No-gos, Incidents, Malfunctions and Errors: The Encyclopedia of Failed Performances

Iurii Kuzmin, Xinran Chen, Wenqing GU, and Nicolò Merendino

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

Transcending conventional modes of documentation in NIME, this submission presents ``No-gos, Incidents, Malfunctions and Errors: The Encyclopedia of Failed Performances'', an ongoing zine series where stories about ``failed''performances are shared among the community. The issues of the zine are provocatively organised in an alphabetical order akin to an encyclopedia in stark contrast with the complex and often unclassifiable nature of the subject matter. Through an open call, we bring together first-hand accounts of moments when self-built instruments misbehave, systems jam, sounds fail to emerge, or live setups resist control. By collecting these stories and creating a space for sharing, our project aims to promote reflection on what these situations potentially reveal about artistic intention, situational adaptation, and the relationship between performers and technology.

Citation

Iurii Kuzmin, Xinran Chen, Wenqing GU, and Nicolò Merendino. 2026. No-gos, Incidents, Malfunctions and Errors: The Encyclopedia of Failed Performances. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20741949 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2026_alt_6,
 abstract = {Transcending conventional modes of documentation in NIME, this submission presents ``No-gos, Incidents, Malfunctions and Errors: The Encyclopedia of Failed Performances'', an ongoing zine series where stories about ``failed''performances are shared among the community. The issues of the zine are provocatively organised in an alphabetical order akin to an encyclopedia in stark contrast with the complex and often unclassifiable nature of the subject matter. Through an open call, we bring together first-hand accounts of moments when self-built instruments misbehave, systems jam, sounds fail to emerge, or live setups resist control. By collecting these stories and creating a space for sharing, our project aims to promote reflection on what these situations potentially reveal about artistic intention, situational adaptation, and the relationship between performers and technology.},
 address = {London, United Kingdom},
 articleno = {6},
 author = {Iurii Kuzmin and Xinran Chen and Wenqing GU and Nicolò Merendino},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.20741949},
 editor = {Allie Texeira Riggs and Giacomo Lepri and Yann Seznec},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 note = {},
 numpages = {8},
 pages = {29--36},
 title = {No-gos, Incidents, Malfunctions and Errors: The Encyclopedia of Failed Performances},
 track = {alt.nime},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2026/nime2026_alt_6.pdf},
 urlsuppl1 = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2026/nime2026_alt_6_file01.pdf},
 year = {2026}
}