Objects in Flux - RMIT Research Repository - RMIT University

Objects in Flux
19/ For examples of circuit-bent elec-
tronics see casper electronics, http://
casperelectronics.com/finished-pieces/
speak-n-spell/ accessed 3 July 2010;
‘What is Circuit Bending?’, http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6Pbyg_
kcEk accessed 3 July 2010; DIY
electronics festival The Bent Festival,
http://bentfestival.org/ accessed 3
July 2010.
20/ http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/
accessed 22 February 2010. Statistics
obtained via email correspondence
with site administrator Jules.
21/ http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/
search/label/accessories accessed 17
March 2010.
22/ IKEA raincoat, http://www.
instructables.com/id/Make-an-Ikea-
Raincoat/ accessed 17 March 2010;
IKEA messenger bag, http://ikeahack-
er.blogspot.com/2009/07/ikea-blue-
shopping-bag-into-messenger.html
accessed 17 March 2010; IKEA snow
boots, http://ikeahacker.blogspot.
com/2009/07/ikea-blue-shopping-
bag-into-messenger.html 17 March
2010; IKEA halter dress, http://
ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2010/01/
ikea-blue-bag-halter-dress.html ac-
cessed 17 March 2010.
23/ C’EST BON, http://fangie2000.
blogspot.com/2009/08/ikea-meat-
balls-hack.html accessed 17 March
2010.
60
Some forms of object hacking have developed into discrete practices
with associated communities and traditions. One example of this is
‘circuit bending’, the act of creatively short-circuiting electronic devices
to create musical or visual instruments. Typically carried out on
low-voltage children’s toys, circuit bending is, like hacking in general,
an explorative process. Circuit benders interrupt or short the electronic
device while it is operating, seeking to produce unusual audible
or visual effects. When the resultant effect is deemed interesting, a
switch or potentiometer may be added to the circuit to allow this effect
to be repeated on demand. Circuit-bent devices are popular amongst
electronic musicians and VJs. 19
Although hacking often involves the modification of electronics and
computer-related items, the term can also be found applied to practices
outside this field. A prominent example of this is the modification of
IKEA products. This practice has gained popularity through the IKEA
hacker blog, which contains over 1,000 modified IKEA products from
a similarly large number of contributors. 20 Initially focused on the reconfiguration
of IKEA furniture, projects have diversified to include
modifications to IKEA crockery, 21 IKEA shopping bags, 22 and even
the IKEA meatball recipe. 23
4.3 Modding
The term ‘mod’ (as discussed here) gained popular use in the
1980s and ’90s within the personal computer and game console
domains. 24 ‘Mod’ is typically understood to be an abbreviation of
‘modification’. 25 In usage it is often synonymous with ‘hack’, however
it was initially associated with three distinct practices: case mods,
console mods and game mods. In each instance mod came to signify
a specific style of modification carried out on a specific type of object
(Sotamaa, 2005). In contemporary use ‘mod’ is used more widely, to
name a diverse array of practices from body modification26 to car customisation.
27 Within this diversity however, it is possible to identify
persistent themes. The terms general use and its complex relation to
commercial production prompts a detailed examination of its history.
Case modding
The activity of ‘case modding’ developed around the personal
computer overclocking scene in the 1990s. 28 As participants within