Multidisciplined artist Nate Boguszewski provides an in-depth look at his creative space in its final days before relocating from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to New York City.

By Matthew Newton, Senior Editor

Multidisciplined artist Nate Boguszewski exemplifies the new breed of creative individual in so many ways. His skill set is versatile, switching from creative direction and design, to web development and branding under the guise of art:product, his commercial studio. But then he also prefers not to limit himself to commercial design work alone. Photography is a deeper pursuit of his, marked by photojournalistic tendencies and staged photography alike. His photos have appeared in Swindle, Next American City, and Philadelphia City Paper, among other publications. He is consumed by a fascination with capturing people at ease in their environment; but also relishes in the idea of crafting elaborately contrived scenes. The latter approach was showcased extensively during his tenure as co-publisher and creative director of the popular underculture magazine, Deek.

Like so many with an affinity for art and design, Boguszewski is also a musician. A talented drummer and electronic composer, he studies and plays improvisational jazz and classic soul at club sessions in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Boguszewski recently played drums as part of a live score in From The Margins, a collaboration between MacArthur Dance Project and composer Bryan Senti. And it may also be worth mentioning that he is an excellent cook.

As he prepares for a move from Pittsburgh to New York City in early 2010, Mr. Boguszewski invited Computerlove to take a look at his current creative space in its waning days. (Photographs shot by Nate Boguszewski) 

No. 1 - The doorway. I'm not sure who or what QBK is, but the landlord hasn't removed that graffiti in over 2 years. I recently added the right street number and floor on the door. It was wrong before. The USPS carriers still can't figure it out.
No. 2 - The entry way. This is the area leading to my apartment and the abandoned dentist office across the hall. I use it for storage. Towards the back are some old chairs and hardware I took from the office when they gutted it in 2007. I wanted to use them as props in photos but they'll probably just end up being scrap. There's no heat in here anymore which is rather frustrating in the winter.
No. 3 - It's a little gloomy in the evenings. I did replace all the bulbs with CFCs two years ago, so the landlord should appreciate the savings.
No. 4 - I commandeered the former waiting room as a small project space. Right now my small project is shooting all the shoes I've accumulated in the past 7 years. I never seem to throw them away - they're shoes, somebody somewhere might have a use for them. I'll give them to Goodwill after I take photos for the archives. I shot this one in there. And this. And this and this (NSFW) in the adjoining space.

No. 5 - This is the office area. When I moved in they still had hardware and supplies in here. It was a little sinister in the evenings. There were mouth molds, drill parts, chairs and lamps. I saved one chair and it sits on my back porch. It's from 1925 but surprisingly comfortable. I shot a couple nudes in here, the ones with the girls playing in the turtle-shaped sandbox.
No. 6 - Upstairs is the attic space above the office.
No. 7 - It's a big, sooty, empty space in the attic. I've had a few people roll around in the soot (NSFW) for my entertainment.
No. 8 - Anyway. This is where I live. The kitchen is what sold the apartment for me. The walls are filled with holes but I've patched most of them up with Great Stuff and spackle. I've thrown some great midnight dinner parties in this space. Somehow I've squeezed 70 people into this apartment at times. Having a couch in the kitchen helped. The overhead light looks cool in the right conditions.  No. 10 - Work area, overview. Middle, the casting couch. Above it is an old photo of mine that got corrupted beyond repair in the great hard drive crash of 2005.
No. 11 - Desk. That's my Hackintosh setup. I saved a ton building the thing and it outperforms the low end Mac Pros. I get nerdy with computer hardware. The Wacom on the table is the greatest thing ever. Under the shelf is a Yamaha CS6x, filled with great late-90s trance music sounds. I use it only for a MIDI interface these days.No. 12 - Left: Some Lurzier's Archives, a great way to find inspiration for work, even if the stuff in there is entirely commercial. Ads today co-opt so much art anyway. There's also a bunch of Eye magazines, from the UK. $30 per issue, but probably the best design mag you can read. I have some old sketch pads here too. Plenty of ideas in there, just no time to do anything with them. Right: The library. I picked up a lot of magazines during those Deek years in the name of research and development. I'll eventually have to scan and recycle these. I shot this in here. No. 13 - The bedroom. I have the congas in here for now until I figure out where to put them. I try to keep the bedroom dedicated to sleeping. When you're working from home most days it's such a necessity to distance yourself from work somehow - another reason my kitchen is there. No work, no laptops in the bedroom.

No. 14 - The music chamber. I have a ballet to play for in 2 weeks, so I've been practicing my ass off this summer. This kit is my beater set and it sounds awful. But it's good to play it to see what can be done with it. The good kit is out in the hallway, bagged up and ready to go to NYC. [Editor's note: Boguszewski has since performed the score for this ballet, titled From The Margins.]

No. 15 - The toms from the Recording Custom set. A friend of mine told me to reduce the size of the kit I was playing to work on rhythms instead of sounds, so they've been off for a few months. That's why the beater kit is in the "salon" area. No. 16 - Some books I picked up this summer. I like the Chinese classics and these were supposedly some great translations.

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