At the ecsite conference in Gothenburg, we took part in an experimental kind of session, a maker space where attendees could spend time working on projects and having conversations about developing this type of work at their own institutions.
We started with a totally packed session where Karen shared about the tinkering studio alongside other presenters talking about programs and environments in Germany, Russia, Poland and France.
Jean-Michel from the CCSTI La Casemate in Grenoble shared his 3D printer along with some inspirational stories about how that digital fabrication technology can be used all over a museum to make various parts for exhibits.
The first day we had circuit boards out as a more basic example of a electricity activity. Although we thought it would be simple, it turned out that some participants developed a really interesting line of experiments with adding conductive thread as a potentiometer. We spent about a hour making a potentiometer with the sewn circuit thread.
Over the course of the three days of the conference we hosted various activities in the space including paper circuits.
Here’s a really nice example of a paper circuit of “love from Sweden” light-up postcard.
This person made a very complicated card with three switches and three lights all inside the folded paper.
Sewn circuits was also very popular and many people stayed through one or two other sessions making customized electronic jewelry.
This person make a really nice cuff to match her pink dress.
There’s a strong feeling of pride that comes with constructing your own personally meaningful object that makes all the frustrating moments worthwhile.
Of course scribbling machines also were a big hit throughout the maker space.
We had a design table and a testing space which worked well although one often bled into the other.
It was also great that people came to know the maker space as an area where we had lots of materials and tools. Claudia came in to fix her show with a hot glue gun and others came by to borrow scissors, clips, and other things.
Overall it was a really nice and different interaction during a conference to have people working together on projects during the sessions. Not only were we thrilled to see the interesting creations that were made, but we also valued the important conversations we had while working side by side on tinkering activities. It was also great to collaborate with Jean Michel, Ian and John the Center for Life in Newcastle, Jochen from Germany, Karolina from Poland, and other guest tinkerers from Sweden and around the world. The space proved to be very active and popular, so hopefully we will be back next year with a maker space that’s bigger and better than ever.
