As part of TOPLAP Düsseldorf’s experimental performance series, we had the honor of opening the night as “Crash Server” at the intimate venue Schleuse Zwei. The series, dedicated to the intersection of live coding, percussion, bow chime, and theatrical performance, brings together international and local artists to explore the boundaries of creative collaboration.
For an hour, we embarked on our mission to “destroy the server” through live coding performance. In a twist of algorithmic fate, what ultimately brought our digital environment to its knees wasn’t an intentional assault, but a simple syntactical slip – writing “Clock” instead of “Clock.bpm” in our FoxDot environment. This small oversight created a cascading instability that concluded our set in unexpectedly chaos.
The Düsseldorf scene, represented by organizers Alex, Marcus, Sebastian, and others, showed us incredible hospitality. Our post-performance discussions revealed fascinating parallels and contrasts between the live coding communities of Strasbourg and Düsseldorf. These conversations, fueled by shared passion for the craft, laid the groundwork for future collaborations.
The warmth of the Düsseldorf community and the success of our experimental performance left us eager for more cross-cultural exchanges. As we packed our gear and said our goodbyes, one thing became clear: this wouldn’t be our last visit to the vibrant Düsseldorf live coding scene.
What began as a performance ended as a promise of continued collaboration between our cities. Until next time, Düsseldorf! Good luck for the three upcoming events !