Category: Brooklyn Arts

Co-working in Gowanus

Creative studio co-working space seeking part-time makers, hackers, artists, writers and anyone else with a need to join us. Whether you are interested in a fun, bright, open space to work on your laptop during the day, or somewhere you can have to yourself now and then for photography, painting or other creative ventures, we’d like to hear from you. We’re flexible to meet the needs of the right people.

The studio is located in the heart of Gowanus, Brooklyn, on 9th Street between Smith and 2nd Ave in an artist and music centric four story converted warehouse. This is just two blocks from the R (4th Ave/9th), G and F trains (Smith/9th). We are dog and bike friendly with 24 hour access possibilities. The space is also right next to Lowe’s Hardware with access to a large freight elevator.

Some other aspects of note: 32’x5′ worktable area with wifi, whiteboards, projector and natural lighting. A variety of tools, two sewing machines, and a fairly open floor plan to accommodate a variety of wacky needs.

Leave a comment here, send an email to nathanfreitas at gmail, or contact me via @nathanfreitas on twitter, if you are interested, want a tour, or more information!

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Workbench for what not!

Rosa's time machine on display at the Bronx Museum

mobile video portrait of the artist

My good friend and collaborator Rosa Ruey has a new work on display as part of the show Living & Dreaming at the Bronx Museum.

Rosa’s new work, “Chrono-Particle Processor”, is both visually mesmerizing and strangely functional. You see, it is actually a distributed time machine meant for the general good of all humanity to give back time we have lost… or something like that. Portions of the work/device were realized using intricate inked pieces of wood designed using open-source app Inkscape and then rendered out of wood using a laser provided by the always-awesome NYC Resistor. Since there is a spiritual link between Nikola Tesla and NYC Resistor, then the possibility that Rosa’s work is actually a space-time device of some sort may actually be true.

The show is up until September 13th. It is very easy to get to the Bronx Museum on the D train… it took MC and I about 45 minutes from Park Slope on a Sunday! Exit at 167st and walk down Grand Concourse about two blocks. The museum itself is a beautiful space, with additional exhibits on display including a general history of the Bronx through artifacts.

More of Rosa’s drawings and sketches can be seen below and on her website…

Open-Source Ukulele Proto Uno Lazzzzored FTW!

Some of you might have seen the Flying V Rockin’ Ukulele Design I posted to Thingiverse a few weeks ago, after being inspired by Bre Pettis’ talk at ROFLThang.

I just realized how much of a mouthful that last sentence was so let me break it down… Bre encourages and teaches people how to make the things in their head become real. I’m not talking really about aspirations, but actual, physical things. He and the NYC Resistor crew even have an amazing workshop laboratory in Brooklyn where they let anyone come over and hang out at, to learn how to make, build and fabricate pretty much anything. They also have a laser (aka “LAAAZZZOOOR”) which you can think of as an automagic thing cutter-outer!

With that, here’s what I did:

1) I drew up plans for my dream ukulele using the free, open-source Inkscape vector drawing tool. You can see my open-source Ukulele plans here.

Ukulele plans for the laser

2) With the help from a kind friend, I got this file into the proper format for printing, stuck a sheet of 1/8″ x 24″ x 12″ plywood into the laser, and then hit the “GO” button. Just before you hit that button, you are required to shout “FIRE THE LAZZZZOR”, just so people know, well, that something magic is about to happen.

3) After about twenty minutes of laazzzoor (which costs me $20… $1 per minute of laser use), out came the piece of wood, from which I could easily pop out the various parts of my new uku. From there, some simple wood glue and human hand pressure produced the outcome seen below.

Lazzzzored UkuleleLazzzzored UkuleleLazzzzored UkuleleLazzzzored Ukulele

Now, like the title says, this is “Proto Uno”, so I’ve got a ways until this thing is playable… first of all, it needs to be about twice as big to fit my fingers. However, purely measuring from the “random idea in my head” to “actual physical thing” perspective, this was definitely a #WIN.

Stay tuned for further adventures in on-demand musicality via lazzzzors, and who knows, I might just be able to play a song for you some day soon!

My Christmas Vlog on a Flip Mino HD

MC bought me a swell gift for Christmas – the Flip Mino HD – a tiny wonder that delivers on the promise of high quality video in a small package. The only real issue I have with it is that being so small, it is difficult to keep steady. Perhaps with time and practice I’ll improve. However, the upside of the stealth profile is that almost no one notices I am filming them at all, allowing me to capture people in very natural moments. Also, according to my buddy noneck, you can hack your flip, adding a wide angle lens to it!

Anyhow, enjoy this four minute peek into my Christmas day revelry….


Christmas in the Colonies from natdefreitas on Vimeo.

This was definitely the year of gadgets for me, as I also was given a Polaroid Pogo mobile printer and a ThinkGeek Wifi Finder T-Shirt! More on these awesome toys in a later post…

Many thanks to Snr. Sufjan Stevens for the tune… go buy his Christmas album if you like it!