Esolangs Workshop (Esoteric programming languages)
What happens when programming languages aim not at functionality and efficiency, but at irritation and reflection, or act like poetry? In this beginner-friendly workshop, we'll explore esolangs: languages that do exactly that.
They include code written as images, as sound, or written by two programmers typing in synchrony, their collective rhythm determining commands. Each esolang offers a new take on language design as a medium for expression, critique, and play. Writing code becomes a way to participate in an artwork, performing its logic, and collaborating with its underlying ideas. While many esolangs live in the digital space, the concepts we explore need not be digital at all: they might run only in our heads.
In the second half, I'll walk through different approaches to building an esolang. Participants can share off-the-cuff ideas for feedback from the group and pointers on how to concretize them into working languages. I'll introduce the first steps toward creating interpreters, and answer questions from more experienced coders who want advice on advancing their projects.
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Daniel Temkin's computational and photographic work examines the clash between systemic logic and human irrationality. It includes programming languages where we carry an excess of meaning and gesture to code; he recently published Forty-Four Esolangs, the first artist's monograph of programming languages (MIT Press, 2025). It includes Folders, which dematerializes text and asks programmers to write code by dragging folders into other folders, and FatFinger, a version of JavaScript that allows typos and misspellings as valid code. His language Rivulet has been called the most beautiful programming language, and will be displayed in Paris's UNESCO building in early 2026.
tiat is the intersection of art and technology! tiat is a gallery for artworks using technology as a medium and gathering place for creative technologists to experiment, exhibit, and expand their practice. ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖