Research

Stockholm Makerspace has been a part of a few research papers.

Are you an researcher interested in the Makerspace? Email info@makerspace.se

About our modifications to the laser

Over the years we have done extensive modifications to our laser cutter. These modifications were the subject of a paper.

Paper

Modding the Pliable Machine: Unpacking the Creative and Social Practice of Upkeep at the Makerspace

Sydow et al

ISBN: 9781450393270

Abstract

As digital fabrication machines have become more accessible and widely available, practitioners in maker communities have become increasingly responsive to the opportunities to achieve bespoke modifications, known colloquially as ‘modding’. Drawing on interviews with five experienced makers who engage in modding a laser cutter, along with ethnographic observations of maker-machine interactions, we analyse makers’ experiences and ‘war stories’ to frame modding as a prevalent but less explored maker activity. We highlight how makers care for machines, how they cope with risks when engaging in modding, and how mods are essentially creative projects. Based on our findings, we present the conceptualisation of the ‘pliable machine’ – a socio-technical system constituted by, (1) an accessible machine that can be altered, (2) maker skills that go beyond intended use, and (3) a surrounding ‘maker culture’ of caring, sharing and experimentation. Treating the machine as a material offers an alternative perspective on our interactions with technology; we show how the laser cutter becomes pliable in the hands of those who mod.

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3527927.3532804