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Papers publishes working research on the Aesthetic.Computer project by @jeffrey — typeset in LaTeX and compiled from the research platter. Cards are 4×6 inch mobile versions. Translated into Danish, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian.

Active proposals all deadlines →
platform & language;13
the runtime, the language, and the surfaces you actually touch.
A Mobile-First Runtime for Creative Computing · arXiv 5pp
Aesthetic Computer is presented as a mobile-first creative computing runtime where the interface, publishing flow, and community feedback loop are part of the medium. The paper argues that small pieces can make software feel more social, more portable, and easier to share.
@jeffrey03/21revision 4May 14 15:27
A Minimal Lisp for Generative Art on a Social Platform · arXiv 6pp
KidLisp is the platform's tiny Lisp for building visual and musical pieces in the browser. The paper shows how a minimal language can stay approachable while still supporting generative art and composition.
@jeffrey03/21revision 4May 14 15:27
A Bare-Metal Creative Computing Operating System · arXiv 5pp
AC Native OS describes a bare-metal runtime for creative computing. It focuses on boot-time simplicity and the idea that the operating system itself can be a programmable art surface.
@jeffrey03/21revision 4May 14 15:27
Processing at the Core of the Piece API · arXiv 7pp
The Piece API rethinks creative software around composable pieces instead of monolithic apps. It uses Processing's lineage to connect setup(), boot(), and the act of publishing.
@jeffrey03/21revision 4May 14 15:27
The Piece as a Unit of Creative Cognition · arXiv 4pp
A piece is treated here as the basic unit of creative cognition in AC. The paper argues that smaller, shareable pieces encourage composition, remix, and publication.
@jeffrey03/21revision 4May 14 15:27
From Keyboard Toy to System Front Door · arXiv 5pp
notepat.com is framed as a keyboard-first front door to the system. The paper follows the toy-like input surface as it grows into a fuller creative interface.
@jeffrey03/21revision 4May 14 15:27
118 Built-ins in 12 Categories · arXiv 4pp
The KidLisp reference compresses the language into a usable field guide. It groups 118 built-ins into 12 categories for quick browsing and recall.
@jeffrey03/21revision 4May 14 15:27
Handle Identity on the AT Protocol treats naming as a social and technical problem. The paper explores how handles, identity, and publishing can be tied together without losing portability.
@jeffrey03/27revision 4May 18 06:16
@jeffrey05/02revision 18May 18 06:16
KidLisp Cards condenses the language into a pocketable card format. It is meant to make the language easier to browse, teach, and carry.
@jeffrey03/21revision 5May 18 06:16
Addressable Creative Computing from Lovelace's Footnotes to Aesthetic Computer · arXiv
The URL Tradition traces address-thinking from Lovelace's footnotes, Bush's trails, Xanadu, and the Negro Motorist Green Book through net.art, single-serving sites, the tilde, Glitch, and Aesthetic Computer's prompt-as-address-bar. It argues the URL is not a feature but a medium property that reshapes authorship, distribution, pedagogy, performance, and political claim.
@jeffrey04/27revision 3May 18 06:16
@jeffrey04/26revision 7May 18 06:16
@jeffrey04/28revision 3May 18 06:16
essays & criticism;12
arguments about creative computing — its lineage, its players, and its discontents.
Laptop Orchestras, PLOrk Heritage, and Aesthetic Computer · arXiv
This paper connects Aesthetic Computer to laptop orchestras and the collaborative traditions of PLOrk. It treats the browser as a place for ensemble practice, not just solo desktop programming.
@jeffrey03/21revision 4May 18 06:16
Funding, Burnout, and Survival in Open-Source Creative Computing · arXiv 5pp
A short look at who supports open-source creative tools and what that labor costs. The paper connects funding, burnout, and long-term maintenance to the life of artistic software.
@jeffrey03/27revision 3May 14 15:27
Goodiepalian Approaches in Aesthetic Computer · arXiv 5pp
This paper treats Goodiepalian practice as a model for radical computer art. It emphasizes play, notation, and the social life of systems over polished product design.
@jeffrey03/21revision 5May 18 06:16
Drawing, Singing, and the Graphic Score as Viral Form · arXiv 4pp
Whistlegraph explores drawing, singing, and score-making as forms that can spread like software. The paper links graphic notation to performance, remix, and browser-native sharing.
@jeffrey03/21revision 5647May 14 15:33
Platform Hegemony, Critique-as-Content, and Anti-Environments · arXiv 5pp
Sucking on the Complex critiques platform hegemony and the way critique becomes content. It looks for anti-environments that stay messy, resistant, and alive.
@jeffrey03/21revision 5May 18 06:16
Dormant Paths, Evolutionary Branches, and Abandoned Approaches · arXiv 4pp
The paper catalogs dormant branches, abandoned experiments, and paths that never became default. It treats dead ends as useful history rather than failure.
@jeffrey03/21revision 4May 14 15:27
Oral Tradition Meets the Browser Keyboard · arXiv
Playable Folk Songs brings oral tradition into the browser keyboard. The paper asks how simple interaction can carry collective memory and repetition.
@jeffrey03/21revision 5May 18 06:16
Five Years from Now is a projection paper about where the project could go if current habits continue. It uses the near future to test the consequences of today's decisions.
@jeffrey03/20revision 5May 18 06:16
John Holden's Proto-Cognitive Music Theory and Aesthetic Computer · arXiv 7pp
The Potter and the Prompt argues that AC independently converges on the core principles of John Holden's 1770 proto-cognitive music theory. It proposes AC as a computational laboratory for advancing Holden's unfinished program on grouping, attention, and the module.
@jeffrey04/05revision 4May 18 06:16
Reading the Score looks at the graphic score as an interface for interpretation and collaboration. The paper treats notation as a computational and social object.
@jeffrey03/21revision 5May 18 06:16
@jeffrey05/18revision 1May 18 06:16
@jeffrey05/03revision 2May 18 06:16
audits & field studies;4
data turned back on the project itself — who uses it, what it cites, where it came from.
Tracing the Evolution of AC Through Its Git History · arXiv 3pp · interactive timeline
Repository Archaeology traces the project through its git history. The paper shows how version control can become a narrative medium for design evolution.
@jeffrey03/21revision 4May 14 15:27
Who Uses Aesthetic Computer and What Do They Make? · arXiv 4pp
Network Audit asks who uses Aesthetic Computer and what they make with it. The paper turns usage patterns into a portrait of a community in motion.
@jeffrey03/21revision 4May 14 15:27
Diversity and Inclusion in AC Paper Citations · 4pp
Citation Diversity Audit looks at who gets cited in the papers and where the archive is thin. The paper uses citation patterns as a proxy for inclusion and intellectual range.
@jeffrey03/21revision 4May 14 15:27
Get Closed Source Out of Schools makes the case that creative computing should be teachable, inspectable, and modifiable. The paper argues for open tools as infrastructure for learning.
@jeffrey03/20revision 5May 18 06:16
dossiers;18
what's publicly recoverable about art-and-tech institutions and their largest funders — fact-surfacing, not argument.
501(c)(3) digital-arts recipient · IRS 990 pipeline · arXiv
What is publicly recoverable about Rhizome.org: governance, finances, and named grants reconstructed from IRS 990 filings and masthead snapshots. The dossier records the documentary record and stops where the facts run out.
@jeffrey05/02revision 3May 18 06:16
School for Poetic Computation · LLC, public finance repo · arXiv
What is publicly recoverable about the School for Poetic Computation: an LLC that publishes its own finances to a public GitHub repository, read alongside programs and people. Fact-surfacing, not argument.
@jeffrey05/02revision 3May 18 06:16
501(c)(3) art-and-technology recipient · IRS 990 pipeline · arXiv
What is publicly recoverable about Eyebeam: financials, governance, residencies, and named grants pulled from IRS 990 XML. The dossier surfaces the record without interpreting it.
@jeffrey05/02revision 3May 18 06:16
Recurse Center · for-profit, recruiting-funded model · arXiv
What is publicly recoverable about the Recurse Center: a for-profit programmers' retreat funded by a recruiting model, read through founder interviews and public statements. Fact-surfacing, not argument.
@jeffrey05/02revision 2May 2 14:30
501(c)(3) recipient · IRS 990 + litigation track · arXiv
What is publicly recoverable about the Internet Archive: finances and governance from IRS 990 filings, plus a litigation track from public court records. The dossier records both and stops at the facts.
@jeffrey05/02revision 3May 18 06:16
The funder flip · 990-PF + grants database · arXiv
The funder side: what is publicly recoverable about the Mellon Foundation from its 990-PF and grants database — the Form 990-PF that paid for nontrivial chunks of the other dossiers. Fact-surfacing, not argument.
@jeffrey05/02revision 3May 18 06:16
501(c)(3) recipient · founder-as-funder · arXiv
What is publicly recoverable about Pioneer Works: finances, governance, and a founder-as-funder structure reconstructed from IRS 990 filings and public record. The dossier surfaces the record without interpreting it.
@jeffrey05/02revision 3May 18 06:16
Embedded in the New Museum's 990 · arXiv
What is publicly recoverable about NEW INC, the New Museum's incubator: finances and governance read out of the parent museum's IRS 990, where the program is embedded rather than separately filed. Fact-surfacing, not argument.
@jeffrey05/18revision 1May 18 06:16
501(c)(3) recipient · capital campaign · arXiv
What is publicly recoverable about the Studio Museum in Harlem: finances, governance, and a capital campaign reconstructed from IRS 990 filings and public documents. The dossier records the documentary record.
@jeffrey05/18revision 1May 18 06:16
UMich library service · no separate 990 · arXiv
What is publicly recoverable about HathiTrust: a University of Michigan library service with no separate IRS 990, surfaced instead through host-institution disclosures and public reports. Fact-surfacing, not argument.
@jeffrey05/18revision 1May 18 06:16
501(c)(3) recipient · a 50-plus-year arc · arXiv
What is publicly recoverable about The Kitchen: a half-century of finances and governance reconstructed from IRS 990 filings and public record across the organization's long arc. The dossier stops where the facts run out.
@jeffrey05/18revision 1May 18 06:16
501(c)(3) recipient (until 2018) · Echo Park · arXiv
What is publicly recoverable about Machine Project: the Echo Park space's finances and governance from IRS 990 filings through its 2018 wind-down. Fact-surfacing, not argument.
@jeffrey05/18revision 1May 18 06:16
Small space · status undisclosed · arXiv
What is publicly recoverable about Heavy Manners Library: a small space whose legal status is undisclosed, surfaced through what little public record exists. The dossier records the gaps as part of the record.
@jeffrey05/18revision 1May 18 06:16
501(c)(3) public-art commissioner · IRS 990 pipeline · arXiv
What is publicly recoverable about Creative Time, the New York public-art nonprofit (1974–): structure, programs, people, and money from the IRS 990 series and its program archive. Scaffold revision — figures pending the data pass; fact-surfacing, not argument.
@jeffrey05/18revision 1May 18 06:34
501(c)(3) artist-grant funder · 990 + grantee record · arXiv
What is publicly recoverable about Creative Capital, the New York nonprofit (1999–) that regrants to individual artists: structure, the award, people, and money from the IRS 990 series and the public grantee record. Scaffold revision — figures pending; fact-surfacing, not argument.
@jeffrey05/18revision 1May 18 06:34
The public-company flip · SEC EDGAR + 11-year archive · arXiv
The public-company side: what is publicly recoverable about MicroVision (NASDAQ: MVIS) from SEC EDGAR and an eleven-year family archive of filings. Fact-surfacing, not argument.
@jeffrey05/04revision 2May 18 06:16
CalArts · a dossier in news format · arXiv
What's New CalArts!? surfaces what is publicly recoverable about CalArts in a news-format dossier: programs, finances, and governance from public documents. The dossier records the record and stops at the facts.
@jeffrey05/18revision 1May 18 06:16
Two Departments, One Building examines how funding and infrastructure shape creative work in shared spaces. The paper looks at administrative boundaries as part of the artistic system.
@jeffrey03/27revision 4May 18 06:16
software papers;3
conventional software-paper summaries, for archival and citation.
JOSS Summary · 2pp
A compact JOSS summary of Aesthetic Computer for archival and citation purposes. It distills the platform into a conventional software paper format.
May 2 15:01
JOSS Summary · 3pp
A compact JOSS summary of KidLisp for archival and citation purposes. It frames the language as a small but expressive tool for generative art.
May 2 15:01
A Minimal Lisp for Generative Art with Social Composition · ELS ACM SIGS 4pp
An ELS conference version of KidLisp that emphasizes social composition. It positions the language as a shared practice rather than a solo scripting environment.
May 2 15:01
archive;1
deprecated — kept for the record, no longer actively maintained.
CalArts, Callouts, and Papers turns a local institutional context into a study of friction, attention, and production. The paper leans into psycho style to show how academic labor is staged and performed.
@jeffrey03/21revision 5May 18 06:16

By @jeffrey. feed.