Call for Papers and Performances

ICLI is an interdisciplinary conference focusing on the role of interfaces in all artistic performance activities. We encourage critical and reflective approaches to key themes in the design and use of live interfaces. A wide range of theoretical and practice-based approaches are welcomed by people from all possible research, art and other practice backgrounds. The fifth International Conference on Live Interfaces will take place at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, NTNU, 9-11 March 2020. This biennial conference will bring together people working with live interfaces in the performing arts, including music, the visual arts, theatre, dance, puppetry, robotics or games. The conference scope is highly interdisciplinary but with a focus on interface technologies of expression in the area of performance. Note that technologies here can be understood in the widest possible sense. Topics of liveness, immediacy, presence (and tele-presence), mediation, collaboration and timing or flow are engaged with and questioned in order to gain a deeper understanding of the role contemporary media technologies play in human expression.

The call is open to all topics of Live Interfaces as described above. We have chosen to frame this in a theme for the 2020 conference, but the theme should be understood in the most open manner possible:

Artificial Intelligence. Artistic Intelligence.

Automated Emotional Intelligence.

A.I. is relatively widespread and ubiquitous within interfaces for artistic expression. Within this domain we can also include various sorts of automation and algorithmic extensions, as this constitutes a form of external agency that allows us to do more – more than we could unassisted by these technologies. How does this affect the artistic expression? Is it merely a convenience and an affordance to allow us to interface to complex domains, and as such just extend our inherent abilities? Or, does it imply a deeper impact on how the art is made? We can assume that all interfaces affect what we can do in profound ways. The difference with A.I. and machine learning in general is that the internal workings of the algorithms to a larger extent is a black box. We understand to a lesser degree how the internals of neural networks actually work, and then, how do we understand what we do as artists with these interfaces?

The call is open to all topics concerning live interfaces, not only to this year’s special theme.

Submission categories

All submission proposals must be written in English and should comply with the Latex, Word or Open Office templates. Full papers must be submitted (not abstracts). The submission should be in a PDF format. We accept submissions in the following categories:

• Papers (5-8 pages). Can be presented at the conference either as a conventional paper or as a performative paper, i.e. as a mix of performance and oral presentation. Please specify which presentation form you would prefer.
• Poster/demo/artwork papers (3-6 pages). Performances and installations may also be accompanied with this type of paper. In that case, please submit in both categories and note that it is a dual submission.
• Colloquium papers (2-6 pages). See info below
• Performances (1 page description, link to work, and a technical rider. Note the limitations given below
• Installations (1 page description, link to work, and a technical rider. Note the limitations given below

All submissions will be received through the EasyChair conference submission system.

• Submissions must be original and will be rigorously reviewed by an international and multidisciplinary scientific committee, in a process that will assess originality, relevance, artistic and technical achievements;
• Submissions should be presented as .pdf files with all the media files embedded or linked to online resources;
• Final versions for publication should be delivered in .pdf, plus source files in .docx, .odt or .tex with all the images and other media files attached as independent files;
• All images and media assets must be cleared for publication by the authors;
• At least one of the authors of each selected contribution must register to the conference before the first author registration deadline in order for the work to be published in the proceedings;
• ICLI’s working language is English;
• The proceedings will be published online. They will be Open Access, with Creative Commons attribution. ICLI proceedings are published with the ISSN: 2663-9041. Each individual paper will receive a Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

The proceedings previous ICLI conferences can be found here:

• 2012, selection
• 2014, complete
• 2016, complete
• 2018, complete

Important dates

• 20 August 2019: Call for papers and performances
• 12 November 2019: Submission deadline
• 20 December 2019: Notification of acceptance with reviewer feedback
• 9 January 2020: Early bird registration deadline
• 9 January 2020: Submission of reviewed version of papers
• 9-11 March 2020: Conference in Trondheim

Colloquium paper session

ICLI 2020 will include a special Colloquium session. This will provide an opportunity to present early-phase research and receive feedback and discussion. In ICLI 2018 this was done as a doctoral symposium, and we found this an interesting forum for dialogue and discussion about works-in-progress. This time we would like to extend this opportunity also to other researchers, including doctoral students (but not exclusively). The colloquium aims to foster the discussion of research topics and approaches, and to promote interaction between the research community. The colloquium paper should include: 1) Purpose of the research and its importance to the field; 2) Brief survey of background and related work; 3) Description of the proposed approach; 4) Expected contributions; 5) Progress towards goals.

Technical info for performances and installations:

The performances and installations will be staged in a concert venue. A good PA system appropriate for the hall is installed, and a decent set of microphones, lines, monitors, lights etc as one would expect for a professional concert venue. The technical rider should inform which equipment is needed to allow for a smooth procedure during sound check. The conference cannot provide any specialized equipment other than that commonly found in a concert venue for music. Also, the conference cannot provide performers for composed pieces etc. The submission of works to the conference implies that you will bring what you need of personnel and special equipment to perform or install the piece. Performances should be limited to 10 minutes. Contact with the organizing committee if your performance has acute requirements for more time.