THEN AND NOW // Photographer Dallas Logan on Five Years at 3rd Ward

Dallas LoganFollowing our birthday bash this past weekend we've been reflecting a lot about 3rd Ward's vibrant five-year history, so we caught up with Dallas Logan, an amazing photographer that's been with us since day one.

Back then, he had just jumped into the world of professional photography. Now he's a seasoned pro who's worked with clients ranging from Ford Models to the Durant for Robert Durant clothing line to Time Out New York.

"I loved 3rd Ward in the beginning," Logan says. "I used to have a studio space in walking distance from 3rd Ward and the landlord decided to raise the rent three times the amount we [my partner and I] were already paying.  So I went onto Craigslist, found the wonderful space and have been with them ever since."

3rd Ward has always been the best deal in town, he says, and that's attracted many people. "What I love about it now is that they are constantly expanding and building the space to accommodate the newer members.  I love the rebuilding of the media lab as well as the raw space on the second floor.  Every month you come through, they've added a special new feature."

His time here has also significantly shaped Logan's work. "When I had my previous space, it was only me and my business partner and I didn’t have anyone to bounce ideas off of," he says. "Here at 3rd Ward, at any given time I may have a question about equipment, cameras, lighting, retouching, graphics, video editing, metal work—I can always just step out of the studio space and walk around, I am bound to find someone who has the answer I am looking for."

Logan is constantly building his own portfolio as well as portfolios for other artists ("Be it hair, makeup, stylists, singers, etc."). He also teaches lighting seminars. "Personally, I am slowly testing the waters of cinematography," he adds. "Watch out."

Oh, we'll watch out, and we're sure it'll be great. Here's to five more years (and many after that) with Dallas!

-- John Ruscher

MEMBER / TEACHER FEATURE // Luke Schantz Plays (Almost) As Hard As He Works

Artist/designer Luke Schantz specializes in video, lighting, electronics and live entertainment. All of those skills come together in his work as media designer for Blue Man Group and with individual artists like Ralph Lemon and Carey Young. He's got lots to say about being both a 3rd Ward member and instructor; currently teaching MaxMSP and 3D Design for animation, with plans to teach a survey course called "Trends and Topics in the Techno-sphere." And that's only a small part of what's on his plate--which explains why he's never been out in the sun for an interval longer than 15 minutes (seriously).

Read on to find out what keeps him so happily occupied.  

3W: In what capacity do you “use” 3rd Ward?

LS: I have quite a bit of equipment, furniture and materials stuffed into less than 200-square feet of space at 3rd Ward.  It’s a collection of new and old; some functional items are almost 100 years old, including a workbench that my grandfather built as a child.  For most of my life, I haven’t had a proper studio to work in, so the past year and a half here has been amazing.  I had caches of tools, materials and ideas waiting for some time and space to work.  It has taken me months and countless trips around the tri-state to unite these parts.  And when I say "unite these parts," I mean it in the Voltron sense of "unite these parts.”

My space at 3rd Ward reflects both the practical and the symbolic. I have a lovely collection of medical devices and implements, some of which I wouldn’t want to use for an actual operation.  But just having them together as a collection alters the environment in a way that helps me really consider what’s going on with modern bio-medical advancements and the burgeoning trans-humanist culture.  People stop me in the hall and ask me about my bone setting apparatus, which creates an opportunity to talk about the engineer who designed his own heart valve, and that opens up a dialogue about transhumanism… 

3W: What have you worked on lately at 3rd Ward?

LS: Most recently, I completed an Axial Helical Mode Antenna Array.  A friend and colleague of mine, Zarah Cabanas, asked if I wanted to collaborate on a show called Time Capsules to Space.  Inspired by the Voyager spacecraft, we created a time capsule consisting of a video transmission into outer space. I knew of the "cantenna" projects for Wi-Fi and after some research figured the Axial Mode Helical Antenna Array was the way to go.

In a serendipitous set of events the same week, I met Michaela Russo, an experienced electrical engineer and technician.  She had worked on a number of development projects during the Star Wars program and on industrial microwave projects for industry. We were on a tight budget, and we had to come up with the antenna ourselves from scratch.  We used the laser cutter at NYC Resistor to cut the acrylic for the antenna masts.  We assembled them and wrapped the coils on the picnic tables in the alley at 3rd Ward.  A bunch of people from 3rd Ward helped out with fashioning the metal, wood and acrylic components.

This one is dubbed House Sparrow.  All future antenna designs will also bare the name of a passerine bird.  The project is about expression and the electromagnetic spectrum—about extending our voices as makers into the tools we use to express ourselves.  The project is going to continue, and Zarah will host more events to be broadcast.  Future iterations of the antenna will include a tripod base that can accurately aim the antenna.  Eventually, it will be nice to have the antenna on a motorized articulated mount.  

3W: What would you say inspires your work?

LS: I have my own set of idols or heros.  Nikola Tesla, Jack Parsons, Paul Feyerabend, Noam Chomsky and the contemporary futurists and life extension people are very influential to me, as well many historical figures and the ancients. I also think a lot about those people considered to be really "out there": John Lilly, Wilheim Reich, Ram Dass, Terence McKenna. 

I think that I live a very human life, but I’m just not really interested in video games, sports or going to concerts.  I take that energy and focus it on my innate interests.  I’m glad that this is what I like to do, rather than some hobby that costs too much money and offers no return.  We’re lucky if we can enjoy our work.  My future wife often comments that it’s not fair that I should be so satisfied by shopping for office supplies.  I really just like workshops, studios, labs and offices.

3W: How were you introduced to 3rd Ward?

LS: I was looking for a studio space and started asking around. A friend and colleague, Matt Werden at Blue Man Group, told me about 3rd Ward.  I called over and made an appointment to get a tour [in 2009]. At first, I was just a member, and over time, I’ve picked up classes I’m qualified to teach.

3W: Do you live nearby, or do you travel a while to get there?

LS: I live nearby.  I actually rented the apartment because of its proximity to 3rd Ward.  Sometimes I get busy with video and stage projects during the day.  So I wanted to live close to my studio.  This way I squeeze in some extra work in the morning and at night and not have the burden of a commute. 

3W: Do you feel like this place has enhanced your creativity and innovation? 

The daily interaction between artists, designers, faculty, staff and craftsmen at 3rd Ward has really expanded my skill sets and exposed me to things I might not have thought about otherwise, like TIG welding or constructing some crazy puppet.  Just by being at 3rd Ward and having your eyes open, you can't help but to learn about different disciplines. Wikipedia and Instructables are great ways to get overview of concept, but when you’re hands on, that face-to-face personal dialogue and first-hand experience is priceless.  Asking a question and getting immediate feedback is the way I learn best, especially if I need to do something complicated or dangerous, and I’ve never done it before.  3rd Ward is great because it's filled with people competent in a wide variety of disciplines; I can easily take a class or go to someone who is an expert. And there’s something to be said for sharing resources and facilities for the sake of efficiency and sustainability.

3W: What 3rd Ward events have you participated in?

LS: The MakerBot event last month was awesome.  The folks from MakerBot came and so did a bunch of users.  We set up our Makerbots in Studio B and we talked to folks about 3D printing with the Makerbot. The parties and art openings are also fun. It’s a perk to be able to work and then move right to party mode.  It’s great to have that in-house.  I certainly get exposed to more arts, music, and culture than I would if I had to make some other special effort to get out.  I work a lot.  I haven't been in the sun for more than 15 minutes since I was 15. I’m serious. Socially, it comes down to simple home field advantage; it feels like all these people are coming over to my place.  When Reggie Watts performed, I went to see his set and was back working on my project within minutes.

3W: What advice do you have for potential or new 3rd Ward members? 

LS: Clean up after yourself in the shop.  Don't horse around.  Wear safety goggles.  Pull up your sleeves up when using power tools.  Keep your long hair tied up and away from machinery.  Beware of fumes and too much PBR. 

-- Cara Cannella 

3RD WARD B-DAY // Get Briana Auel's Limited Edition 3rd Ward Birthday Print This Saturday

Briana Auel's screen print design.After featuring 3rd Ward member Briana Auel, a talented and award-winning designer and illustrator, in our inaugural Member Group Show earlier this month we thought, "Why not ask her to design a screen print for Saturday's Birthday BBQ?"

Much to our delight she said yes, so make sure to bring along your shirts, totes and the like to get her special edition screen print on Saturday!

You can check out other great designs by Auel, including prints, pillows and t-shirts, at her Broken Heart Social Club Etsy store and on her website. And, for the absolute latest, follow her on Twitter!

"Broken Heart Social Club and the art/design/illustration that I create are a direct representation of who I am as a person," Auel tells us. "A bike lover. A music devourer. An envelope pusher. A PBR drinking, whiskey swilling sailor-mouthed lady. I tend to create things that push comfort levels, but I soften the vulgarity through the pastel palette I often use. I love juxtaposition and I love the element of surprise."

Auel recently moved to Brooklyn from Minneapolis, so look out for much more from her in the future. "I'm often spotted cruising around BK on my bike with my white maltese pup, Cricket, slung across my chest in a sack," she adds. "If you spot us, say hello!"

3rd Ward's Birthday BBQ is this Saturday from 2-8pm and, in addition to Auel's awesome screen print, there will also be cheap delicious food, workshops, VJs, live music, a photography exhibition and more. And it's free! See you there!

MEMBER PROFILE // Niall McKay Lands at 3rd Ward

In the late ‘90s, Niall McKay was a print journalist visiting San Francisco from his native Ireland to cover a conference. His transition to living and working in the States went something like this: “I woke up one morning, looked out the window and saw the Golden Gate Bridge below me and said, ‘Fuck it. I am moving here.’”

McKay spent more than a decade in the Bay Area, where he founded the Emmy award-winning production company Media Factory and created the critically acclaimed, intensely personal documentary feature The Bass Player -- in which he accompanies the return of his jazz musician father home to Ireland. The writer/producer/director is now in the process of relocating to New York, with 3rd Ward—where he uses the co-working desk space, meets clients and edits projects in the Media Lab—as his office.

As a filmmaker, McKay says he gets a kick out of wandering around 3rd Ward and meeting interesting folks (like a guy who does storyboards for HBO shows). Sharing space with photographers, painters, furniture makers and metal gurus makes him feel right at home.

“New York is a larger community,” he says, comparing it to San Francisco, “but it feels smaller for some reason.” (We'd like to think we play a part in that.)

--Cara Cannella 

MEMBER PURSUITS // Ragnar Lagerblad's Exquisite Shrines

Ragnar Lagerblad has only been at 3rd Ward for around six months, but he's already deep into exploring what his membership can add to his work. He just finished up a lathe class and is moving on to woodworking and welding.

Though he doesn't plan to build your typical table or bookshelf. Working mostly with traditional techniques such as egg tempera and fresco painting, Lagerblad delves into syncretism in his art, incorporating elements of a variety of different cultures.

With his newly acquired skills he plans to build his own metal structures for his fresco paintings and craft shrines in wood and tempera as well as gilding and scagliola, "an old way of doing fake marble."

"I like to be in control of what I am doing, so I try to do everything from scratch," he says. "I believe that learning to work with wood will add a lot to my work."

In the meantime, check out one of Lagerblad's truly unreal shrines!

-- John Ruscher

MEMBER PROFILE // The Evolution of Patricio Jijon

“One of my earliest recollections is being naked at the beach of the Ecuadorian Pacific Ocean, trying to understand the infinity of the size of the sea,” says artist and 3rd Ward member Patricio Jijon.

See this work on display in the 3rd Ward front window.

This “ambiguous sensitivity”—first experienced as a two-year-old staring at the horizon—remains a source of inspiration and creative energy for Jijon, who became a member with his wife Stephanie Garcia in late 2010.

“3rd Ward is helping me to transmutate my artistic career from painting into new media installation and performance art,” he says. Like any new language, software is “really hard to learn alone,” so Jijon has immersed himself in the interactive multimedia community at 3rd Ward by taking courses in Processing, Max/MSP, Sensors, Arduino, After Effects, and Blender. Skills acquired along the way also inform his work as a musician, producer, illustrator, photographer, and graphic designer.

Going back to his more low-tech roots, Jijon loves to participate in Drink N’ Draw, where he once was “amazed and thrilled” to recognize the model. “It was a friend of my wife, and also it was the first time I saw her naked.”

Once again, Jijon is in his awe-struck element, and the sky’s the limit. 

-- Cara Cannella

MEMBER PROFILE // Jewelry Designer Bernice Kelly's On Fire

Irish designer Bernice Kelly works on small-scale pieces, but she dreams big. Her jewelry brand Macha—named for her Northern Ireland hometown (named after an ancient Gaelic mythological figure) is sold at Earnest Sewn in New York and select shops in cities worldwide.

At 3rd Ward’s jewelry studio, she’s found resources to match her vision. “I use it for all the projects that require bigger and better equipment than I own myself,” she says. “3rd Ward has some super big old oxy acetylene torches that aren't safe to have around the house. I do love to melt stuff!”

After working in corporate fashion design for nearly a decade, Kelly launched Macha in 2009 as an expression of her laid-back, non-fussy attitude and style. “I like to challenge traditional ideas about jewelry so am always experimenting with techniques to make metals appear more organic.”

Kelly, who shares tips with 3rd Ward’s “very approachable” jewelry instructors, wants to take classes across all different mediums. “Just throw yourself into the deep end, and don't be afraid to try something you have no idea about,” she advises new members. Her latest venture, a web design class, means exciting updates are coming to www.machajewelry.com. Stay tuned!

-- Cara Cannella  

Member Group Show // Photos Are Up!

Thanks to all who came out to support our Members for our first ever Member Group Show! See below for some selects from the night and visit the 3rd Ward Facebook page  or Flickr to see the entire album.

If you didn't make it out for the opening, you can still swing by and see all of the work!  Our lobby is covered floor to ceiling with work from our Members until May 22! 

MEMBER PURSUITS // Michael Wong's Walnut Waterfall Table

Amazing creations seem to emerge from the 3rd Ward wood and metal shop on a regular basis. Take this one for example: Michael Wong's gorgeous Walnut Waterfall Table.  Wong's taken the natural contours of a slab of black walnut and subtlety, skillfully transformed it into an elegant piece of furniture.

"I like to think that when I create something,  design or production-wise, that I can bring insight or a focus on a certain quality that's trying to emerge...but needs help," says Wong. He created the table not by imposing a strict form on the wood, but by reinforcing and refining its natural beauty and vigor. Wong used butterfly joints to prevent the wood from cracking, as well as three invisible joints inside the 45-degree cut. Then came fine sanding and a week's worth of oiling and waxing.

For Wong, a trained sculptor and architect and the founder of ETHER Atelier, the 3rd Ward shop has been a place not just to create but to learn. "When I joined 3rd Ward, I had really basic skills," he says. "I've designed a lot of spaces and cabinets but that doesn't really get you too far in the shop. People are generous with giving advice, and eventually things got more serious through weeks of helping people and sometimes getting work from them."

Wong now plans to start making his own collection, which will be done in metal. (Don't worry, we'll post that work as well.)

For now, click after the jump to feast your eyes on a few more images of the Walnut Waterfall Table and its creation.

-- John Ruscher

MEMBER PURSUITS // Ellen Rose's Bold & Elegant Jewelry

Ellen Rose is not a timid jewelry maker. She uses everything from vintage silk ties to plastic vending machine toys to create bold and vibrant pieces. Her work is neither delicate or gaudy. It's sophisticated in a grandiose way—you might even say royal.

We checked in with Rose, a 3rd Ward member since January, and were excited to hear that one of her pieces, "Baltusrol Necklace," will be featured in an upcoming issue of BUST Magazine! The necklace is a typical Rose creation—a bright, flowing piece that grabs your attention with a beauty that is uninhibited but still subtle and thoughtfully composed.

Right now Rose is continuing to build her portfolio, which also includes her drawings—"detailed, pattern-based black ink pieces that are at once whimsical and macabre." She says that 3rd Ward has been a great home base for her work. "Apart from the facilities themselves, the atmosphere of serious, creative pursuit incites me to approach my work in the same way," she explains.

Roses' work is available from Anthropologie in Chelsea Market at Ninth Avenue and 15th Street in Manhattan and online from her Etsy shop. Check it out and pick up one of her excellent pieces! We're particularly enamoured of her "Night Lagoon" necklace.

Take a look at a couple of Ellen Rose creations below.

Ellen Rose's "Walrus Formal"

Ellen Rose's "Baltusrol Abridged II"

-- John Ruscher