Teaching Tech to Artists Gives Them “Magic Power”

The department requires all Electronics for Artists students to take safety training at the start of the semester. Then, under Luhrs’ guidance, they learn the basics of electricity, soldering, fabrication, and circuit prototyping. These skills are the foundation for exploring how circuits can make music, move sculptures, illuminate a space, and create body-responsive fashion. Finally, the semester concludes with a gallery of student work.

“The goal is to expand students’ tool belts to include skills to help them make interactive art,” Luhrs explains. Specifically, the structure of the class provides time and space to brainstorm, make a prototype, test it, and then refine it.

“It’s more about art and performance than it is learning electrical engineering. How do we give them the tools necessary to implement their own creative vision, to deepen their own creative practice?” Luhrs says. “They are already artists, screenwriters, dancers. So how can tech augment those mediums?”

Luhrs starts the semester by having students build a simple circuit. He calls this first lesson “Intro to Magic Power.”

“It’s so absurd that we have this sparkle magic that exists all around us and we can hack into it. Maybe it will kill us, but maybe it will make art,” Luhrs laughs. “We start with lighting up a tiny LED bulb. Then, once students see it light up, I can also see the light bulb in their brain go off. It’s this feeling of: ‘Oh my God, I can do this. I don’t have to be an electrician. I can learn these principles and make something I didn’t think I could make before.’ It’s always exciting.”

Luhrs’ student artists represent a wide range of interests, from visual art and film to drama and business. The Monday afternoon classes move from lectures and discussions to practical experiments and workshops. Some workshops have the vibe of The Great British Bake Off, Luhrs notes, where everyone helps each other master a challenge.

“You know where the contestants look around and go, ‘Oh, you’re folding it three times instead of four?’ And then they start doing that themselves, and it starts to work, and they’re high-fiving,” Luhrs says. “There’s something so satisfying with this hardware. When you get something to work, you can feel like a wizard.”

The course aims to provide a foundation for creative exploration. However, learning new skills and having the space and time to discover new approaches will inform students’ practices for years to come. “I really believe that everyone is creative. But we often put boxes around what is good creativity and what is capital-A art,” Luhrs says. “So it’s nice when students can just throw some junk together and make it light up or make it move and be like, ‘Yes, it’s art.’”