Christopher Conte's 'PRECOG' & 'Scarlett'

Precognative - 2010

Photo © 2010 Dennis Blachut

PRECOG triggers Uncanny Valley type unease as the organic and inorganic world collide. We are forced to recognize something altogether familiar, yet eerily menacing, and cannot help but ponder if we are gazing at an ancestor of our future demise. A combination of custom fabricated and found object construction, PRECOG features an embedded Ipod Nano which projects subtle video (or visions) onto the lenses of each of the three eyes. The full color source video is mechanically broken down into the three additive primary colors. (RedGreenBlue)

 'Scarlett' - 2011

Another sublime creation from Christopher Conte entitled Scarlett, was featured in the show "Conjoined", curated by Chet Zar, at Copro Gallery in Santa Monica, California. Christopher's work has a (literal) polish and finish that makes them look like fully functional production pieces that one might expect to see wandering around in search of some fresh oil... This may explain why he has sold every piece he has ever made.

Nemo Gould @ Nemomatic pt. 2

'Praying Mantis - 2009 (Photos: Sibila Savage)

The amazing Mr. Nemo Gould is at it again. Crafting stunning sculptures out of found objects and recovered materials and continuing to blaze a trail in the world of RecTech, kinetic sculpture, robot art, recycling and creative expression.

(If I am gushing it's because I really love his work - and he's a really nice guy too, which is always nice...)

His works inspire wonder and fascination from materials that, before he got his masterful mits on, were destined to crowd our growing landfills.

His well trained eye sees what the rest of us mistake as worthless trash and his brain instructs his hands to fashion his fantastic visions, elevating the previous scrap to powerful statements of beauty and value, where none existed before.

His art informs us that our aesthetic tastes are fooled by broken metal and a bit of rust. Once polished, joined and re-configured, it's aesthetic worth is unmistakable.

'The Boogeyman' - 2009 (Photo: Cameron Platt)

'The Boogeyman' detail - 2009 (Photos: Cameron Platt)


'Bake-O-Lite' - 2009 (Photo: Sibila Savage)


'Bake-O-Lite' detail - 2009 (Photo: Sibila Savage)


'Psychos-O-Matic' - 2009 (Photo: Cameron Platt)
by: Nemo Gould
(Posted with Artist Permission)

www.nemomatic.com

Emek: Psychedelic Meets Post-industrial - Pt.2

Award winning rock and roll poster artist Emek draws much of his inspiration from the culture, and of course counter-culture, of his parent's sixties. He himself missed that decade, although you'd never know it by looking at a lot of his art. With both his parents artists and sharing, not only their 'creative' and 'talent' genes but also, their music and other influences, he was uniquely suited or perhaps destined for the work he does now.

This helps explain the 'psychedelic' side but not exactly the 'industrial' and 'robo-mechanical' aspects to many of his works. This side of him seems more a mystery, as to it's origins, yet he makes no secret of his love of melding the mechanical with the organic, crafting surreal and fantastical images from his rich imagination and infusing them with his, often ironic, sometimes sardonic, sense of humor and social commentary.

'Evolution - Go Back'

'Coheed and Cambria' - Gig Poster


'SpeakerBot/SpeakerGirl' for Erica Badu


Original Artwork for Red Hot Chili Peppers


Original Artwork for Tool


Album cover for Les Rita Mitsouko


Album cover for Les Rita Mitsouko


'Last Picnic'
by Emek

(Posted with Artist Permission)

Part 3 will follow (in a future feature) and contain additional works from Emek, including an animation and in-progress illustrations as well as a preview of an upcoming feature on Emek's father, also an artist interested in robots and machines in art.

www.emek.net

Builder's Studio Crafting Reto Bots From Wood

Peter Pochylski likes his robots retro and made of wood. So that's exactly how he builds them. Large or small, these warm, wooden, constructs are infused with a charming humor and unique, age-worn, style.

Like characters from the earliest science-fiction films, many of Peter's pieces seem to tell a story or, at least, play their part in some larger, grander, drama.

Not surprising, perhaps, considering the clear influences from Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Alex Raymond and even The Jetsons, that seem to inform his work and direct his steampunk/retro-future style.

'The Seeker'


'Big Fish Walker'

'Quad Walker V2' and 'Blue Snipper Robotosaurus'

'GrannyBot w/ Fresh Cookies' and 'The Littlest Centurion'


'Canadian RoboBull-Moose'


'Hey Big Spender'
by Peter Pochylski

(Posted with Artist Permission)

www.buildersstudio.etsy.com

Eric Joyner's Sweet Nostalgia

'The Usual Suspects'

... of Robots and Donuts. San Fransisco based Eric Joyner, illustrator, painter, instructor and robot dreamer, has been honing his craft for over twenty-five years. He works a nostalgically retro style which evokes memories of a time since past, yet a time that never quite existed either. A Surreal, alternate time, when Marlowe hunted for the red robots Hideout or when smoke-filled auditoriums held Friday night Rock 'Em Sock 'Em robot boxing bouts.

I haven't even gotten to the donuts yet. Like a kid in a candy store, many of Eric's worlds are filled with sweet treats of surreal proportion and mysterious function, infusing a warm charm that instantly comforts and delights. Yet all is not quite as sugary sweet as it first seems. Just under the icing lies undercurrents of violence, depression and tragedy. The robots, it seems, are not always happy.

'Between Rounds'


'Robo Kong' & 'This is This'


'IO Jima'


'The Hideout'


'The Collator'


'Draconian Ways'
by: Eric Joyner

(Posted with Artist Permission)

www.ericjoyner.com

Emek: Psychedelic Meets Post-industrial - Pt.1

Emek's prolific (and generous) nature has required splitting his feature into multiple parts. Part 2 & 3 will follow.

He has also inspired me to expand on the materials, images and information so far included on botShots for each artist. While it was always envisioned as a (mostly) visual blog/on-line art gallery, botShots has begun to evolve and develop into a growing resource (and hopefully, authority) on Robot Art. As such, I will begin to expand the written component of botShots over the next while, possibly including some 'critical' essays and trying to include additional educational and reference resources. Coming soon...

'U R What U Watch'
(or The 4 Pornbots Of The Apocalypse)

Primarily a Rock and Roll poster artist, Emek has won numerous awards and created cover art and posters for bands including Neil Young, The Grateful Dead, Pearl Jam, B.B. King, Bob Marley and Radiohead. He surprised even himself when he was asked to provide some of his 'robot' work, at just how many he had done and how influential a subject matter it obviously is to him.

'Old School'


'BullBot & Robotz'


'Harley Bot'


'SharkBot'


'Steamcycler'
(Animated Version in Pt.3)
by: Emek

(Posted with Artist Permission)

www.emek.net

Part 2 of this feature will include a selection of posters featuring robots and will follow in the coming days. Part 3 will contain additional works from Emek as well as a preview of an upcoming feature on Emek's father, also an artist interested in robots and machines in art. Watch for these coming soon...

David Lipson's - Lipson Robotics

'Elgin'


'Weston 273'


'Volcon'


'Weston Ampheres'
by: David Lipson

(Posted with Artist Permission)

Lipson Robotics

Nemo Gould's Moving Art @ Nemomatic

'Venus Flytrap' (Click for Video)


'The Performer #2' (Click for Video)


'Little Big Man' (Click for Video)


'Rabbot'


'General Debris' (Click for Video)


'Hearth Attack'
by: Nemo Gould

(Posted with Artist Permission)

www.nemomatic.com