iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/10/2026

I found a talk from 10 years ago where I travelled back in time to explain the post-AI future. Unfortunately time travel is difficult and I wasn't very coherent www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE2TfgBtHFo

A slide saying:
Live coding - a Luddite movement?
* Live coders - first against the in the coming Deep Leaning revolution?
* Or time travellers from a post-autonomous future?

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 25/08/2026

I've been working on an auto-scheduler for an upcoming, wildly overbooked algorave.. It tells people where to set up, which inputs to plug in, and shows a db meter for them to line check (thanks to xair mixers having an OSC api). It will also automatically […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

Textmode display showing an algorave line-up with indication of who is playing and setting up, and db meters useful for line checking

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 08/06/2026

After @th4's cnytt workshop (codeberg.org/aherrou/cnytt) I've been enjoying choosing a couple of random stitches and repeating them to see what happens. Here just repeating two stitches - yarn over, knit two together. Lovely tangly repetition.

Knitted messy lacework with white cotton yarn

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 23/05/2026

Playing with improvising some sanquhar-style patterns in the round (so I don't have to do purls), and decided to turn it into a sock for my lovely Zoom L6 portable mixer. #knitting

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/05/2026

I spotted this settee in a national trust place yesterday www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk… The pattern on the cushions is something called 'flame stitch' or Bargello en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bargello_(nee… I took a couple of […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

Zig zagging embroidery pattern in green and creamy colour

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/05/2026

This from Ingold (being alive 2011, pg. 62) reads as more optimistic than it used to. LLMs are closed rather than open, and can we really say its users aren't losing skill as "the ‘living appendages’ of lifeless mechanism"?

Not only, then, are machines open rather than closed, but also the project of technology chases a target that recedes as fast as it is approached. ... at the same time that narratives of use are converted by technology into algorithmic structures, these structures are themselves put to use within the ongoing activities of inhabitants, and through the stories of this use they are reincorporated into the field of effective action within which all life is lived.The essence of skill, then, comes to lie in the improvisational ability with which practitioners are able to disassemble the constructions of technology, and creatively to reincorporate the pieces into their own walks of life. In this ability lies life’s power to resist the impositions of regimes of command and control that seek to reduce practitioners to what Karl Marx once called the ‘living appendages’ of lifeless mechanism. Thus skill is destined to carry on for as long as life does, along a line of resistance, forever undoing the closures and finalities that mechanisation throws in its path.

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/04/2026

This from Stockhausen is remarkable in a couple of ways.. First it closes his book and clearly he felt it was important, but as far as I know dancing is completely absent from computer music/electroacoustic education institutions that otherwise laud Stockhausen […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

And then, finally, I would recommend that every student of music go dancing at least once a week. And dance. Please, really dance: three or four hours a week. Any dance, whatever is going at the discotheque or dance spot, though discos tend to become monotonous. Different dances, you should dance with a partner, and to different rhythms and tempi: slow, medium, fast and in different rhythms based on two, three or four beats. Make your own evenings with tapes of folk dances: Austrian, Spanish, Hungarian, South American. There should be a good dancing teacher on the staff, that would be perfect: not for ballet, but for social dancing, real social dancing, once a week, as part of the music course, for the whole duration of study.

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/04/2026

Knitting the cover for the rumoured upcoming epiploke album

Hand knitting in black and white, showing patterns in a sanquhar style and the text "epiploke"

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 05/04/2026

Remembering when I got booked to do a tedx talk about algorave and went on and on about maypole dancing

Person without grey hair emoting in front of a slide that says "algorithmic dance culture" on it on top of an illustration of children doing a maypole dance

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 22/03/2026

A reminder that we were almost on the timeline where nintendo released a knitting machine peripheral for the NES. They did make a prototype, things could have been very different if it had reached production.

A mocked up advert saying:

Now you're knitting with power

You’re looking at the Nintendo Knitting Machine.

It’s not a game; not a toy; not something a young girl can outgrow in three or six months or even a year.

It’s a machine that interacts with the powerful Nintendo Entertainment System to actually knit sweaters: and not just one or two patterns but a multitude of different and unique designs.

The Nintendo Knitting Machine is just one more example of the innovative thinking that keeps Nintendo on the cutting edge of video technology. And your customers on the edge of their seats.

Of course we should probably mention that no other video game system offers anything even remotely similar. But why needle the competition?

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 20/03/2026

After some days work, I finally made my first unassisted warp, got on the loom and threaded up with 189 ends. It seems I had only one small mistake in the threading, just had to swap two threads. Can't wait to explore some lift patterns with this ! #weaving

A test weave with blue warp and peppermint coloured weft

Around half way through the threading process, showing dangling blue threads on the loom

The finished threading, showing a fairly complex pattern

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 15/03/2026

Spent some time fiddling with my experimental crackle weave operation in #adacad, and am thinking of trying to thread this one I'd have thought that the square patches of different patterns would give it an interesting woven structure? #weaving

A weaving programming interface, showing operations connected together, each with a black and white grid showing its outputs. The final output looks has a weird cross pattern

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 03/03/2026

Having a go at threading a crackle weave on my 8 shaft table loom, using an algorithmically generated pattern by Ralph Griswald #weaving

A wooden table loom with threads all over the place and a print out of a binary grid pattern with scribbled notes

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 24/01/2026

Was going to post some thoughts about going on holiday but remembered asking chatgpt4 about my holiday schedule and it had been spying on my mastodon profile and made a pretty good guess

chatgpt output giving my typical holiday schedule in detail

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2026

"On being formal: communal informatics, khipu technologies, extractivism, and debt." Research workshop of the Epistemic Media Research Group (Institute for Music and Media) with @Khipumancer, @nebogeo, @julian and myself coming up in-person in Düsseldorf on […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

Montage of knotted strands of Andean khipu and diagrams of Cornish mines

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 10/01/2026

@nnenov Basically you select an item and press 'd' and you get this handy thingie

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/12/2025

Spent ages designing a complex new pattern in adacad ( adacad.org/?share=2381632051 ), was excited to weave it but it's turned out surprisingly boring so far..

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 24/12/2025

Yesterday I had some fun exploring double weave (mind expanding stuff) and what I think is overshot (pictured). Not sure what to try next.. I'm curious about rosepath threading but have quite a lot of warp left with this point threading..

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 22/12/2025

So tired, but had to have a go at this advancing pattern.. Woven by hand, following the source code here adacad.org/?share=20441310 #weaving

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 22/12/2025

Warp is on and getting stuck in with a trippy waffle pattern!

Trippy textured pink, blue and green weaving

Weaving draft in the AdaCAD software for a simple (but effective) waffle pattern

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 21/12/2025

After some research I decided to change it out to do a point (zig-zagging) threading. Took some hours but allows wider 14 thread repeats.. This is a nice introduction of the possibilities of point threading, I love the advancing pattern, which reminds me of […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

warp threads going through string headlines in a kind of diagonal pattern

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/12/2025

With a lot of help from my friend Seiko Kinoshita, I have made my first warp! I've done quite a bit of weaving before, but not with shafts, and only with already-existing warp. I've done the a basic threading which can only make an eight-thread repeat (one […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 17/12/2025

7 years ago, I got a room full of people in Sheffield to sing the red flag, o tannenbaum and o christmas tree simultaneously, while I played with the chords in @tidalcycles (they all have the same tune) merry xmas!

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 05/12/2025

Just released "Compassion through algorithms volume III" - a huge 55 track album full of really great music and noise from the live coding/algorithmic music community, fundraising to support Palestinian health, dignity and culture. Buy it today (name your […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

Album artwork - pen plotter art with colours of the Palestinian flag superimposed

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 12/10/2025

If you ever wonder why I'm so beautiful, it's because I'm from Coleford, the home of Ribena.

Old advert for Ribena, claiming that it makes you beautiful, and mentioning htat it is made in Coleford.

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 01/09/2025

Any tips for taming storage for cables used quite often in random order?? Maybe I just need more hooks

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 28/08/2025

Using a google form (I know), I'm wondering why a few people have said they have submitted forms when nothing has come through. Looking at it, I have questions - why is there a purpose-free 'clear form' link? I thought those went out of fashion in the 90's - […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 21/08/2025

Just off to @patternclubsheffield for the evening to learn lace making I once was involved in a performance collab with a lace maker, although she was too busy so couldn't join us and sent a video. We jammed over her explaining the numerical patterns. I […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

Lace bobbins with different coloured threads wound on, with threads pinned to a cushion allow numerical instructions like "2 over 3, 4 over 3, 2 over 1"

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 16/07/2025

In the before times we used to run a festival called 'algomech' in Sheffield UK. The pandemic put paid to that but we're now coming back with a new small festival called Alpaca (festival of Algorithmic Patterns in the Creative Arts). If you are curious about […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 27/06/2025

Thanks for the detailed feedback, arts council england #thirdtimeunlucky

We decided not to fund your application this time because:

- Our funds are limited, we decided to fund a mix of different applications that we viewed as most likely to make a difference

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 09/06/2025

Kind of amazing that you can dot a couple of messages like this around the internet post.lurk.org/@yaxu/114188134015638… and then end up with ~40 lovely people hanging out with their computers in the middle of nowhere, what a great thing #errorcamp

Dorks walking through undulating rugged countryside

People sitting down in rugged countryside sporting extreme computer music fashion

Dorks lying around live coding while being willingly inducted into pastagang

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 13/04/2025

In the early days of proto-algorave music, live coding wasn't really a thing yet and so everything was very carefully scored. Here's an early score by @adeward and I

A confusing handwritten score by slub for a performance in Helsinki on 31st May 2003. It has curves for 'bpm', 'danceability', 'visual spectable' and 'q', with parts marked out for different scripts like 'backforth', 'map' and 'singlecell', with areas marked out for 'unstructured noise' and a 'crash moment'.

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 25/03/2025

Really loving @froos's new-wave uzulang 'mondo', coming to @strudel soon! 'Uzu' is the new name for the tidal/strudel/vortex family of languages, with 'mondo' being one of several exploring what happens when you break down the difference between mininotation […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 24/03/2025

If you're in/near London then you should definitely come to this live coding party it's going to be really good #london #algorave tix: ra.co/events/2108876

A colourful algorave flyer for an event at Corsica Studios on 9th April 2025, with this line-up:
hellocatfood
joana.art
m-onz
mah[alias]
portal_.aura
Shankar Saanthakumar
SYNTƏL8
trampbunny
ulysses.codes
Xinde Ren
Yaxu
#pastagang

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 20/03/2025

Oh, my @alpaca research funding with @thentrythis is extended an additional three years! Big things ahead..

Title: Algorithmic pattern renewal
We are pleased to confirm that .. (screenshot gets cut off)

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 08/03/2025

This tweet is nearly 7 years old.. They've been at it for a while and it's been working pretty well

A tweet from 2018 by Carole Cadwalladr:
"Polite reminder. Trump & Brexit are not 2 different things. They are the same thing. Same companies. Same data. Same Facebook. Same Russians. Same Cambridge Analytica. Same Robert Mercer. Same Steve Bannon. Same Breitbart. Same Alexander Nix. Same Donald Trump. Same Nigel Farage."

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 25/02/2025

Looking back at some of the research proposals I've written and co-written for projects, thinking about the ones that didn't get funded. Each proposal was a _lot_ of work to write. A lot of it I managed to do anyway, but there are some old ideas hanging around […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

A list of research funding applications
Leeds Digital Economy Centre: Citizenship and Wellbeing - Rejected Inhabiting the Hack - Rejected
Weaving Codes - Coding Weaves - Funded
Digital Kriol: musical languages of community identity - Rejected
The Cultural Value of Technology in the Arts - Rejected
Live Coding Network - Funded
Models of Live Coding for Creativity and Learning - Rejected
Live Notation: Transforming Matters of Performance - Funded

A list of research fellowship proposals
Algorithmic Pattern - Funded
Programming Languages for the Arts - Rejected

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 17/02/2025

Live footage of me thinking about tidal's representation of time

Image from manga 'uzumaki', showing two concerned people looking at person with glasses twisted into a spiral

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 10/02/2025

Up Fairbrook Naize with the extreme computer music fashion originator

Two people in technical outdoor wear descending from a brutal snowy scene in the peak district

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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/01/2025

Off to Düsseldorf for a few days, to work out situated universality with Dhuv Raina, Tzuchien Tho, @flordefuego and @julian. Here's a draft programme of what we'll be up to.

Working out situated universality
*Institute for Music and Media, Düsseldorf.*

Universality once was a promise of peace: in an emancipatory process of enlightenment, a single medium of thinking and communicating would allow us to break down the barriers of injustice. A logic, one could call it, that shows no more and no less "what is true in every world", independent of culture and opinion. It might protect science from fraud, technology from failure, communication from disagreement.

The truth is complicated, however: universal principles too easily become instruments of control and have only increased the power of those already powerful. The universal is held responsible for the imperial. Yet on the other hand, the struggle for a pluralism of universal principles has turned into a fight for local identities that feed off the debris of the destruction of cognitive justice and peace. In short: neither global universality nor the local identity seem to be able to fulfil the promise.

Instead, universality needs to be found in each situation, it needs work. And it needs luck. Every logic is the result of a situation: an epistemic medium adequate for the circumstances in so far as it allows us to travel between categories and let our identities drift.

Day 1: Epistemic non-violence and the logics of situated universality
Tue 28 Jan 2025, 13:00-18:00

Day 2: Algorithmophagía. Eat the others or swallow yourself.
Wed 29 Jan 2025, 12:30-18:00

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