newly revised circuit bending blog post

Revised scholarly post #2

Bryan Stringfield

In my last post I talked about the basic implementation of circuit bending: how to do it and its accessibility to not only artists but tinkerers and DIY people in general.  This post will be more about the inner workings and the ideology behind this primitive yet effective process.  I will also talk about what the new age of electronics means for this art form.

The act of circuit bending as stated in my last post circuit bending is all about finding hidden elements inside a circuit board.  The process is very much like an excavation into the world of these electronics and trying to find an unexpected “fossil”. 

Because so many electronics are being used for this process, it is harder and harder for people to get a hold of the standard electronics that users began experimenting on back in the 60’s.  For this reason, people have been expanding and trying to find the limit as to what can be “bent”.  It is interesting however to find out why there are so many electronics that we can use in the first place. This was said by Bernard London in 1932: “I propose that when a person continues to possess and use old clothing, automobiles and buildings, after they have passed their obsolescence date, as determined at the time they were created,

He should be taxed for such continued use of what is legally “dead”.” (1)  This never stuck but the idea of new technology and getting rid of old or “obsolete” technology is what keeps the industry moving forward, but also is why there are so much trashed electronic goods.

I read an article about Reed Ghazala, a pioneer of circuit bending, that he himself wrote.  In the article he talked about his experiences in the art of bending both as a child and as an adult.  His work in the field of bending has truly paved the way for other benders.  Sitting in his basement, young Reed found himself tinkering at home with electronics at an early age. Ghazala wrote this about his classes in electronics at high school:”truth be told, at home in my basement lab I was learning more about electronics, music and synthesis than my high school could offer at any grade level.  I learned endless valuable lessons as this first instrument was built and rebuilt over those early years.”(2)

   Although Ghazala has been famed for his circuit bending, did we really not learn about this until the late 20^th century? Many people suggest that we have been using circuit bending since the early 1920’s.  An instrument called the Theremin was built in the 1920”s in Russia.  This machine was used to alter radio frequencies to make sounds that resembled old sci-fi movies.  This machine was built by Leon Theremin.  Using what we know about circuit bending, we can say that this was some of the earliest forms of bending on record.  The only problem is that the standard definition of circuit bending includes hacking an electronic device and essentially destroying it as you work around all the circuits.  Leons machine was built to make these sounds which is why many, including Ghazala refused to acknowledge Leons work.   (3)

As we move into more technologically advanced computers and machines, it is becoming more difficult to hack simply because everything is more complex.  But on the other hand, the technology race that is happening all over the world is giving hackers a surplus of technology to play around with and manipulate.  This could mean a new era in the world of not only circuit bending but glitch art and new media art as a whole.

1. Hertz, Garnet1, and Jussi2 Parikka. “Zombie Media: Circuit Bending Media Archaeology into an Art Method.” Leonardo 45, no. 5 (October 2012): 425–430.

2. Ghazala, Qubais Reed. “The Folk Music of Chance Electronics: Circuit-Bending the Modern Coconut.” Leonardo Music Journal 14 (January 1, 2004): 97–104.

3. Morton, Jeff. “A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE on CIRCUIT-BENDING.” BlackFlash Magazine 29, no. 2 (March 2012): 36–42.

Bryan Stringfield