THE TOIL OF TILLING

The Mattress Factory Museum's gesture series "Meet The Made", July 2008. It was organized by Ian Ingram and Carl DiSalvo as part of the Robot 250 series of events in Pittsburgh. I made a giant locust robot and titled it "The Toil Of Tilling", which quite honestly is more of a puppet, but does have robotic qualities. Click here to read a review by Kurt Shaw in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.


First, I welded the frame of the locust and secured all of the electronic components to this frame.


I used scrap styrofoam insulation I found in the trash at a construction site and laminated the pieces together using expandable insulation spray foam.


After it cured, I carved out the shape with a sharp kitchen knife. After I had the basic shape I lightly sanded the surface smooth.


Then I covered the foam with several layers of a 2:1 mixture of Acrylic Polymer and paper mache clay powder. Where there were structural concerns or contact due to moving parts I used a material called polygem. This stuff is really amazing and I also used it to completely cover "Prometheus", as it's weatherproof qualities make it an ideal solution for exterior applications.


Here is the finished piece installed in the gallery. I used acrylic paint with a clear coat finish to complete the piece. To read my statement and see more photos visit the Mattress Factory's website here.
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