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Algorithm as Ritual: 20250909 (Audio)

Sep 09, 2025

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 are the conditions that make an event possible? "Algorithm as Ritual" is a project that not only explores this question, but also seeks to challenge the discourse surrounding human-machine collaboration. The playlists for the show are created using a variety of chance operations; primarily, I rely on the prescriptions of a computer program (written in Python) that randomly outputs links to music files/excerpts from an eclectic and continuously growing archive that I maintain. I search far and wide for music, from dusty crates in record stores to the immense flea market that is the Internet. My searching for music and use of chance operations are both components of a generative system—what some might also call a psychogeographic ritual.
–Patrick Quinn

Tracklist: 

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge – Ritual Music
Basic Unit – Receive
Okkyung Lee – Hollow Water
Dennis Matumbi – Blood Dem
Nairobi Sisters – Promised Land
Jürg Frey – Extended Circular Music #6
Vainqueur – Lyot (Maurizio Remix) 
Salford Electronics – We Have Come To Bring Rain 1
1127 – Post-unprecedented creativity causing me an awful deal of stomach paynn (ft Emna Maaref & Mounir@)
Celestine Ukwu – Ejina Uwa Nya Isi
Mats Gustafsson & Joachim Nordwall – Attaining the Supreme
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge – Ritual Music