al·go·rithm
noun
a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.

rit·u·al
noun
a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order.

“Get yourself out of whatever cage you find yourself in.”
―John Cage

“In the wake of digital colonisation, increasingly intricate algorithms scout for patterns in the data we generate. The ever-expanding archive not only reflects our values and society—it shapes new cultures, behaviours, and beliefs. We posit that future rituals and algorithms can be rehearsed through performing arts, and propose an intervention that is part discussion, part social experiment, and strives to explore the combined functionalities.”
—Diana Alina Serbanescu and Régis Lemberthe

What conditions make an event possible? Algorithm as Ritual explores this question while challenging conventional understandings of human–machine collaboration. Rather than treating the algorithm as an autonomous creative agent, the project positions it as one component within a broader ecology of searching, collecting, chance, and decision-making.

The playlists for each performance are generated through a series of chance operations. At the center of this process is a Python program that randomly outputs links to music files and excerpts drawn from an eclectic, ever-expanding archive that I have assembled over many years. The archive itself is shaped through an ongoing practice of searching for recordings wherever they might be found—from dusty crates in record stores to the vast flea market of the internet.

Both the search for music and the algorithmic procedures that organize it function as elements of a larger generative system—one that might also be understood as a psychogeographic ritual. Here, the algorithm is not a replacement for human creativity but a participant in an unfolding process in which wandering, accumulation, chance, and listening converge to make each event possible.
–Patrick Quinn