"If it sounds good and it doesn't smoke, don't worry if you don't understand it." - N. Collins

Inspired to hack common consumer electronics for artistic ends, but don't know where to begin? Consider taking the Hardware Hacking Workshop with Nicolas Collins, internationally-known composer and editor of Leonardo Music Journal, an annual devoted to artists who are working at the boundaries of music and developing technologies. The workshop is being held at Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center in New York City, April 15-18.

No previous electronics experience required...(more)

Basic soldering skills will be learned through building contact microphones and coils to sniff electromagnetic fields. The students will open up a range of battery-powered "consumer" technology (radios, electronic toys), observe the effect of direct hand contact on the circuit boards, experiment with the substitution of components, and listen to unheard signals running through the circuit. Knowledge acquired through this process will be applied to building circuits from scratch (oscillators, amplifiers, fuzztones, etc.

On April 18, Collins will perform two compositions on hardware devised by students during the workshop: "Bower Bird" for battery activated loudspeakers, and "Slight of Hand" for flesh-controlled portable radios.

A demonstration of the workshop's activities will be held at Harvestworks this Friday, March 25, at 7:00 p.m. ET.