Ep 07: Searching for a Scene
Now hacking at Atelier UBC
When I was younger, I thought innovation came from solitary geniuses like Tony Stark from Iron Man 1*. But as I grew as a creator, I realized this was rarely the case. After reading more on invention histories, I learned the importance of collaboration and synergy.
Reading “The Gene: An Intimate History” surprised me. It seemed like every scientist knew each other somehow: they constantly engaged with one another’s work, critiquing, challenging and building upon ideas, leading to breakthroughs in genetic research. Similarly, Feynman’s accounts of his many adventures revealed the importance of scientific collaboration in the field of physics. Steven Johnson’s “Where do Good Ideas Come From” further demonstrated this concept, tracing the histories of inventions like glass, the printing press and the steam engine. It became clear that while individual brilliance is necessary, the environment in which that talent develops is perhaps even more critical.
I needed to find spaces for creative synergy and while most of my side-project time has been comfortably spent on the couch with trash TV in the background, I yearned for some in-person goodness. By the end of 2023, I was hungry for spaces where I could work alongside other creators.
As they say, "When the student is ready…" I stumbled upon Socratica while scrolling through Twitter, and it looked just like the kind of thing I was searching for. They had just ended their Showcase 2023 where folks demoed their projects. I was impressed by this community of passionate learners and tinkerers. Scrolling through their page, I wondered, “Who are these cool people? Where do they come from? Where are th-” Then I realized they were in Toronto, which was disappointing—
until I discovered Atelier, their Vancouver-based chapter. They too did a showcase, and I knew I had to attend their next season starting in 2024.
January 2024
I was excited for Atelier S02's first session at UBC. Despite living in Vancouver for years, I had never visited the university. There was never a reason besides the Nitobe Memorial Garden—because I’m a sucker for walking in gardens—and Wreck Beach—because I’m a sucker for…
Anyway, going to this maker space was a perfect opportunity to meet other creators as well as explore new terrain, a win-win.
After a very long bus ride and short walk down UBC's lonesome roads in crispy winter weather, I found the meetup spot behind one of the student rooms at the Orchard Commons Student Residence.
Inside, I found a circle of chairs occupied by a few dozen people. “Atelier?”, I asked, confused. “Yes”, one of them responded with a smile, soon pointing at one of the empty seats. I found a seat as others introduced themselves, shared what they planned to work on and answered a personal question (I think it had to do with food that reminds you of home). The projects were diverse. I was hearing about webcomics, songs, writing, drone fleets, games, AI businesses—of course—, and many more. I loved that.
The session consisted of two long periods of quiet work within which I could hear keyboards clacking, pens stroking, papers flipping, and, I think, lofi girl staring at her book. There were two breaks: one for snacks and chatting with others, and the other right before demos where everyone showed what they were up to. During my demo, I introduced my quest to walk all of Vancouver’s roads and my ‘sauntering assistant’ project—a bot that tracked my walks and kept me motivated. The room filled with oohs and aahs when I showed my progress map so far.
Atelier UBC’s first session of season 2 was excellent. It was energizing seeing others also passionate about the projects they worked on. I had a fun time there, and people were very supportive of my quest and inquisitive about my project.
While UBC is far from where I live, I plan to attend every other Sunday. The vibe there was great and I’m looking forward to continually tinkering at my project in that scene.
Footnotes
*After writing the first draft of this, I watched videos of Tony Stark creating the armor in a cave and noticed that it wasn’t just him building. He built the armor together with Dr. Ho Yinsen (who had saved his life prior in the cave). This further validates the point that innovation is often a result of collaboration over singular genius. It also reveals a bias in myself and my friends who thought of Tony Stark solely creating the Iron Man suit. Hero bias, perhaps?