Terms of Engagement

De Besturing

D1sconect

2025
2024
2024
2024
2024

Terms of Engagement

15.05.2025

Live performance
Participants: Giselle Dahm & Puck Wacki
Duration: 15 to 30 minutes

A machine hums, A voice reads. Terms of Engagement is a sonic exchange between human and instrument, an unfolding of overlooked language: specifications, warnings, operational instructions: the forgotten poetry written for machines.

 How do we listen when machines speak through us?

 Blurring the boundaries between sound performance, poetry, and technical ritual, Terms of Engagement invites listeners into a conversation we usually tune out, a meeting point between instruction and improvisation, between human error and mechanical insistence.

We explore the often overlooked dialogue between human operators and machines. Centering around the Pulsar-23 drum machine and its technical specifications, this live performance layers sonic experimentation with spoken word. One performer manipulates the Pulsar-23, while the other reads the device’s technical manual, warnings, and operational guidelines.

Arnhem, 2002