core / papers / SCORE.md

# Score for Papers

## Mill Mission

The papermill exists to make the thinking inside Aesthetic Computer visible and shareable. AC generates a constant stream of ideas, experiments, and design decisions — most of which live only in code, commits, and conversation. The mill's job is to catch that stream and press it into forms that can leave the building: papers, cards, references, scores.

The mill is not an academic obligation. It is a publishing infrastructure — a way to keep the research platter honest by forcing ideas through the pressure of writing them down for someone else. If a thread can survive being written as a paper, it was real. If it can survive being compressed to a card, it was essential.

## What This Is

Papers are one output of a research platter — a living collection of materials, references, experiments, and threads that accumulate over time. The platter is always growing. Papers are what gets carved off and shaped into a form that can travel: to a conference, to a reader, to a card.

Each paper starts from a question or observation inside the Aesthetic Computer project and tries to make it legible to someone outside the project. The goal is not to be exhaustive but to be honest about what the work is and why it matters.

## Process

```
platter (raw material: notes, code, conversations, references)
  → thread (a question or observation worth following)
    → draft (a paper that tries to answer or frame it)
      → formats (arXiv two-column, cards single-sheet, JOSS software paper)
        → targets (conferences, journals, submissions, mail art)
```

The platter feeds everything. Threads get pulled from it. Some threads become papers, some become code, some stay threads. Papers can be rendered in multiple formats — the same .tex source produces both a full arXiv-style PDF and a single-sheet index card via `cards-convert.mjs`.

## Formats

- **arXiv**: Two-column academic layout with AC custom fonts, syntax-highlighted code, development history, adoption metrics. For preprint submission and sharing.
- **Cards**: Single-sheet index-card layout reformatted from arXiv source. Designed for printing, passing hand to hand, pinning on walls.
- **JOSS**: Condensed software papers for Journal of Open Source Software. Markdown with LaTeX includes. JOSS reviews focus on software quality, documentation, and community impact.

## Translations

Every paper exists in four languages: English, Danish, Spanish, and Chinese. Translations are generated and maintained alongside the English source. This is not decoration — it reflects a commitment to the work being accessible beyond the anglophone academic world.

## Papers

Sorted by most recently edited/added.

| Paper | Format | PDF | Source |
|-------|--------|-----|--------|
| The URL Tradition | arXiv (LaTeX) | `arxiv-url-tradition/url-tradition.pdf` | `arxiv-url-tradition/url-tradition.tex` |
| The Potter and the Prompt | arXiv (LaTeX) | `arxiv-holden/holden.pdf` | `arxiv-holden/holden.tex` |
| Two Departments, One Building | arXiv (LaTeX) | `arxiv-ucla-arts/ucla-arts.pdf` | `arxiv-ucla-arts/ucla-arts.tex` |
| Handle Identity on the AT Protocol | arXiv (LaTeX) | `arxiv-identity/identity.pdf` | `arxiv-identity/identity.tex` |
| Five Years from Now: What Aesthetic Computer Probably Becomes | arXiv (LaTeX) | `arxiv-futures/futures.pdf` | `arxiv-futures/futures.tex` |
| Get Closed Source Out of Schools | arXiv (LaTeX) | `arxiv-open-schools/open-schools.pdf` | `arxiv-open-schools/open-schools.tex` |
| CalArts, Callouts, and Papers | arXiv (LaTeX) | `arxiv-calarts/calarts.pdf` | `arxiv-calarts/calarts.tex` |
| Reading the Score: A Critical Analysis of SCORE.md | arXiv (LaTeX) | `arxiv-score-analysis/score-analysis.pdf` | `arxiv-score-analysis/score-analysis.tex` |
| KidLisp Cards: Programs That Fit on a Card | arXiv (LaTeX) | `arxiv-kidlisp-cards/kidlisp-cards.pdf` | `arxiv-kidlisp-cards/kidlisp-cards.tex` |
| Sucking on the Complex | arXiv (LaTeX) | `arxiv-complex/complex.pdf` | `arxiv-complex/complex.tex` |
| Playable Folk Songs | arXiv (LaTeX) | `arxiv-folk-songs/folk-songs.pdf` | `arxiv-folk-songs/folk-songs.tex` |
| Every Sound is a Painting: Sampling as Visual-Auditory Practice | arXiv (LaTeX) | `arxiv-sampling/sampling.pdf` | `arxiv-sampling/sampling.tex` |
| PLORKing the Planet: From Laptop Orchestra to Planetary Organ | arXiv (LaTeX, 8pp) | `arxiv-plork/plork.pdf` | `arxiv-plork/plork.tex` |
| From setup() to boot(): Processing at the Core of the Piece API | arXiv (LaTeX, 7pp) | `arxiv-api/api.pdf` | `arxiv-api/api.tex` |
| Network Audit: Who Uses Aesthetic Computer and What Do They Make? | arXiv (LaTeX, 4pp) | `arxiv-network-audit/network-audit.pdf` | `arxiv-network-audit/network-audit.tex` |
| KidLisp Language Reference: 118 Built-ins in 12 Categories | arXiv (LaTeX, 4pp) | `arxiv-kidlisp-reference/kidlisp-reference.pdf` | `arxiv-kidlisp-reference/kidlisp-reference.tex` |
| Whistlegraph: Drawing, Singing, and the Graphic Score as Viral Form | arXiv (LaTeX, 4pp) | `arxiv-whistlegraph/whistlegraph.pdf` | `arxiv-whistlegraph/whistlegraph.tex` |
| Dead Ends: Failed Experiments and Abandoned Approaches | arXiv (LaTeX, 4pp) | `arxiv-dead-ends/dead-ends.pdf` | `arxiv-dead-ends/dead-ends.tex` |
| Who Pays for Creative Tools? | arXiv (LaTeX, 5pp) | `arxiv-sustainability/sustainability.pdf` | `arxiv-sustainability/sustainability.tex` |
| Radical Computer Art: Goodiepalian Approaches | arXiv (LaTeX, 4pp) | `arxiv-goodiepal/goodiepal.pdf` | `arxiv-goodiepal/goodiepal.tex` |
| Repository Archaeology: Tracing AC Through Its Git History | arXiv (LaTeX, 3pp) | `arxiv-archaeology/archaeology.pdf` | `arxiv-archaeology/archaeology.tex` |
| Diversity and Inclusion in AC Paper Citations | arXiv (LaTeX, 4pp) | `arxiv-diversity/diversity.pdf` | `arxiv-diversity/diversity.tex` |
| KidLisp: A Minimal Lisp for Generative Art | arXiv (LaTeX, 6pp) | `arxiv-kidlisp/kidlisp.pdf` | `arxiv-kidlisp/kidlisp.tex` |
| notepat.com: From Keyboard Toy to System Front Door | arXiv (LaTeX, 5pp) | `arxiv-notepat/notepat.pdf` | `arxiv-notepat/notepat.tex` |
| AC Native OS '26 | arXiv (LaTeX, 5pp) | `arxiv-os/os.pdf` | `arxiv-os/os.tex` |
| Aesthetic Computer '26 | arXiv (LaTeX, 5pp) | `arxiv-ac/ac.pdf` | `arxiv-ac/ac.tex` |
| Pieces Not Programs: The Piece as a Unit of Creative Cognition | arXiv (LaTeX, 4pp) | `arxiv-pieces/pieces.pdf` | `arxiv-pieces/pieces.tex` |
| Aesthetic Computer '26 | JOSS (Markdown) | `joss-ac/paper.pdf` | `joss-ac/paper.md` |
| KidLisp '26 | JOSS (Markdown) | `joss-kidlisp/paper.pdf` | `joss-kidlisp/paper.md` |

## Building

### Automatic (Oven Papermill)

PDFs are auto-built on the oven server whenever `papers/` changes are pushed to `main`.
The pipeline polls git every 60s, detects changes, and runs `node papers/cli.mjs publish`
(xelatex 3-pass for all papers × 4 languages + deploy + index update).

- **Monitor:** `GET oven.aesthetic.computer/papers-build`
- **Manual trigger:** `POST oven.aesthetic.computer/papers-build` (requires admin key)
- **SSE logs:** `GET oven.aesthetic.computer/papers-build/:jobId/stream`
- **Source:** `oven/papers-builder.mjs`, `oven/papers-git-poller.mjs`

### Manual (Local)

```bash
# Full pipeline: build all → deploy → update index → verify
node papers/cli.mjs publish

# Build only English PDFs
node papers/cli.mjs build en

# Build cards format
node papers/papermill.mjs build --format cards

# Check status of all papers
node papers/cli.mjs status

# Individual paper (manual 3-pass build)
cd papers/arxiv-ac && xelatex ac.tex && bibtex ac && xelatex ac.tex && xelatex ac.tex
```

## Subdomain

Published at `papers.aesthetic.computer` and `papers.prompt.ac`.

## Targets

Upcoming conferences and journals to submit to.

### Still Open — Deadlines Ahead

| Venue | Type | Deadline | Conference Date | Status |
|-------|------|----------|-----------------|--------|
| [ACM C&C 2026](https://cc.acm.org/2026/) | Demos | Apr 16, 2026 | Jul 13–16, London | GO |
| [ICCC 2026](https://computationalcreativity.net/iccc26/) | Short Papers | Apr 24, 2026 | Jun 29–Jul 3, Coimbra | GO |
| [JOSS](https://joss.theoj.org/) | Software Paper | Rolling | Rolling | Anytime |
| [Scores for Social Software](https://socialsoftware.art/) | Card Deck | Mar 31, 2026 | Apr 2, UCLA | GO |

### Deadlines Passed (Track for Next Year)

NIME, xCoAx, ACM CHI, SIGGRAPH, Prix Ars Electronica, S+T+ARTS — all missed for 2026. Track 2027 calls.

## Funding Sources

| Source | Type | Amount |
|--------|------|--------|
| [Gary Marsden Travel Awards](https://sigchi.org/resources/gary-marsden-travel-awards/) | Travel grant | Flights, lodging, meals, registration |
| [Creative Capital Award](https://creative-capital.org/) | Project grant | Up to $50,000 |
| [Foundation for Contemporary Arts](https://www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/) | Emergency Grant | Varies |
| [Prix Ars Electronica](https://ars.electronica.art/prix/en/) | Prize | €10,000 (Golden Nica) |

## Author

@jeffrey — ORCID: [0009-0007-4460-4913](https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4460-4913)