Level 1: Hello, Gowanus

Canal Monster Studios is a 300 square foot room in an old tile factory on the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. It's where I'll be 3D printing, laser cutting and making games, and this site is where I'll write it all up.

My day job lives over in World 1. This is the other half, where I make physical and playable things and get better at it in public.

What to expect

Projects go in the Quest Log, with the files where I can share them and an honest account of how they went. Field Notes is for build logs, templates, and settings that worked or very much didn't. Fitting out the studio is a project of its own, so there'll be plenty about that too.

Why "Canal Monster"?

The Gowanus has a reputation. It's a federal Superfund site, and the sediment at the bottom is known locally as black mayonnaise. It was once nicknamed Lavender Lake for its colour, and in 2007 a young minke whale the papers called Sludgie swam in from the harbour. People have been joking about what else might live down there ever since.

A studio on its bank needed a mascot. If you're patient (or curious), you might spot it.