Bauhaus and Bold Colors – its Harold Krisel!

if you read my blog and follow my work – i love 4 things.  Robots, color, mid century art and design and the bauhaus.  always on the hunt for new inspiration, i came across Harold Krisel, who studied at the New Bauhas and made awesome use of color.

slobot's Earl Grey and Sencha headed to Chicago

These two slobots, Sencha and Earl Grey are headed over to Rotofugi in Chicago as we speak to be part of the Toy Karma 2 show... nice line-up on this one, including some heavyweights in the Kaiju and art / toy arena, like Buff Monster, David and Sun Min of Ugly Dolls fame, Itokin Park, and many, many more. The whole premise of this show is based around Japanese toys and their influence on art. This came at a great time for the slobots, as i have been following a track with some of the slobots that takes them back to some of the original images and shapes, which, interestingly enough, take some cues from Japanese Kokeshi dolls, like the Philosophers that i did for a show earlier this year. Both of these slobots are made of found objects, approximately 75%-85% post consumer plastics that have been repurposed into art. The big one stands approximately 14" tall, both have a cool green glass eye and some glow in the dark parts. they have a story too: "Earl Grey and Sencha are two slobots from two different worlds... Sencha comes from the far off land of Japan, created as a household service robot while Earl Grey was created to be a librarian by a noted scientist from Great Britain. Worlds away from their homelands, they met in New York City, and, sharing a passion for proper cups of tea, opened a wonderful little tea shop in the Lower east Side."

art tends to distort the truth

At least, that is according to Matthew Nowicki, a twentieth century architect that was a colleague of Eero Saarinen. Like Saarinen, Nowicki died young in 1960. here is a quote that i just read from one of my library sale finds in the Eero Saarinen architecture book: "Art tends not only to discover the truth but to exaggerate and finally distort it. And, maybe in this distortion lies the essence of art." deep, contemplative stuff indeed. here are a couple of images of his most famous architectural piece, a pavilion at the state fairgrounds in Raliegh, NC...

slobot robotic philosophers?

Hey All! Just wanted to let everyone know that I have a show opening tonight (june 12, 2009) in Wilmington, NC at the Local Gallery at Fast Frame of Wilmington (http://fastframeofwilmington.com). The opening is from 5p-7:30pm and the show runs for a month. I have about a dozen slobots in the show, including these brand new slobot Philosophers. They are 100% slobot, found objects, etc and each stands about 20” tall. They form a Triptych, and their story goes like this: “Three Philosophers standing in a room, waxing philosophical on ethics, aesthetics, and various other thought provoking topics. These three philosophers love to discuss the ins and outs of the most complex and innane subjects equally. While lacking vocal instruments, they still manage to share their ideas both grand and verbose, by communicating telepathically with each other and everyone else as well. If you find yourself suddenly full of more thoughts than you can keep track of, there is probably a slobot Philosopher in the room." Contrary to popular belief, not all robots are bent on global domination, the slobots are friendly and just want to help.

hey! hey! RECLAIM 2 FAME found object robots!

everyone knows i love robot art! these really cool, inventive, and, dare i say, whimsical sculptures by Florida-based artist Will W aka RECLAIM2FAME are both cool and affordable... you should buy 2!

RECLAIM2FAME

walter gropius, eric mendelsohn, a SELDON CRISIS and the BAUHAUS

"The Bauhaus believes the machine to be our modern medium of design and seeks to come to terms with it." Masters of World Architecture: Walter Gropius

i went to a library sale a few weeks ago, and have been poring through a modest pile of great vintage books. i got an incredible copy of the Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov (ach! is the current state of the world economy some sort of Seldon Crisis?), 3 great architecture books about Eric Mendelsohn, Walter Gropius, and Eero Saarinen (haven't started this one yet!) and a pile of others yet to be explored... Hey! are those slobots next to 1930's German architecture! i KNEW it! FYI, you can get a print of this image in my etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25500472

grandpa's robots are radio controlled retro goodness.

Found these extra cool robots created by a former aerospace Industry Design Engineer that creates super detailed REMOTE CONTROLLED collectible robots. browse the pics and please take a look at his site as well! http://www.grandpasrobots.com

rik allen and his great glass rocketships.

i found Rik's work somewhere on the internet that escapes me at the moment. at any rate, this is wonderful work. the blown glass shapes that serve as the canopies of space ships and internal parts of these ships are really amazing. In Rik's own words - "The futuristic antiquity of this series was inspired by my life-long fascination with the design of technology – especially the purposefully “futuristic” technology of the mid-20th Century." edit: i realized that the place of origin that i found out about Rik's art is: electroartworks.com See more for yourself at: Rik Allen