On Spatialisation Algorithms and Institutional Operations: A Systems-Theoretical Approach

This article examines how spatialisation algorithms are operationalised within institutional settings and what a systems-theoretical analysis reveals about this process. As spatial sound infrastructures proliferate, their dependence on specialised technology and maintenance makes the organisational conditions of operation unusually legible. Drawing on social systems theory and applying second-order observation to three Berlin- based institutions, it argues that spatialisation algorithms function as a medium through which different systems impress distinct forms. Spatial indeterminacy denotes the structurally unavoidable gap between spatial communications (algorithmic, compositional, and institutional) and perceptual experience. This is the constitutive condition of spatial audio practice that institutional codes may ignore, observe, or operationalise. A review of principal spatialisation techniques establishes the technical medium. Case studies then trace how access, authorship, and the meaning of immersive experience are shaped by the institutions that host it. The analysis shows that algorithmic embedding is not stable across institutional contexts, and that organisational structures delimit the scope of artistic inquiry.