in the workshop 0.2.0
listen in
type a toe-rag. hear exactly what they hear, in real-time. silent co-listening. no chat. no signal. just shared sound.
composes with the-handoff · drift · the-seance
the labs
this is where we try things that shouldn't work. social experiments for the odd, the curious, the strange and wonderful. normies welcome. creatives, radicals, misfits, and the lonely — especially the lonely.
if you can describe us, we have failed.
36 experiments · 8 categories
sync
shared playback state — be in the same moment
in the workshop 0.1.0
listening parties
anonymous. synchronised. The Room, but everyone hears the same thing at the same time. no chat. just presence.
composes with the-blackout · listen-in · collective-canvas
on the wall 0.0.1
the blackout
for 60 seconds, everyone on T.O.E. hears the same thing. no choice. no skip. coordinated.
composes with listening-parties · emotional-weather
chain
sequential creation — each adds to what came before
on the wall 0.0.1
exquisite corpse
surrealist game. each person adds one track without hearing the others. you only hear the full chain once it's complete.
composes with the-telephone · synesthesia · the-director
on the wall 0.0.1
the telephone
chain of 10 listeners. A plays something. B hears it, picks something it reminds them of. after 10 links, A hears what the chain produced.
composes with exquisite-corpse · synesthesia · drift
versus
competing objectives — conflict as creativity
on the wall 0.0.1
the saboteur
5 people curate a playlist together. one is secretly told to subtly ruin it. can the others identify the saboteur?
composes with conflicting-instructions · the-argument
on the wall 0.0.1
the argument
two strangers paired. given a topic ("field recordings vs. drone music"). each builds a playlist that makes their case. listeners vote.
composes with the-saboteur · the-curators-dilemma
on the wall 0.0.1
the curator's dilemma
two curators given the same 20 tracks but conflicting instructions. "arrange by beauty ascending" vs. "arrange by chaos descending." compare results.
composes with the-argument · conflicting-instructions
on the wall 0.0.1
conflicting instructions
three people build a playlist together. each has a secret rule the others don't know. one must include silence. one must avoid percussion. one must alternate decades.
composes with the-saboteur · the-curators-dilemma
temporal
time as material — patience, memory, haunting
on the wall 0.0.1
the séance
summon a dead toe-rag (inactive 30+ days). their last session plays back as a ghost. you're listening to someone who left.
composes with listen-in · time-capsule
on the wall 0.0.1
time capsule
seal what you're listening to right now. in exactly 1 year, it plays back to a random stranger.
composes with the-seance · frequency-journal
on the wall 0.0.1
the night shift
a station that only exists between 2am and 5am in your timezone. you have to be awake. you have to be there.
composes with listening-parties · mood-contagion
on the wall 0.0.1
frequency journal
a private audio diary. record a sound each day. only you hear it. after 30 days, it becomes a station.
composes with time-capsule · the-seance
generative
emergent from collective action — more people = more signal
on the wall 0.0.1
drift
your audio slowly, imperceptibly crossfades into what someone else is hearing. by the time you notice, you're in their world.
composes with listen-in · mood-contagion · the-telephone
on the wall 0.0.1
sonic drift
generative audio that evolves with the number of listeners. more ears = more layers. leave and something disappears.
composes with collaborative-noise · collective-canvas · emotional-weather
on the wall 0.0.1
collaborative noise
everyone contributes a frequency. the result is either beautiful or unbearable. both are valid.
composes with sonic-drift · frequency-roulette
on the wall 0.0.1
parallel universe
two versions of the same station. listeners vote skip/keep. after a week, the stations are completely different beasts.
composes with the-argument · emotional-weather
on the wall 0.0.1
mood contagion
the system detects your station mood and subtly shifts nearby listeners (by toe-rag hash proximity) toward the same vibe.
composes with drift · emotional-weather · the-night-shift
on the wall 0.0.1
dead letter drops
leave a sound at a frequency. someone finds it. no sender. no recipient. just signal in the dark.
composes with lost-and-found · the-confession-booth
on the wall 0.0.1
emotional weather
a live global mood map. each listener's current station contributes to the "weather." is the world feeling odd today? or rare?
composes with mood-contagion · parallel-universe · collective-canvas · the-blackout
cross-modal
mixing senses — sound meets image meets text
on the wall 0.0.1
synesthesia
an image appears. pick a sound that matches. the next person sees the same image + hears your sound, then picks their own. visual→audio→visual chain.
composes with blind-gallery · exquisite-corpse · the-telephone
on the wall 0.0.1
blind gallery
hear a track. find an image from the archive that "matches." others rate the pairing. the best synesthetes rise.
composes with synesthesia · album-art-generator · mood-board-roulette
on the wall 0.0.1
album art generator
paste an audio URL. the system finds a "matching" public domain image based on metadata and mood. your personal album art, from the world's archives.
composes with blind-gallery · mood-board-roulette
on the wall 0.0.1
collective canvas
a shared image grid. each listener claims one cell. when they play audio, their cell pulses with the sound. together, the grid is a visual instrument.
composes with listening-parties · sonic-drift · emotional-weather
on the wall 0.0.1
the director
one person picks images. another picks sounds. a third writes the liner notes. none can see what the others chose until the "premiere."
composes with exquisite-corpse · synesthesia
on the wall 0.0.1
mood board roulette
system generates a random mood board (3 images + 2 colours + 1 word). you have 5 minutes to find a track that captures it.
composes with blind-gallery · album-art-generator
game
structured play — rules create freedom
on the wall 0.0.1
lost & found
hide an image or sound somewhere in the archive. write cryptic clues. others must find it. first to find it hides the next one.
composes with the-heist · dead-letter-drops
on the wall 0.0.1
the heist
a set is locked behind 5 puzzles scattered across the archive. each puzzle reveals one track. complete all 5 to unlock the full set. timed.
composes with lost-and-found · conflicting-instructions
in the workshop 0.1.0
the archive walk
a guided wander through the Internet Archive. no algorithm. just a human-curated path through forgotten recordings.
composes with lost-and-found · synesthesia
radical
identity disruption — who are you when your taste changes?
on the wall 0.0.1
the handoff
a stranger takes control of your queue. they pick your next track. then you pick theirs. alternating DJ, zero communication.
composes with listen-in · the-swap · mirror-station
on the wall 0.0.1
the swap
your entire personal collection is swapped with a stranger's for 24 hours. you live their taste. they live yours.
composes with the-handoff · mirror-station
on the wall 0.0.1
the confession booth
record a 30-second voice note. it plays once, to one random person, then it's destroyed forever. no trace. no replay.
composes with dead-letter-drops · time-capsule
on the wall 0.0.1
the remix
take someone's DJ set. you can't remove tracks, but you can insert between them. the original curator sees what you did to their sequence.
composes with the-handoff · exquisite-corpse
on the wall 0.0.1
the intervention
if the system detects you've been on the same station for 4+ hours, it gently (or aggressively) interrupts with something completely different.
composes with drift · the-blackout
on the wall 0.0.1
mirror station
two strangers. same playlist. no idea who the other is. listen to what someone else chose, while they listen to yours.
composes with the-swap · the-handoff · listen-in
on the wall 0.0.1
frequency roulette
randomly paired with a stranger. both tracks play simultaneously, layered on top of each other. beautiful or unbearable. both valid.
composes with collaborative-noise · drift
add an experiment
got an idea for something weird? something dangerous? something beautiful? something that makes no sense? good. tell us.
"we are a safe space. a dangerous space. a third space. we are this and that. we do what google can't or won't."