At this unmaking session, you’ll select an already broken electronic device and disassemble it. You don’t need to know anything about electronics or hand tools to participate, and it’s totally okay if you “break” the device as you take it apart. The goal of this workshop isn’t in-session repair; instead, our aim is to train our hands and minds to be more confident when we encounter broken electronics (or other objects) “in the wild” of our daily lives.

We'll consider questions like, What assumptions do we make about electronic objects and our ability to interact with them? What do we notice about the facade, the hidden components, the mechanisms of a thing when we disassemble it to its smallest parts? What values are embedded in the everyday object?

About the Instructor: 
Ariel Ackerly is a library worker and educator who currently manages the Princeton University Library Makerspace, a creative technology lab and teaching space. Her work centers on encouraging people to approach tools, materials, and library collections with curiosity, confidence, and in ways that are meaningful to their everyday lives. Ariel has led workshops in the topics of pamphlet and zine making, electronic textiles, laser cutting, 3D printing, soldering, stamp making and mail art, and machine sewing. She has over a decade of experience working in academic libraries and as an organizer of multimedia arts events in the community.