Hacked Clock Radio for Art Exhibition

Michael Colombo writes:

Recently I completed a hardware hacking gig for the French street artist Zevs. He wanted to take an old school Sony Dream Machine clock radio and enable it to play “Hip to be Square” by Huey Lewis and the News at a greatly reduced speed. The piece premiered along with several other works last night at Gallery De Buck in New York City, as part of Zevs’ “Liquidated Version” exhibition (running through April 7th).

I was excited to work on this project because it combined my skills in audio manipulation, hardware hacking, fabrication, and electronics.

The piece needed to look exactly like a standard Sony Clock Radio, except for two small buttons in the back to control an mp3 player and FM transmitter. The big challenge was to neatly fit all the hardware into the enclosure and make the design robust enough that the piece could withstand travel and continuous use both in the gallery and by a potential buyer.

You’d be surprised how many gigs there are out there helping artists and designers realize their visions. My tips for getting more of this kind of work: document your projects (and their impact) on your website, and keep your CV up to date.