The BENT circuit bending fest is going on tonight, Friday and Saturday @ EYEBEAM – MAKE has a booth here, so if you’re in NYC and want to get our magazines, electronic kits, tools and books at prices so low you’ll freak… stop by! Pictured here, our booth and some other stuff…
Here’s more info about the event —
The Tank is pleased to announce BENT 2007: The Fourth Annual Circuit Bending Festival. The term circuit bending refers to the inspired short-circuiting of battery-powered children’s toys to create new musical instruments, and over the last few decades a worldwide subculture has sprung up around this amazing art form. We are very excited that for the first time the Bent Festival will be crossing America in April, making stops in Los Angeles, Minneapolis and New York. We will bring together performers, educators, and visual artists from around the world who not only push the circuit bending genre forward but also are on the cutting edge of the contemporary music and art scenes. In addition to interactive art installations and nightly concerts, adults and children alike can participate in daily works hops led by some of the world’s greatest circuit benders.
A direct result of experimentation and play, circuit bending requires very little technical know-how to get started, giving everyone the opportunity to experience making electronic music. “In a society that is increasingly focused on sophisticated technology, it is amazingly satisfying to get the general public ripping apart circuit boards and showing them how much fun they can have with just the smallest bit of know-how”, explains festival co-curator Daniel Greenfeld. This year the festival will also focus attention on artists who create new circuits in addition to those who modify old ones. Mike Rosenthal explains, “Each year the level of skill and creativity these artists bring to the festival increases substantially. Folks who started out bending a few years ago have been honing their skills, taking their work to the next level, and increasingly creating their own instruments from scratch. That’s something we’re really l ooking to highlight this year.”
The festival comes home to New York City April 26-28 where it will be featured as part of Eyebeam’s ten year anniversary celebrations. Eyebeam is an art and technology center that provides a fertile context and state-of-the-art tools for digital research and experimentation, and has been a longstanding supporter of the Bent Festival.
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