Crafting Malfunction: Rhetoric and Circuit-Bending

Authors

  • Steven Hammer Saint Joseph's University
  • Aimée Knight Saint Joseph's University

Keywords:

circuit bending, rhetoric, invention, access, object oriented ontology, glitch, art

Abstract

Circuit-bending, an art practice developed in the 1960’s, involves the creative short circuiting of battery-powered toys and instruments. Like many of its avant-garde precursors, circuit-bending is a composition practice that values access, chance, and indeterminacy. For this special issue of Harlot, we document our own circuit-bending process and make connections between the work of Qubais Reed Ghazala, the pioneer of circuit-bending, and rhetoric and writing. Specifically, we discuss the importance of access and creativity, invention and discovery, and the ways that composition is a collaborative performance between humans and nonhumans.

Author Biographies

Steven Hammer, Saint Joseph's University

Assistant professor of Communication and Digital Media.

Aimée Knight, Saint Joseph's University

Assistant professor of Communication and Digital Media.

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Published

2015-10-15

Issue

No. 14 (2015): Craft Rhetorics

Section

Issue #14: Craft Rhetoric

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