Mr. Bradbury, this ones for you.

Ray Bradbury

   
     Would you purchase a robot to replace the loss of a loved one? What if that robot could seem completely human? Ray Bradbury asked this very question in his short story entitled "I Sing the body electric." The story, later made into an episode of the Twilight Zone, had long been a favorite of mine. Ever since I picked up a book of his short stories in elementary school I was hooked on his works. My all time favorite was entitle "Something Wicked This Way Comes," later made into a cult classic movie as well as a set of homage images I created in my early photographic work.  His writing spans over 500 published novellas and short stories. To quote his website (www.raybradbury.com) "He is one of those rare individuals whose writing has changed the way people think." COMPLETELY TRUE!

Matrix Incubators

Terminator Skull

     Bradburys influence on me needed homage once more. So thinking back on some of his more influential stories, I remembered I Sing The Body Electric. The story was about a family whose young mother had passed on, leaving the father to care for his two sons and daughter. The father turned to a new company called Fantoccini Ltd, who could provide him with an electronic grandmother to help soothe the children and make life easier for them all. This idea of robots replacing humans captivated me. It wasn't until later in life that movies like Terminator and The Matrix also put the spin on machines perpetuating themselves.

      I knew I wanted to create a robot. The bits and pieces of copier I had been sorting were calling for it. No, screaming for it! I began to combine very crude assemblages held together with banding wire and magnets. Maquettes really. As I moved forward with my first build, I decided to combine the ideas first implanted in my mind by Mr. Bradbury with the notion of machines perpetuating their own existence. A robot family.
     I had my idea, a plan to move on, but I still needed to find a way to attach meaning and theory to it all. I decide to give them social roles. The same sort of roles many basic nuclear american families held during my youth and at the time I was first exposed to these notions of robotic humanoids. For better or worse. Thus was born, The Fantoccini Family of Robots. A father, strong and proud, warrior like provider and protector. And a mother, who not only hunched forward in her tired laborious stance and purpose drivin engineering, but who was also carrying a child in her robotic womb. Each piece required hundreds of hours of work. The pieces were fragile due to their intricate details and overall size. This required massive amounts of patience. From maquette and concept, to a fully formed, fully realized sculptural work set. In my next post, you will see the images of these creations from first rough assemblage to final construction and subsequent gallery showing. Here is a sneak peak.....