unfamiliar with live coding languages—to follow. I wonder if this limits the audience’s ability to understand and fully appreciate the performance or the essence of the art form. Although this may not be a significant issue, it’s something I’m curious about.