2013 – 2014
I combined political nerdery with digital fabrication nerdery to produce gerrymandered jigsaw puzzles and sold them on Etsy. I laser-cut each state’s political boundaries onto maple plywood to create real wooden jigsaw puzzles. The individual pieces are the gnarly congressional districts designed every decade or so by politicians. States with lots of congressional districts (like California, Texas, and New York) made for pretty difficult puzzles. Even states with fewer districts get tricky to solve in the more populated areas.
The simple act of assembling a puzzle became a lesson in computer-assisted gerrymandering, where politicians use Census results to carve their constituencies into districts that will keep them in power. The puzzles were popular with school civics education programs, where students learned about congressional representation and the decennial redistricting process in a more tactile way. The puzzle pieces are also a great conversation starter for learning about The Great Compromise, whereby the far less populated states receive equal representation in the Senate.
I stopped working on this project when I lost my free access to lasercutters at the Media Lab, but am considering reviving it for educating the public about re-districting processes. Let me know if you’d be interested in buying, distributing, or working on this!
Testimonials:
“That is just about the nerdiest thing I have ever heard of, outside a sci fi convention.”
“Truly a beautiful product and a godsend for a political junkie”
“Extremely well-crafted and beautifully made…and a fantastic idea for a puzzle! The Texas one was a real challenge. It’s a great way to illustrate the craziness of the redistricting process.”
