DATE
7 to 10 of July of 2009 / 14h00 – 18h30

TIME
Total: 20 hours

PARTICIPANTS
15 participants (min. 8)

TEACHER
Simon Schäfer

Our perception of media today is significantly influenced by consumer electronics we were surrounded with in the past. Circuit bending is an anarchic way of self-empowerment to actively shape the future by bulding cool new stuff that produces weird sounds and pictures out of the old stuff that we all know anyway.

Parcitipants will transform cheap keyboards, gaming consoles, drum computers, video enhancers, etc. into unique performance tools with very own individualities. By semi-randomly shorting electronic components on the circuit boards while the unit is running, all kinds of glitches and effects will be explored. Connections will be mapped and later hard- wired with switches or potentiometers to form a new interface for the instrument. After finishing their instrument, participants will learn how to use them to improvise with each other to build up an audiovisual live performance of all members to be presented at the end of the workshop.

First day: The workshop will start with a very brief introduction on what circuit bending is and some examples of bent equipment in action, so participants get a rough idea of what can be achieved. Then they will choose/find/trade an instrument, open it up and start probing around on the circuit board for effects. The rest of the module will be spent this way. Second day: Participants will continue probing, then mapping down what they find. Ideas about the instruments' future interface will be addressed. First holes will be drilled and first switches and pots will be soldered and glued in place. Third day: This day's module will be entirely spent on soldering, gluing, drilling and whatever else is necessary for the building of the each members' very own unique piece of modified hardware. Ideally, most instruments will be finished at the end of this module. Fourth day: The last pieces will be finished as soon as possible so all participants can spend some time learning how to use their gear. There will be solo and group improvisations that lead to shaping and rehearsing the groups' live performance which will then become a fabulous conclusion to the workshop.

Open to all ages and abilities – no previous experience necessary.
Please feel free to bring a piece of gear you might want to modify.

wire cutters
alligator clip cables
some basic tools like pliers and screwdrivers (preferably Philips head, but also a few flat ones)
5-6 tubes of two-component five-minutes epoxy glue
4-5 hot glue guns
4-5 TV's for testing
4-5 sound systems or active speakers for testing
a nice pile of RCA cables
a nice pile of 1/4" jack audio cables
2-3 audio mixers (also nice for the performance)
2-3 video mixers with inbuilt timebase correction (number of course depends on video inputs)
1-2 video projectors for rehearsing
1-2 Video projectors and a decent sound System for the Performance

Simon Schäfer studied sculpture and media art at the “Hochschule für Gestaltung” in Offenbach, Germany from 1999 to 2007.
Since 2000 he is playing music as “der Warst” with an ever-growing laboratory of modified instruments. In 2007 he developed his audiovisual live show “amah-intend” as a part of his minor diploma, which he presented for example at the “European Media Art Festival 2008” in Osnabrück and the “Bent Festival 2008” in Los Angeles.
Simon Schäfer currently lives and works in Offenbach.

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/circuit_bending
www.schaefersimon.de
www.der-warst.de
www.myspace.com/derwarst
www.bentfestival.org
www.anti-theory.com
www.getlofi.com

80.00€
(festival creditation included)