Bent 2005 Circuit Bending Festival @ The Tank

The BENT 2005 Festival is presented in part by Periscope Entertainment, a Los Angeles based film and television company that prides itself on supporting independent thought and innovative creation, and produced in partnership with Harvestworks' Alternate Controller Series. . Periscope Entertainment is proud to support Bent 2005 and the circuit-bending artists on the cutting edge of the contemporary music scene. We would also like to thank Cotel Voice & Data Inc. for donating wire and cabling for our workshops. This festival is made possible in part by the Manhattan Community Arts Fund/New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
	BENT 2005 Circuit Bending Festival The BENT 2005 Circuit Bending Festival is a four day exploration of the art of circuit bending. Spaceworks at The Tank will play host to a full schedule of performances, demonstrations, and hands on workshops related to the art of circuit bending. What is Circuit Bending? The term circuit bending refers to the act of modifying the circuitry of battery-powered children’s toys to create strange, new, and unintended sounds for creative purposes. This re-appropriation of objects of a digital childhood is quickly growing in popularity as it offers an affordable, culturally referenced path into the creation of electronic music. Instead of merely watching a person’s face glowing in the screen of a laptop, the audience can watch performers wrangle squelches, bleeps, groans, and blips out of everyday childhood toys. This is fun to watch, and fun to do. Furthermore, circuit bending is the direct result of experimentation and “play”. Very little technical know-how is required to get started, and this invites a wider audience who may be curious about electronic music, but feel intimidated by the steep learning curve or passivity of the traditional performance setup.