PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE DIY JOINT
THE DIY JOINT
ON JUNE 18, 2014, PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA HOSTED THE FIRST WHITE HOUSE MAKER FAIRE. PART SCIENCE FAIR, PART CULTURAL SHOWCASE, THAT DAY’S EVENT BORE WITNESS TO A 17-FOOT-TALL ROBOTIC GIRAFFE AMBLING AROUND THE GROUNDS, A WORKING PIANO KEYBOARD MADE FROM TOUCH-SENSITIVE BANANAS, A WEALTH OF 3D-PRINTED OBJECTS—INCLUDING PANCAKES IN THE SHAPE OF PRESIDENT’S FACE—AND MORE. IN HIS REMARKS ON THE DAY’S PROCEEDINGS, OBAMA HAILED THE INGENUITY OF ORDINARY CITIZENS MADE POSSIBLE BY INCREASINGLY ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY. Obama located the inventors gathered there at the vanguard of the grand sweep of American innovation: Americans had realized dreams of a transcontinental railroad, networks of telegraph lines, the lightbulb, the Internet. What would come of this current frenzy of discovery and invention was anyone’s guess. “It gives you a sense that we are at the dawn of something big,” he said. The White House hosted the event again in 2015 and 2016, but more than the later iterations, that inaugural event represented the validation on the national stage of a movement that had been brewing across the country for about a decade. That movement, the “maker” movement, is something of a catch-all term for independent manufacturers, craftspeople, hackers, and artisans. Infused with DIY spirit, this 21st-century update to the Arts and Crafts movement is a friendly meeting of garage scientists with Etsy nation. The maker movement owes its cohesion in part to Make magazine, first published in 2005, and in part to maker faires like the ones held at the White House (There are now over 100 such events held worldwide each year). But perhaps most important are the sites for this democratized industry, the places where the work of making happens: makerspaces.
Makerspaces, sometimes called hackerspaces or fab labs, are collaborative work spaces that house a variety of equipment for members’ use—anything from sewing machines to laser cutters, welding equipment to 3D printers, all depending on the particular location. And as the movement itself has grown to encompass the Garden State and its surrounding areas, the makerspaces have come too.
ACCESS TO TOOLS The DIY Joint is among the newest of these. This woodworking studio and instructional space opened in Hoboken in June of 2016. Inside, rows of work benches run into a lounge area at one end of the space, outfitted with homey, modern decor—some of which was made in house. Earmuffs, goggles, and all manner of hand tools hang in abundance along one wall. Students at the DIY Joint can take classes to learn how to build pieces such as bookshelves, side tables, and cutting boards. These classes not only introduce beginner students to new woodworking
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