The Tin Can Telephone Experiment is a participatory sound installation developed in collaboration with students from die Schule im Nibelungenviertel (Class 7B) and Grundschule an der Hasenheide (Classes 6C and 4B) in Bernau, Brandenburg. The work centres on the tin can telephone, a classic mechanical acoustic device that we treated simultaneously as a functional sonic instrument, a canvas for visual subversion, and a hands-on framework for understanding the relationship between material, vibration and the body in the act of communication.

The installation consists of an assortment of functional tin can telephones and DIY interventions that explore sound fidelity, sonic networks and effects for visitors to engage with. Central to the installation is a series of Limited Edition Surprise Bags, inspired by Fluxus multiples: small assemblage kits designed and prepared by the students, each containing all the components required to build a working tin can telephone. Each kit also includes Funny Food Labels, hand-drawn tin can labels that parody supermarket iconography and playfully critique mass consumption in the style of Art Spiegelman’s Wacky Packages  trading cards. The Surprise Bags were available by donation in the gallery shop, raising over €112 for the Tierschutzverein Niederbarnim e.V., the local animal shelter in the Ladeburg district of Bernau.

This artwork was created as part of MAX – Artists in Residence an Brandenburger Schulen, a program of the Cultural Education Platform Brandenburg, initiated by the Brandenburg Gate Foundation, and funded by the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of the State of Brandenburg, the EWE Foundation, the Liebelt Foundation and the Schering Foundation.

All diagrams and illustrations in The Tin Can Telephone Experiment were drawn by Darsha in Procreate using an Apple Pencil, the Technical Pencil brush and a custom colour palette titled Tin Can.

Darsha thanks her student collaborators, as well as Jana Kuhn of Plattform Kulturelle Bildung Brandenburg and Maya Peers, Director of Museum Neuruppin, for their support in creating this work.
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Das Blechdosen – Telefon – Experiment ist eine partizipative Klanginstallation, die in Zusammenarbeit mit Schülerinnen und Schülern der „Schule im Nibelungenviertel“ (Klasse 7B) und der „Grundschule an der Hasenheide“ (Klassen 6C und 4B) in Bernau, Brandenburg, entwickelt wurde. Im Mittelpunkt der Arbeit steht das Dosentelefon, ein klassisches mechanisch-akustisches Gerät, das gleichzeitig als funktionales Klanginstrument, als Träger visueller Subversion und als praktischer Rahmen zum Verständnis der Beziehung zwischen Material, Schwingung und Körper im Kommunikationsakt betrachtet wird.

Die Installation besteht aus einer Auswahl funktionierender Dosentelefone und Do It Yourself Interventionen, die sich mit Klangtreue, akustischen Netzwerken und Effekten auseinandersetzen und die Besucher zum Mitmachen einladen. Im Mittelpunkt der Installation steht eine Serie von Limited Edition Wundertüten, die von Fluxus-Multiples inspiriert sind: kleine, von den Schülerinnen und Schülern entworfene und zusammengestellte Bastelsets, die alle notwendigen Komponenten zum Bau eines funktionierenden Dosentelefons enthalten. Jedes Set enthält außerdem Funny Food Labels – handgezeichnete Etiketten für Konservendosen, die die Ikonographie von Supermärkten parodieren und den Massenkonsum im Stil der Wacky Packages (Art Spiegelman) -Sammelkarten spielerisch kritisieren. Diese Wundertüten waren im Galerieshop gegen eine Spende erhältlich; dabei kamen über 112 € für den Tierschutzverein Niederbarnim e.V., das örtliche Tierheim im Ortsteil Ladeburg der Stadt Bernau zusammen.

Dieses Kunstwerk entstand im Rahmen von „MAX – Artists in Residence an Brandenburger Schulen“. „MAX – Artists in Residence an Brandenburger Schulen” ist ein Programm der Plattform Kulturelle Bildung Brandenburg, auf Initiative der Stiftung Brandenburger Tor, und wird gefördert mit Mitteln des Ministeriums für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kultur des Landes Brandenburg, der EWE-Stiftung, der Liebelt Stiftung und der Schering-Stiftung.

Alle Diagramme und Illustrationen in „The Tin Can Telephone Experiment“ wurden von Darsha in Procreate mit einem Apple Pencil, dem Technical Pencil und einer benutzerdefinierten Farbpalette namens Tin Can gezeichnet.

Darsha bedankt sich bei ihren mitwirkenden Schülerinnen und Schülern sowie bei Jana Kuhn von der Plattform Kulturelle Bildung Brandenburg und Maya Peers, der Direktorin des Museums Neuruppin, für ihre Unterstützung bei der Entstehung dieses Werks.

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MAX* it up – PopUp Atelier, Potsdam

1–3 Sept 2026 · Kunstraum Potsdam

EN: A three-day pop-up studio for school classes, held alongside the exhibition “MAX* it up” (4 Jun – 7 Sep 2026, Museum Neuruppin) as part of the programme “MAX – Artists in Residence an Brandenburger Schulen”. MAX artists Katja Martin, Vinh Quang Giang, Annett Glöckner and I met students in an open studio format with visual and performative impulses. Visitors were invited to discover the results, join in and rethink art as part of education.

DE: Ein dreitägiges PopUp-Atelier für Schulklassen im Kunstraum Potsdam, parallel zur Ausstellung „MAX* it up“ (4.6.–7.9.2026, Museum Neuruppin) im Rahmen des Programms „MAX – Artists in Residence an Brandenburger Schulen“. Die MAX-Künstler:innen Katja Martin, Vinh Quang Giang, Annett Glöckner und ich begegneten Schüler:innen in einem offenen Atelierformat mit visuellen und performativen Impulsen. Besucher:innen waren eingeladen, Ergebnisse zu entdecken, mitzumachen und Kunst als Teil von Bildung neu zu denken.

Event info · About the MAX programme · Exhibition

Grand Snail Tour – MÄCK Second, Hattingen

10 Sept 2026, 11:00–18:00 · HAZ Arbeit + Zukunft, Am Walzwerk 19, 45527 Hattingen

EN: Together with Aram Bartholl and tthe HAZ community, we transformed the second-hand department store MÄCK Second for one day into a walk-in installation and a place for shared experimentation with sound, images and old and new technologies. Discarded TVs, records and acoustic resonators were explored, rebuilt and recombined in workshops and interactions with the public. The day closed with a tour by Eva Busch (Kunstmuseum Bochum) and the artists.

DE: Gemeinsam mit Aram Bartholl und der HAZ-Community haben wir das Secondhand-Kaufhaus MÄCK Second für einen Tag in eine begehbare Installation und einen Ort des gemeinsamen Experimentierens mit Klang, Bild und alten wie neuen Technologien verwandelt. Ausrangierte Fernseher, Schallplatten und akustische Resonatoren wurden in Workshops und im Austausch mit dem Publikum erkundet, umgebaut und neu kombiniert. Den Abschluss des Tages bildete ein Rundgang mit Eva Busch (Kunstmuseum Bochum) und den Künstler*innen.

Event info

Construction / Conduction – LAB-545, Montréal

18–27 Sept 2026 · Ateliers Belleville, 545 Legendre O., Montréal · Vernissage 18 Sept, 18:00 (guided tour with curators and artists 17:00–18:00)

EN: An exhibition curated by Mathieu Arsenault and Sarah Ève Tousignant, bringing together six artists from Québec and abroad who explore electricity and electronics for their sculptural and acoustic qualities. The works address craft, imperfection, the transmission of knowledge, ecofeminism and the intersection of body and electricity, inviting audiences to actively and poetically reclaim everyday technologies.

FR : Une exposition des commissaires Mathieu Arsenault et Sarah Ève Tousignant, réunissant six artistes du Québec et d’ailleurs qui explorent l’électricité et l’électronique pour leurs propriétés plastiques et acoustiques. Les œuvres abordent l’artisanat, l’imperfection, la transmission du savoir, l’écoféminisme et l’intersection du corps et de l’électricité, et invitent le public à une réappropriation active, poétique et politique des objets du quotidien.

Event info

Electrobodies: Launch – FLINTA* Voices, Sound & Technology

10 Oct 2026, 13:00–22:00 · Galiläa-Kirche, Rigaer Straße 9/10, 10247 Berlin

EN: A one-day interdisciplinary event curated by Katharina Bévand and Bojana (S) Knežević, bringing together FLINTA* artists, musicians and researchers to explore sound, technology and feminist practice. I’m presenting a DIY workshop (13:00–15:00), alongside presentations, a panel talk and concerts by VÍZ and We Cyborgs. Sliding-scale tickets from 5€, workshop fee 5€. Part of the Monat der zeitgenössischen Musik Berlin.

DE: Eine eintägige interdisziplinäre Veranstaltung, kuratiert von Katharina Bévand und Bojana (S) Knežević, die FLINTA*-Künstler*innen, Musiker*innen und Forscher*innen zusammenbringt, um Klang, Technologie und feministische Praxis zu erkunden. Ich leite einen DIY-Workshop (13:00–15:00); dazu gibt es Präsentationen, ein Panel und Konzerte von VÍZ und We Cyborgs. Eintritt auf Spendenbasis ab 5€, Workshop 5€. Teil des Monats der zeitgenössischen Musik Berlin.

Event info · Tickets (Eventbrite)

QUEST 2.0 – Kunst im Game: Popcorn in Training & How to Listen to Broken Music

16–18 Oct 2026 · JOiN (Junge Oper im Nord), Löwentorstraße 68, 70376 Stuttgart

EN: QUEST 2.0 invites visitors to rediscover gaming as an art form over a weekend of indie games, workshops, media art and discussion. I’m presenting two drop-in/drop-out workshops: “Popcorn in Training” (Sat 17 Oct, 16–19h), a participatory workshop-installation with oscillator kits, popcorn and a jewellery-making “Beautitronics Lounge” made from old cables and e-waste; and “How to Listen to Broken Music” (Sun 18 Oct, 12–15h), playful building of gramophone-like listening devices for records in the foyer.

DE: QUEST 2.0 lädt ein, Gaming als Kunstform neu zu entdecken – mit Indie-Games, Workshops, Medienkunst und Gesprächsrunden. Ich biete zwei Drop-in/Drop-out-Workshops an: »Popcorn Ausbildung (Popcorn in Training)« (Sa, 17.10., 16–19 Uhr), eine partizipative Workshop-Installation mit Oszillator-Kits, Popcorn und der »Beautitronics Lounge« für Schmuck aus alten Kabeln und E-Schrott; und »How to Listen to Broken Music« (So, 18.10., 12–15 Uhr), spielerisches Bauen von grammophonartigen Hilfsmitteln, um Schallplatten im Foyer anzuhören.

Event info

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— Syllabus Excerpt —

Course Description
This course explores the cultures, histories, movements and mindsets embedded throughout the material infrastructures of music (and sound). With a vast media archaeological perspective we investigate the intersections between technological practices and sound while grounding our inquiry in the ethos of reverse engineering and the spirit of empowerment found in DIY / open source cultures. Through student led research, (group) reading and conversations, we will explore the material politics embedded in music (and sound) as a way to imagine new perspectives to incorporate into practice.

Learning Approach
Open Art and Music Cultures is a student-driven, discussion-intensive seminar grounded in collective inquiry and critical reflection. I’ll be doing most of the talking in the first session — from there, the course unfolds through a mix of discussion, mini-lectures and collaborative exploratory exercises.

Goals
At the end of the term, students should be able to:

• • – Ask critical questions about the intersections of technology, sound, culture, society, labour and ecology.
  • – Identify and analyze the embedded material politics in musical and sonic technologies.
  • – Imagine and propose alternative, more open and equitable approaches to art-making, sonic practices and cultural production.
  • – Reflect on how their own artistic/sonic practices engage with material infrastructures, examine their methods, and articulate the intentions behind their creative and technical choices.
  • – Leave the course with greater confidence, precision, and skill in engaging with sound technologies and infrastructures in both research and practice.

Course Requirements
Reading, active engagement and consistent presence are mandatory. This course is built around reading together, asking questions, and making sense of complex ideas as a group. Some texts you come across may feel dense or unfamiliar (that’s part of the nature of academic writing). Don’t worry if things don’t click right away! Confusion is a valid starting point (and often where the most interesting conversations begin). Our shared annotations and class discussions are designed to support this process, so your questions and reflections are essential!

Note
The collective annotation assignment and general student led orientation of this course is borrowed from the work of one of my mentors, Jonathan Sterne (✝), he passed away in March 2025 🙁 Jonathan was deeply committed to building generous, collaborative academic environments within the Sound Studies milieu — in that spirit, my hope is that this course creates space for curiosity, collaboration, and alternative ways of thinking about sound/art/music in its many forms and contexts.

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Open Circuit : A Participatory Sound Happening 

Hosted by Sound Studies and Sonic Arts Students (UdK) | Collaborative DIY Practice

Friday 8 May / 17–20h / Flutgraben e.V. / Free!

Mehrzweckhalle, Am Flutgraben 3, 12435 Berlin

Open Circuit marks the culmination of the Collaborative DIY Practice workshop: a rigorous hands-on introduction to DIY electronics and sound. The event presents a Fluxus-inspired participatory happening emerging from a week of collective making, where students explored sound by opening up its physical infrastructures through deconstruction, reverse engineering, and material-led experimentation.

In Collaborative DIY Practice, participants investigate how electronic components behave when approached with curiosity rather than formulas and equations. Drawing on media-archaeological methods, feminist hacking strategies, and post-digital methodologies, the workshop demystifies sound technology through bottom-up material engagement. Troubleshooting becomes an improvisational technique, a way of listening to materials and following where they lead. 

The happening presents a constellation of live and participatory encounters that braid performance, participation and fun electronics into an open, collective experience — come join in!

Artists: Anaparn Pinpradub, Trevor Doherty, Francesco Fasciolo, Jae Shik Kim, Daniel Krumland, Grace Lu, Marianthie Makropoulou, Marina Mason, Louis Quek, Nithin Shamsudhin, Elisa Visca, Yuchin Chen

Instructor: Darsha Hewitt

Special Thanks to Flutgraben e.V. !

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Summer Term 2026 | Phase: Focus Module: Practice
Course Title: Collaborative DIY Practice | Workshop | May 4-8, 2026
Instructor: Darsha Hewitt (She/Her)  Email: studio@darsha.org  

Course Description
Collaborative DIY Practice is a rigorous hands-on introduction to DIY electronics that creates empowering encounters with sound by opening up its physical infrastructures. Drawing on media-archaeological approaches, feminist hacking strategies, and post-digital methodologies, this workshop demystifies sound technologies through direct material engagement. Participants will learn through deconstruction, reverse engineering, and playful material-led exploration (rather than memorizing equations and formulas).

Taking place at the Mehrzweckhalle at Flutgraben e.V., the workshop provides an open and supportive learning environment where students gain practical knowledge about tools and techniques for intuitive experimentation, develop troubleshooting skills, and discover how electronic components actually behave through lively hands-on inquiry.

Inspired by Fluxus Happenings and Hack Lab formats, we will learn, build, eat, and collaborate together each day, culminating in a public participatory event on May 8th. This collective presentation will invite audiences to experience sound as a spontaneous, multidisciplinary, and collaborative practice.

This workshop is for students who want to explore collaborative art-making methods where experimentation, risk-taking, and discovery shape the process. No previous experience with DIY electronics is required—people who consider themselves beginners are especially encouraged to join.

Since we will be staging an event, it is especially useful if everyone brings diverse skills and perspectives to the course, whether that’s soldering experience, conceptual thinking, organizational abilities, documentation skills, or simply enthusiasm and willingness to try new things.

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Artist Residency, Grundschule an der Hasenheide & Schule im Nibelungenviertel Bernau (DE), 2025/26

A school-based artist residency programme placing working artists directly in Brandenburg classrooms. Through an open studio model, pupils and teachers visit the atelier, observe artistic practice in action, and participate in hands-on creative work. MAX is an initiative of the Stiftung Brandenburger Tor, continued and developed by the Plattform Kulturelle Bildung Brandenburg, and supported by the Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kultur Brandenburg, Schering Stiftung, EWE Stiftung, and Liebelt Stiftung. The programme was awarded the Zukunftspreis für Kulturbildung by the Kulturstiftung der Länder and Deutsche Bank Stiftung in 2018.

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A hands-on sonic happening and installation in which visitors collaboratively built an immersive sound environment and jewelry using basic electronic components and e-waste — part of WRO’s Instrumentarium series reimagining the piano as an ecological and artistic object.

What is the sound of one popcorn popping?
If you were a kernel, how would you pop?
What happens when we all pop together?

Popcorn in Training is a hands-on happening that transforms into a sound installation, inviting the public to collaboratively build an immersive sonic experience while exploring the material foundations of electronic music: wires, resistors, capacitors, and chips.

Our handmade square-wave oscillators echo the metronomic knocking and tapping of the deconstructed piano. Together, participants create a soundscape where pops, clicks, and squeaks slip in and out of sync, sparking unexpected encounters with harmony and happenstance.

This work encourages playful experimentation with DIY electronics and dynamic troubleshooting as an improvisational approach to experimental music-making. The project draws on media archaeology while demystifying technology through direct material engagement.

The public is invited to actively participate in building circuits and/or cable necklaces or simply drop in to listen as the installation evolves. The event kicks off with the pop of the first oscillator and gradually builds over the course evening.

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Popcorn Ausbildung — Open Hertzlab
Workshop / Performance, ZKM Hertz-Lab, Karlsruhe (DE), November 2025

A participatory happening presented as part of the Giga-Hertz Festival for Electronic Music and Sound Art

Wie klingt ein einzelnes Popcorn, wenn es platzt? Und wie verändert sich dieser Sound in einem Kollektiv?
In diesem Workshop-Sound-Happening bauen die Teilnehmenden mit selbstgebastelten Rechteckoszillatoren eine lebendige Klanglandschaft auf. Gemeinsam erschaffen wir eine experimentelle Mehrspur-Drum-Machine, bei der Knackgeräusche, Klicks und Quietschen synchron und asynchron ineinanderfließen und so unvorhersehbare Begegnungen von Harmonie und Zufall hervorrufen. Die Veranstaltung beginnt mit dem Knacken des ersten Oszillators und steigert sich im Laufe von drei Stunden allmählich.

Bei „Popcorn in Training” wird das spielerische Experimentieren mit DIY-Elektronik und improvisiertem Troubleshooting als improvisatorischer Ansatz für experimentelles Musizieren gefördert. Alle, die sich für Klang, Elektrizität und Popcorn interessieren, sind willkommen – insbesondere Anfänger:innen!

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What is the sound of one popcorn popping? If you were a kernel, how would you pop? And what happens when we all pop together?
This hybrid workshop / sonic happening invites you to collaboratively build an immersive sound experience using handmade square-wave oscillators. Together, we create an experimental multi-track drum machine where pops, clicks, and squeaks slip in and out of sync, sparking unexpected encounters with harmony and happenstance.

“Popcorn in Training” encourages playful experimentation with DIY electronics and dynamic troubleshooting as an improvisational approach to experimental music-making. Open to anyone curious about sound, electricity, and popcorn – beginners especially welcome!

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A major group exhibition centred on the Fluxus collection of gallerist Inge Baecker, presented alongside contemporary artists responding to this legacy.
Featuring new work “Anleitung zum anhören Kaputter Musik” — a sound and material response to Milan Knížák’s pioneering “Destruierte Musik.”

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HOW WE MET

08.11.2025—01.02.2026
Kunstmuseum Bochum
Kortumstraße 147
44787 Bochum, Germany

Opening
Friday, 07.11.2025, 19:00
20:00 – Performance by Taka Kagitomi, Growth Ring of Vibration

Rooted in the spirit of Fluxus, HOW WE MET transforms the museum into a lively space for encounter, sound experiments, and playful construction—where community, transience, humor, and utopia meet. The show brings together works and documents from the museum’s Fluxus collection alongside newly created site-specific structures and films. An accompanying action program, HOWWEEEEE, activates the exhibition with workshops, open mics, performances, and city walks.

New productions by
Taka Kagitomi, Darsha Hewitt, bureaumilieux (Jean-Michaël Taillebois & Sébastien Tripod) & Mélissa Rouvinet.

With thanks to Kunstmuseum Bochum and partners.

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