[HCC Seminar Series]: Live Coding
Bush House, Strand Campus, London
Abstract
Live coding redefines software as a performative medium, transforming the act of programming into a live, improvisational gesture for the creation of music and visuals. This practice challenges the hidden nature of traditional laptop performance: by projecting the screen, performers invite the audience to observe the evolution of algorithms as they are written, modified, and deleted in real-time. This shift makes the thinking process of the programmer a central part of the aesthetic experience, creating a space where logical structures are exposed and where errors or bugs are not failures, but improvisational turning points.
This talk will introduce the current live coding landscape, focusing on the flourishing London scene and the Pastagang community. Central to this movement is the practice of collaborative jamming on platforms like nudel.cc, where the traditional boundary between performer and audience is blurred. These shared creative spaces have been made possible by accessible, web-based technologies, such as Hydra for visuals and Strudel for music, which prioritise immediacy and openness.
Finally, this talk will detail a personal practice that explores the transition from scientific software engineering to artistic and performative contexts. This includes the repurposing of image-processing algorithms for synthetic visuals and emergent experiments in neuro-performance using live-streamed EEG data. By moving beyond the functional requirements of traditional research, this work explores a deeper engagement with algorithms and data analysis, treating live-streamed biological signals not just as subjects of study, but as dynamic elements within a performative system.
Biography
Laura Porta is a Senior Research Software Engineer at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, UCL, and a visual artist active in the London live coding community. Her scientific work focuses on the development of open-source software and pipelines for multiphoton calcium imaging, as well as the study of sensory integration in the cortex. As a live coder, she applies her expertise in real-time data processing to the generation of synthetic visuals and algorithmic performances. Her work sits at the intersection of neural data, open-source tool development, and collaborative digital art.
How to join
In order to attend, please email Alfie Abdul Rahman (alfie.abdulrahman@kcl.ac.uk).
Search for another event