Electric Melon

for / with Machine Project, 2010 - 2017

My earliest workshops for Machine Project focused on teaching folks to build Piezoelectric microphones (i.e. "contact microphones"). Contact microphones amplify vibrations in an object or on a surface. The material properties of the object, as well as its size, dictate the resulting (frequently percussive) sounds. Large, hollow objects (a metal container) sound different than thin, brittle objects (a piece of paper) through a contact microphone.

The first version of this workshop was an Amplified Party (with John P. Hastings). We taught participants to build the mics and then attached them to objects used during the party: cups for drinks, bowls for snacks, and chairs / tables became percussion instruments participants played by behaving normally at a party.

Following Amplified Party I began collaborating on the development of Electric Melon / Cactus. This workshop included instruction regarding the creation of a contact microphone followed by assistance in amplifying a melon / cactus, which participants were encouraged to play like an instrument (or, in the case of the melon, eat while amplified).

This workshop was programmed at the following venues in addition to Machine's regular space in Los Angeles: Houston Fine Arts Fair, Berkeley Art Museum, Armory Center for the Arts, and LACMA.