Paper Crane Lab — the origin story
It was 2015, and I had just joined graduate school wanting to merge my passion for art and the ability to code and make circuits.
I walked the wonderful streets of New York, and entered the Tisch school of the Arts and sauntered into my department (ITP), more affectionately called “the fourth floor”. Perhaps more accurately referred to as “the tech people who are in the art school ??!!?”.
Once there, I spent the first three months thriving in my technical classes while navigating the horror of not knowing anything about design. I stood up in class one day and proudly announced “the font in my poster is sans-serif”. Might I add, that I was very proud for knowing that, only to be informed by my kind colleagues in secrecy that “sans-serif” is not a font. Apparently it is the equivalent of going to a market and saying, “give me 1kg of vegetables!”
It was at this point, a friend asked if I could cover for her one day at a Makerspace — an education space with a focus on Science, Tech, Engineering and Mathematics. I was so happy to hear a familiar word that I happily walked the 10 blocks to the Lower East Side Girls Club.
It was a class of eight, 10 year old girls working on their very first line followers (a type of robot). They were learning to make the circuits, solder, and create the chassis. As a teaching assistant for the first time this experience was fascinating! A big part of my day was spent in just simply observing the kids. I saw how they learnt, and more importantly, I saw WHY they learnt. After 90 minutes that day, I went to the front desk, and informed them I’ll be back next week.
So there I was, back after a week, and for the next 3 years I taught in various capacities — teaching assistant, instructor, co-facilitator, and I got hooked. I met some amazing teachers, mentors, and students, and each of them taught me something invaluable. If you have a chance, I urge you to look up the “Lower East Side Girls Club (LESGC)”, and read about the work they do. I suspect you may get hooked too.
All this while, I learnt more about education and design in grad school from classes, colleagues, mentors, and friends (many of whom are still educators).The highlight of all this was I learnt why it was important to learn. Learning and making was a way to empower oneself, to find a voice to talk. Now when I say “learn, and make”, I don’t mean writing a program, or making a light glow. I mean the process. The process of exploring new topics, investigating, asking questions, and collaborating. And of course, this process is much more effective when we are learning new concepts in a hands on manner!
While my plan was always to move back to India, so that I could be home, but three years after stepping into NYU, I finally had a vision of why I wanted to come back home. Working at LESGC, and with other educational institutions via NYU, I learnt about the power of making, of experimentation, and wanted to share my learnings in a place that mattered to me the most — home.
India is a land of makers. As kids we are all taught to stitch, embroider, paint, sing, dance, and what-not. However, we are less often taught to experiment, to make mistakes, to learn, and to be curious. This is what “makes a maker”. The ability to learn via experimentation. And thus Paper Crane Lab was born!
A place to create, recreate, and experiment. A place to let curiosity loose. A place to educate ourselves on the science and tech around us today. In addition to learning, we wanted to create a space with access to tools that everyone can be taught to use. Tools like soldering irons, 3D printers (affordable ones), vinyl cutters and glue guns. We want people to learn about all the tools and techniques available so that they can work on their own projects that they care about, work that is personal and important to them. We are open to children and adults alike as we believe there is no age associated with being a maker, just a state of mind, and curiosity to learn and make.
This pet project now involves multiple arms — social outreach, DIY kits, physical education space, community events, and more! Each of these arms is an experiment and a story for another day, which we will be sure to follow up on (Just watch this space). For now, here we are, an education space in Bangalore, with a focus of teaching science and tech to everyone!
Our hope is that every day, in some way, big or small, we can inspire a person to make, and together build a community of “makers”!
Happy Making! — Mathura
