Introduction: Being an Artist in Residence at Instructables

By Coroflot portfolio
I'm Samuel Bernier, known as Patenteux du Nord. I'm an industrial designer, a maker, a farmer, a traveler and a hard worker. I spent the last three weeks at Instructables as an "artist in residence". (I love this title). This pretty much means that I have access to all the tools, knowledge, materials and benefits the big yellow robot has in it's belly. 82 2nd street San Francisco is the adress of DIY heaven and here is my story :


Step 1: February 16th 2012

It took me 14 hours to get from Montreal to San Francisco, thanks to United Airlines, so I was a little bit jet-lagged when I got to Instructables. You wouldn't believe what I found behind this door...

Step 2: ...

STAIRS!

But up these stairs was a world I didn't know existed. A world where giant cardboard horses play with flying monkeys and plastic dinausors. A place where knitting meets robotics. A universe where keyboards are turned into canvases and trash into treasurs. A galaxy of intelligence, personality, creativity and fun.
Paradise. 

Step 3: Home

I had this weird feeling. This feeling you have when you come back home after one year. I didn't know anybody there, but they seemed familiar. Maybe because they were all a little bit like me. Best part is that I already had my own desk waiting for me on Intern Island!

Step 4: Desk

And SURPRISE! 
A 3D printer was also waiting for me. Still new, fresh out of the box. Two or three hours later, I was laser cutting my first project as resident : the World puzzle. But the most fun was yet to come.

Step 5: Zelda-Cupcakes-Pizza-Robots and Some More Orange Stuff

San Francisco is not only a beautiful city, it is also the most a HDCP place (High Density of Creative People) I've seen so far. 
Design agencies, Hacker spaces, Tech Shop, Fab Labs, Art galleries, Autodesk, Instructables...
I think I gained 3 pounds between the beer and pizza thursdays, the cupcake Instructables, the ice cream experiments, the Thai food lunches, Giant cookies, Sammy's sandwiches and Lamedust's Fajitas. You also have to know that Instructables is a highly recreative place. It isn't rare to see Jayefu doing some pull-ups, Randofo play guitar or Mikeasaurus play Zelda on N64. Being an artist in residency is the best moment to experiment with sewing, laser cutting, 3D printing, robotic, programing and cooking. So, if you are a creative person who wants to have a great moment with awesome people doing amazing things, Instructables is the place to be.