In praise of hackability

It looks like Jonah and Katherine's MIDI Scrapyard Challenge at transmediale04 was just smashing!

Jonah reports:

Over 19 participants and 15 really great instruments were made! The workshop lasted 5 hours and then there was an hour long performance in front of the biggest crowd yet in the Transmediale Salon! Some highlights of the performance included a "Yes/No" helmet with two switches that triggered when you shake your head (pictured above). Also a great duck pond with a floating duck that created notes when it hit the edges of a small pond, Some excellent scraping instruments, digital beat generater made from an old plotting machine, great analog controller from dipping resistors into some soda water, a shaking stick, and a stuffed eggplant with a phone connection, and more!

And Katherine has some preliminary pictures up too.

Update 06/01/04: Katherine's reflections on transmediale are online now too.