14/11/2026
If an alien landed on planet earth, could you explain to them how a microwave works?
Circuits, soft cables, and self-made machines: four weeks ago Carola Humo (aka soft.circuit.babe ) made the journey from Mexico City to Amsterdam to kick-off her Prince Claus residency, relocating her practice of making analogue instrument and circuit-building workshops to the grounds of Social Design Workshop
Committed to open source knowledge and collaborative learning, Carola’s artistic research slipped easily into the fabric of Buurtwerkplaats Noorderhof. Her weekly workshops with the Klusteam shared skills on building closed circuits, and allowed her to come into contact with the people around Amsterdam Nieuw-West. “What makes a community a community is being held in time, and I think the Buurtwerkplaats community represents that”, she reflects. Her workshops posed exactly that: a moment to capture the time of all the volunteers, and create something new together.
From creating clothes for cables in collaboration with artist , to developing a perfume that ‘smells like technology’ in the Mediamatic scent lab, Carola’s research also looked at redefining what we consider as technology, asking us to open our mind to what is possible, what can be learned, who gets access, and what can be changed.
“If we understand how things work”, she says, “we can also imagine what we would make differently. My project has to do with thinking about the system that controls the technology around us, and how corrupted and evil commercial production can be”.
There are still a few days left to catch Carola’s marvellous machines and creations at the Centre of Attention. Her exhibition ‘Tecnofilia’ is on display until December 1st.
This collaboration is part of the Exchanges programme by the Prince Claus Fund , with the support of the City of Amsterdam Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsdeel Nieuw-West
Written by Rebecca Douglass
Photography Andrei Tchernikov
Videos soft.circuit.babe
Broodje Nieuw-West Nieuwe Makers Nieuw-West GALERIENIEMIENIE Woningstichting Rochdale
Centre of Attention The Bookstore Foundation Van Eesteren Museum Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst