The Scrapyard Challenge Workshops are intensive workshops where participants build simple electronic projects (both digital and analog inputs) out of found or discarded “junk” (old electronics, clothing, furniture, outdated computer equipment, appliances, turntables, monitors, gadgets, etc.). So far the workshops have been held 14 times in 6 countries with 3 different themes including the MIDI Scrapyard Challenge where participants build simple musical controllers from discarded objects and “junk”, DIY Wearable Challenge where they create wearable tech projects from used clothing, and the DIY Urban Challenge where they work on public space interventions and other projects. The MIDI Scrapyard version includes a mini workshop where participants build simple drawing robots or “DrawBots” with small, inexpensive motors, batteries, and drawing markers that can also be connected to a Serial or MIDI interface. At the end of the day, the workshop participants have a small presentation where they present their creations together as a group. No electronics skills or any experience with technology is necessary to participate in the workshop.

http://www.scrapyardchallenge.com/

Jonah Brucker-Cohen works as a Research Fellow in the Human Connectedness Group at Media Lab Europe in Dublin, Ireland, and is a Ph.D. candidate in the Networks and Telecommunications Research Group (NTRG) at Trinity College Dublin. He received a Masters from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU. His work focuses on subverting existing relationships to human/networked interfaces by building new real-world inputs to networks, redefining how information is used and disseminated online, and shifting virtual processes into physical forms through networked devices and experiences. His writing has appeared in numerous international publications including Wired Magazine and Rhizome.org, and his work has been shown both in the US and internationally at events such as DEAF, Transmediale, SIGGRAPH, ISEA, Whitney Museum of American Art’s ArtPort, Ars Electronica and others.

Katherine Moriwaki is an artist and researcher investigating wearables, fashion, emerging communication infrastructures, and the experiential resonance of technologically mediated public space. Currently a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Dublin, Trinity College, in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Katherine’s dissertation is focused on creative and artistic applications of networked communications and emergent behavior. In addition to her research Katherine teaches in the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at Trinity College. Formerly a Design Fellow at Parsons School of Design, Katherine developed and taught “Fashionable Technology”, an interdisciplinary collaboration studio exploring the interstices of wearable technology, art, and fashion. Katherine received her Masters degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University. Her work has appeared in IEEE Spectrum Magazine, and has exhibited at numerous festivals and conferences including Siggraph 2000, “numer.02” at Centre Georges Pompidou, Break 2.2, and the E-culture fair, in Amsterdam.