Why Not?

Naming your event “2024’s Biggest Thursday” is gusty. But in this case, it’s not without reason. On Thursday, June 6, Afhverju Ekki (“Why Not”) is hosting a night of live coding at RADAR.

Mesmerising and innovative, live coding refers to a genre of performance — specifically a type of DJ set in this case — in which an artist writes, edits and executes code onstage. Usually, the code is projected onto them or a backdrop while it warps the performance’s sound or visuals. I asked c_robo_, one artist on the bill, about their gravitation towards this undeniably unique method of performance.

“I was enamoured with the idea of an all-in-one performance system, with integrated visuals and the like, that I could control from my laptop,” they tell me. Another artist, DJ_Dave, noted being “drawn to the transparency between performer and audience.” This is the first event hosted by Afhverju Ekki – The Absolutely Everything Studio, and its first move towards the surface with an “anticipated birth later this year,” according to founder, designer and technologist musician Jack Armitage.

He describes Afhverju Ekki as an “unbounded laboratory ecosystem and a garden for optimistic ambitions.” U.K.

born and Iceland-based Jack, known under musical moniker Lil Data, is a firmly established musician in his own right thanks to previous releases with the legendary label PC Music and his ongoing work at the University of Iceland’s Intelligent Instruments Lab. Four.