Simple motion can be enough to add another dimension of meaning to an artwork. In my practice, I use motors to generate rotational motion to gesture to larger themes of permanence and endlessness, sometimes using Arduino, an open-source electronics platform including hardware and software, to have more specificity of motion. Motors can be repurposed from electronics waste, and I often go to places like the Goodwill Outlet to rescue and reuse old motors from blenders, toys, and other home electronics. For my workshop, I will source a variety of inexpensive, second-hand motors and other found objects for participants to adapt into dynamic assemblages.

We will start with introductions (10 min) followed by a 20-minute lecture showing historical and contemporary examples of moving or electronically aided artwork and highlighting artists like Rachel Youn who reuse e-waste. The next 2.5 hours of the workshop will be spent making, iterating, and troubleshooting. Participants will share their projects with each other in the last 30 minutes. There is a real sense of experimentation, tinkering, and play involved with repurposing found electronics and objects. Parts can be expensive and feel like a barrier to exploring electronics, and I want to show participants that they can find what they need to get started for cheap or free. The workshop will focus on motors, but I will also show examples of work that include sound manipulation and Arduino as possibilities for future exploration. By the end of the workshop, I intend for participants to feel excited about adding movement to their artwork, to be less intimidated by electronics, and to feel empowered about taking old electronics apart and recycling their parts for new purposes.

About the Instructor:
Maya Iskoz (b. 2004, Boston MA) is a video artist and sculptor who has evolved enough to know that she thinks, but not enough to know why and how. To cope with this permanent confusion, her work looks at the gap between what something is and what it thinks it is, often drawing from scientific and spiritual explanations for existence. She was a 2025 artist-in-residence at the Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art and is expected to graduate with her BFA from Washington University in St. Louis in May 2026.