ICLC 2025

NOTICE: We're working hard on the selection process. We'll send out the decisions as soon as possible.

ABOUT

The International Conference on Live Coding (ICLC) is dedicated to practices and research focused on technologies and philosophies that interpret the use of computer code and the public writing of algorithms as performative gestures. In its previous editions the community has provided valuable insights on this practice from diverse perspectives, including artistic, technical, artistic, philosophical, educational, social and political.

It has been ten years since the first ICLC call for participation, which proposed “[…] exploring liveness in symbolic abstractions, and understanding the perceptual, creative, productive, philosophical and cultural consequences.” In the subsequent decade, we have collectively and collaboratively experimented with varying levels of live coding abstraction, developed domain-specific languages, and explored the levels of agency offered by models created manually, or sometimes with the assistance of learning algorithms. We have invented and played with numerous interfaces to interact with algorithms and the world around us during performances. These explorations revolve around defining what processes we actually want to showcase, and in which formats we want to express them, while “thinking algorithmically” with an audience.

On this, the 9th edition of the conference, we invite the community to reflect about liveness and its many forms and consequences within live coding. We believe the tension between what is live and what is not is a key element of live coding. What effects does it have on the processes, technologies and forms in the performance? How do the many forms of liveness impact and transform the hybridization between the digital/algorithmic and the material? How does liveness relate to and/or define the socio-cultural aspects of live coding communities?

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

The 9th edition of ICLC will take place in Barcelona, Spain, from May 28 to May 31, 2025. We invite submissions in the form of papers, live performances, workshops and satellite events. The call is open to anyone engaged with live coding and its community principles.

There are no submission fees. Submissions must be submitted in English. However, for the live performance category only, you are welcome to also submit the proposal in your native (or any) language and include a machine translated version. In this case, state on your submission that it was machine translated. Please review the information about submissions and important dates below.

The proceedings of the conference will be published with a DOI number for each article.

We invite you to send proposals related to this year’s theme, liveness, as highlighted by any of the following or even some other topic:

Ten years after the first ICLC, we encourage our community to leverage its multidisciplinary strengths and discover new boundaries to discover, expand or mutate.

Submission Formats and Requirements

Submission templates: https://github.com/iclc/iclc-templates/tree/main/2025
Submission site: https://easychair.org/my/conference?conf=iclc2025barcelona

Please make sure to read the full proposal instructions shared in the README included with the templates. The peer review will be single-blind with at least two reviewers per submission.

We encourage proposals for in-person presentation, however remote proposals will be considered. Please see the Environmental Statement for more info on our position on travel and remote participation.

Long and short papers

All papers must be written in academic format using the provided template, including appropriate citations as well as the application of suitable research methods.

Selected papers from the conference will be invited for inclusion in a special issue of ArtNodes Journal on Art, Science and Technology.

Live Performances

You are welcome to submit your proposal in any language and include a machine-translated english version. Please state on your submission that it was machine-translated.

As we explore venues and dates, and according to patterns that we see emerge from the submissions received, we intend to program several different subcategories of the concert format. In designing your proposal, bear in mind the feasibility of presenting it within the limits afforded by typical venues.

Please support your submission with a clear description of your performance, and discussion of influences and prior art as appropriate. Feel free to provide a link (Vimeo, Youtube) to illustrate the performance. Please also be as thorough as possible with the Technical Questionnaire so that we can avoid surprises.

Workshops

For the workshop category, you are welcome to submit your proposal in English, Catalan or Spanish, and include a machine translated english version. Please state on your submission that it was machine translated.

You will be asked to specify your target audience: eg. visitors, beginners, students, general public, experts, etc. Please also be as thorough as possible with the Technical Questionnaire so that we can prevent surprises.

UPDATE - Installations

You are welcome to submit your proposal in any language and include a machine-translated english version. Please state on your submission that it was machine-translated.

Please support your submission with a clear description of your installation, and discussion of influences and prior art as appropriate. Feel free to provide a link (Vimeo, Youtube, Flickr, ...) to illustrate the installation. Please also define what the liveness aspect of the installation is. It should reflect the idea of code as a gesture in a transparent manner.

Please also be as thorough as possible with the Technical Questionnaire and add a link to a plan or sketch with measurements (metric, please) so that we can avoid surprises. Bear in mind the feasibility of presenting it with little or no hardware provided by us. Although we are working hard to find the means to provide projectors, screens and sound systems, we cannot guarantee support for any specific installation requirements. If you can bring your own hardware, please specify it clearly in the proposal.

ICLC Satellite Events

We invite live coding nodes from all over the world to host their own satellite events prior or after ICLC 2025. In particular we want to encourage other communities to create opportunities for traveling artists to perform or do a workshop in multiple locations (or on the way from/to Barcelona) and to turn ICLC 2025 into a tour – with Barcelona at its peak. While the committee of the ICLC cannot directly help with funding or organization of your event, an effort will be made to coordinate dates, locations and potential artists.

Please submit your intent to participate with your own event, providing us with a principal contact to your group/organization, the city where the event will take place and any information that might already be definitive (set date, set venue, line-up…). Additionally we invite you to join the channel #iclc-satellite-events on the TOPLAP Discord server to present and discuss your ideas for a satellite event in order to connect organizers as early as possible to make the most out of it.

We ask you to investigate possibilities to apply for local funding to help cover for accommodations, travel costs and in the best case artist fees. We can provide you with a Letter of Intent to support applications for funding, and will publish the date and URL of your event on the ICLC website.

IMPORTANT DATES

UPDATE (November 2, 2024) - NOTIFICATION OF ACCEPTANCE DELAYED

We're working hard on the selection process. We'll send out the decisions as soon as possible.

UPDATE - EXTENDED DEADLINE

We have decided to extend the original deadline (September 15, 2024) for all types of submissions. The new deadline is as follows:

DATES

ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT

We invite everyone to reflect on the impact that our research and practice has on our environment and ecosystems. Acknowledging this, we are incorporating sustainability and conservation criteria as guidelines for the conference planning. We invite everyone to take this into consideration before and after the conference. In the spirit of coming together for a live event, we want to encourage in-person attendance, and also encourage that attendees joining us make choices to minimize the impact of their travel with low-carbon options whenever possible. We also commit to fostering connections among attendees and nearby satellite events, to make the most of long distance travel with opportunities to turn your visit into a mini-tour. The presentations and performances of the conference will be live-streamed whenever possible. We are also open to hosting remote presentations when this is the best option.

CALL FOR REVIEWERS

We’re looking to extend our pool of reviewers. If you’re active in a field related to live coding (in all its facets), and you’re interested in reviewing a paper, workshop or performance, please send an email with a short description and keywords of your field of expertise to iclc@toplap.cat.

ORGANIZERS

Contact Information

Questions: iclc@toplap.cat

Follow ICLC 2025 for updates: