Electronic Wonderland At Holiday HackShop 2006Electronic Wonderland At Holiday HackShop 2006

Holiday HackShop 2006 took place on Saturday, Dec. 9 in New York City's fashionable Chelsea district. The third annual incarnation of the artist-led event was hosted by Eyebeam, an arts and technology R&D lab and La Suprette, a vendor of functional art.

The day-long gathering consisted of artist-led demonstrations, audience activities, and live musical performances. HackShop is angled at creating holiday-related objects using recycled materials. In that vein, featured artist Limor Fried (aka Lady Ada) helped me make a USB battery powered charger housed in a recycled Altoid tin. (Yes, it works.)

Other HackShop attendees tackled the making of Snow Globes using recycled water bottles, and inflatable structures made with, what is essentially, garbage. Also on the menu were video holiday greeting cards. Those were created in HackShop's makeshift digital video studio; many of the cards were posted up to YouTube.

Taking a page from Santa's workshop, one project involved the building of an alternative energy powered toy in the form of a mini wind generator. For a look at the HackShop creations, view the image gallery.