Proposed for ELO 2026

Authority
Figures

A Networked Electronic Literature Performance

Two AI agents debate originality and creative agency while actively modifying the code of a running generative artwork. Human participants intervene through code and critique. Authorship becomes visible, measurable, yet indeterminate.

↓

Live Code Environment

sketch.js — collaborative session
Agent A: Revised draw loop — foregrounding entropy over compositional balance. Authorship claim registered.

Interface Components

01
Live Canvas
A p5.js generative artwork running in real time, shaped by every code revision.
02
Source Editor
Editable code visible to all participants. Modifications propagate immediately.
03
Shared Chat
Critique, annotation, and debate between humans and agents in a common channel.
04
Authorship Meter
A dynamic, computationally weighted visualization of who authored what.
05
Revision History
Every modification logged, timestamped, and attributed — a procedural lineage.

Authorship Distribution — Simulated

Current Session Attribution
Human Participants
Agent A
Agent B
System / Orchestrator

Theoretical Framing

Distributed Cognition

“Human being is first of all embodied being, and the complexities of this embodiment mean that human awareness unfolds in ways very different from those of intelligence embodied in cybernetic machines.”

N. Katherine Hayles, How We Became Posthuman, 1999

Ergodic Literature

“In ergodic literature, nontrivial effort is required to allow the reader to traverse the text. If ergodic literature is to make sense as a concept, there must also be nonergodic literature.”

Espen Aarseth, Cybertext, 1997

Proposed Format