Between May and November 2013 we ran a programme of exciting events themed around DIY technology and experimentation, hosted by The Public arts centre in West Bromwich. We also did a range of development activities introducing staff to tools and resources that could feed into the work they do.
Below is a listing of the free public events we ran with links to more details. All blog posts relating to this project can be found under the http://manyandvaried.org.uk/category/the_public/ tag.
The Great Big Skills Share Jamboree
Saturday June 29th
Knife skills and greenwood carving
A whole day of skills sharing loosely based on the unconference format (where everyone contributes something), but with doing instead of talking.
Skills shared included: bird identification; British Sign Language; knife skills and greenwood carving; Wikipedia editing; recumbent trike riding; lock-picking; video glitching through hardware hacking; hammocking; clay model-making; paper aeroplane making; and building really tall towers out of giant lego.
Related blog posts // Photos on Flickr // Feedback from participants // Write-up on bushcraftuk
Maker Nights
Fortnightly, Tuesday evenings
June 11th & 25th, July 9th & 23rd, August 6th & 20th
The first Maker Night
Regular fortnightly social gatherings for makers of all sorts to work on their projects and meet up with others with interesting ideas.
The sessions were largely self-led and varied according to who got involved. We had people doing things like: learning to work with the Arduino platform; working on projects using the Flickr API; sketching; learning to solder; making paper masks; glitching images; using Kinect sensors for motion tracking and space mapping.
Things we’re proud of:
- So many types of people and activity going on around the same table.
- People saying they appreciated the nights as a space in which they felt comfortable being a bit crap.
- Maker sessions continuing after the ones we hosted had finished.
Related blog posts // Photos from the first Maker Night
BANANAS!
Saturday & Sunday August 3rd & 4th
Experimenting with the bananasynth
A weekend of fun-filled family-friendly activities themed around, yep, you guessed it.
We had: a bananasynth for people to play tunes on; a big game screen for people to invent new ways of controlling monkeys; assorted fruit and wires for experimenting with circuit-making and triggering noises; banana adventures being filmed around the building; mask-making and a monkey maze filled with perils to steer your trained monkey around.
Write-up of Saturday // Photos from Saturday // Write-up of Sunday // Photos from Sunday // Activity listing // Info and ideas
Bees in a Tin
Friday February 21st 2014, Birmingham
An unconventional convention for interesting people making novel interfaces through which to experience the world. More details about Bees in a Tin here.
2013 Summer Programme at The Public supported by:
