Robotart: For The BotJunkie In All Of Us
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Monday, 3 of September , 2007 at 1:44 am
We often think of robots purely in terms of functionality, but Lawrence Northey’s Robotart sculptures are so amazingly detailed that it’s easy to forgive the fact that they don’t really do anything besides stand there and look awesome. And they do look awesome. Even more awesome is the fact that some of them are actually for sale; you can get select static sculptures for anywhere from $650 to $2500, or a robot lamp sculpture for $3000. Make sure to click through to see the Robotart gallery; I’ve posted a few of my favorites after the jump.
[ Robotart Gallery ] VIA [ Gearfuse ]
Comments (3)
Category: Art
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Comment by Bill Watson
Made Monday, 3 of September , 2007 at 8:14 am
These are real cool looking but I’ll take functionality over aesthetics any day. :-)
Comment by Lawrence Northey
Made Monday, 3 of September , 2007 at 2:05 pm
Thank you very much for the link!
In response to Bill’s comment..
I prefer to combine form with function when budget permits. In fact I started out creating actual moving displays back in the 1980’s.
http://www.homestead.com/robotart/files/Heavy_K___the_Turtlenecks.jpg
I really loved doing these. The downside was all those moving parts created a logistic nightmare with regards to maintenance. If you sell a functional robot to someone (generally a non-tech) in Scotland and they’re experiencing a technical problem (and you’re not Radio Shack with an outlet in Edinborough who can solve it for them) well I think you get the picture. And besides not having to make them move opens up all sorts of other possibilities with regards to design. Still I often incorporate electronic circuits in the work to help bring them alive for the collector. For example looking at the photos on this page for instance: “USA-STAR 1″ has a recordable speach function and his mouth lights up in synch with his speech. “OTIS & the DARK LORD” hang from the ceiling but have a remote controlled feature that operates their rayguns. All the guards in “the Queen’s Entourage” speak and their rayguns light up. What is of primary importance to the collectors of my work however, is not so much what they do but really how they look. I mostly add those “extra-features” because I love surprising them and I still enjoy doing it.
Comment by Conner Flynn
Made Monday, 3 of September , 2007 at 11:41 pm
Hello Mr. Northey,
Great to see your work and YOU on the site. I have been an admirer for quite some time. In fact, I was thinking about doing a write-up on you just the other day, then Evan beat me to it. I’m a bit jealous about that actually. :)
Keep up the good work.
Conner