Art Hounds: Beauty from what’s broken

Broken Screen of the Day
“Broken Screen of the Day 064" created by John Bumstead.
Courtesy of John Bumstead

Andre Schü recommends checking out the work of a fellow Minneapolis glitch artist they find inspiring, John Bumstead of RDKLinc. Glitch art, Schü explains, “is using technological systems in ways that they weren't intended in order to demonstrate the expressive, creative agency of technology that we might otherwise overlook.”

Bumstead repairs laptops for a living, and uses some of those broken pieces of tech for his art. In photographing everyday objects through broken media, Bumstead creates images that offer a new way to look at both the everyday and the tech that creates and distorts it. He is currently about two-thirds of the way through a “Broken Screen of the Day” project, creating Non-Fungible Token images made from broken screens.


If you’re in the Fargo-Moorhead area, Maija Lindaas recommends a free concert Sunday by Fargo Moorhead Spelemannslag. Lindaas was a founding member of the group but has since moved out of state. The group, made up of residents of Minnesota and North Dakota, includes new and experienced players on the hardanger fiddle, which is the national instrument of Norway.

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The hardanger fiddle has eight or nine strings, instead of four, and may be ornately carved and decorated. Lindaas describes it as looking like a “tattooed violin” and sounding like “a fiddle mixed with a bagpipe because it has some droning sounds in the background.”

The tunes the Spelemannslag members play often tell stories, from tales of love to Grimm-style yarns. Lindaas says viewers will hear some of these stories recounted alongside the music.

Many in the group have built their own hardanger fiddles. Lindaas recommends reaching out to them if you’re interested in learning the instrument.

Fargo Moorhead Spelemannslag will perform 2 p.m. Sunday at the Sons of Norway Kringen Lodge in Fargo, N.D.

This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.