Late last year, looking at some empty beer cartons lingering around the office, I had the idea of collecting a few and turning them into a Transformer-like robot. I imagined it to be a fun, relatively easy and quick (right!) excercise for all of us in the creative department. But soon the reality of working on commercial projects creeped in and my idea started lingering like the empty cartons.
image by StuRap
Sonke from Liquid Protocol finally recommended artist Maddi (working as “Kiss Kiss”) to give the project much required dedication and input. Maddi until recently ran online gallery & shop StupidKrap and shares a work space with Ben Frost and others around the corner from our office.
I asked her whether she had ever built a “Beer Robot” before (you never know!). Despite lacking such a robot in her work-to-date, Maddi’s artistic style was such a great fit for the idea – you might have seen her work at 20/20/20, Kids Today or Trailblazers. After some collaborative sessions we put down what a “Beer Robot” actually should look and act like: possessing a very laid-back robotic form of dudeness, definitely a completely chilled-out bot! Somebot who could easily take over the world, but choses not to. Who instead just kicks back and relaxes with a cold one in his metallic hands.
See full photo set here
So after weeks of Maddi collecting empty beer cartons from her local bottle shop (thanks Aurora Surry Hills!), and many hours spent constructing, bending, cutting, spraying and glueing, Maddi’s CHILL BOT took centre stage at the Urban Uprising’s new world revolution show on Crown Street in January.
CHILL BOT @ Urban Uprising Gallery
CHILL BOT in flip book style
Naturally we couldn’t wait to get the CHILL BOT into our own space, yet he lay disassembled for a while after the show.
The CHILLBOT needs a chiropractor
Yesterday, Maddi was nice enough to drop by and custom-install him in our office.
Full Glue Alert
Fully armed with her 007 staple gun and glue revolver (and an extra Beck’s carton we had just finished for spare parts) she set him up, ready to chill everyone out.
Extra carton needed to stabilize CHILL BOT's back
Now CHILL BOT greets all Holler visitors with an impressive physique. My deepest thanks to Maddi for crafting such a great Bot. Our plan is to augment CHILL BOT with proximity sensors, reacting to hectic earthlings who would be in need to “seriously chill out”. Update to follow.
Maddi finishing CHILLBOT
Between 0 and 1 