A lot has happened in the world of DIY electronics since last year’s Bent Festival: A major hardware manufacturer sued a kid for showing people how to . Another one was telling people that reverse-engineering their motion sensors is illegal — until they saw what people were actually making and back-peddled, giving an uncharacteristic thumbs-up to electronic tinkerers. And all the while, a recent rash of online security breaches has governments suddenly eyeing the curious and tech-savvy among us with an alarming degree of suspicion.Despite all of this uncertainty (or perhaps inspired by it), the folks showing up to this year’s Bent Festival are unwavering in their desire to take apart electronics. It’s an event where engineers, artists, hackers and even regular folk with no technical experience whatsoever assemble as equals to perform, play, experiment and listen, peeling away the slick outer layers of consumer products to find the primal audio circuit hidden within. Whether it’s rewiring an old Speak N Spell, seeking hidden pockets of static inside a massive sound installation or an elaborate performance piece where filtered light conjures obelisks of oscillating noise, Bent celebrates the wonder of discovering music and sound where we least expect it.Bent Festival 2011 will feature some of the world’s music-hacking elite like NYC circuitbenders Loud Objects (last year they chainsawed a projector in half) and chip music pioneer Gijs Gieskes. It all starts tomorrow night in Brooklyn at 319 Scholes.Watch Motherboard’s documentary on last year’s Bent Fest and get your tickets online here.
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