Sam Dowd's Robots on Video

LMC - Sam Dowd Robots from another being creative on Vimeo.

TonyBirkholz, Another Being Creative, created a great photo/video of the evolution of Sam Dowd's ceramic robot installation. I have heard that outside of our little microcosm called Jackson, robots are super hot and hip. From WallE to The Terminator, robots are everywhere. Ah, robots...icons of the future. Streamlined, slick, making our lives oh-so-much-easier. But then, they inevitably spin out of control, become masters of their own electronic minds and begin to take over the world and do-away with their original life-givers, us humans. It's a familiar story over and over again. Sam's robots are different. They feel as though they have been excavated from an Egyptian tomb. They must be manipulated by a human to do anything. And what they are doing are actually useless, mundane jobs. They are a bit sneaky, not quite sure if I trust them in the gallery at night. I keep expecting to walk in and find one off in some mysterious corner on it's own.

Robots This Way

May 1 was the start of our first-ever evolving robot installation. The painTORS are rolling a lovely shade of rust onto the wall.

The construcTORS are doing their part to tear and rip down the wall.

And the cutest of them all, those bug-eyed, charming vacuTORS, are ready and waiting to be called into action.


Follow the process of the robots this month here on our blog. Better yet, grab a cup of coffee at Betty Rock and come check them out in person. Sam Dowd, sculptor and robot manipulator, will be in the gallery every Wednesday from 3-5 and Friday's 5-7pm. Come chat about robots, the challenges of experimental installations, and listen to our community radio station KHOL...it's almost always on.