Interview with the “Robot Man”: Teri, 2007

I was taking a relaxing drive through the New England countryside one Sunday afternoon. Riding with the top down and taking in all the sights and sounds, I passed a home that made me stop the car.

I looked on in amazement at a collection of Metal Art and Sci-fi sculptures that filled the front lawn. There were statues of Alien, Predator and Star Wars standing guard to the entrance of the home.

I definitely needed a picture of this, so I dug through my handbag and found my camera. The size and beauty of these scrap metal beasts were going to be hard to capture on film. As I tried to position myself for just the right angle, the front door opened. There stood a graying man wearing what looked like an old Hans Solo costume from one of the Star Wars movies. He also carried what looked like a Star Wars light saber.

As I stood there with my mouth open, he said” What are you doing at the entrance to my star gate?” I stuttered and stammered and managed to answer “I was going to take a picture of your sci-fi sculptures.”

There was an awkward silence and then I was invited to ‘beam aboard’, which I assumed meant ‘come in’. As I walked toward the front door the sculpture guardians loomed above me and the air got still, but I was drawn to see what was behind the door.

With my eccentric host leading the way we entered a magical place filled with fog and dim lights. The first to greet us was an 80cm R2D2 Model. The attention to detail on this scrap metal sculpture was amazing. Not far from R2D2 stood a junk metal sculpture of Yoda.

We entered the main room of the home and everywhere I looked starring back at me was an amazing metal replica of almost every sci-fi character I knew of. There was Alien, Predator, Spawn, Star Gate characters, Terminator replicas and robot after robot.

I was asked to sit in a chair next to a table where a Gremlin metal sculpture stood and was served a cup of coffee. My host seated himself not far from me and introduced himself…..”They call me the Robot Man”. There was no mistaking why the people who lived near by called him this.

The Robot Man went on to explain to me that he had chosen to surround himself with all the things he missed from his previous life in space. “You see “, he said, “I was unable to bring my friends with me as the life forms on this planet would not accept them as they have me”. He continued to explain to me that in order to feel like he was still in the place he came from, he had all of the beings he knew in his previous life made into Metal Art.

The conversation was like something right out of Star Trek. My host went on to tell me that the first scrap metal sculptures he acquired were not easy to come by, that he had to teleport himself to Thailand to find the artists who could make them. “Each model”, he continued, “came from parts of machines that had previously been common things such as a dishwasher, a car or refrigerator.”

As we talked further I learned that each junk metal sculpture is made from up to 2000 parts that are expertly welded, and then to remove any sharp edges, are polished to perfection.

As I looked around the room I paid close attention to each and every piece of metal art. Although some were quite eerie there was still an overwhelming beauty about them. They seemed almost alive. I started thinking I would certainly be the talk of my community with an Alien standing tall in my front yard. However, the fact that I can’t ‘transport’ to Thailand, would make it difficult for me to own one of these beauties.

As I could tell I was starting to overstay my welcome with The Robot Man, I summoned my inner strength and asked,” Might I purchase one of your statues?”

“No you may not purchase one of my statues, these are my friends and guardians”, he replied. As I thanked him for letting me ‘beam aboard’ and learn about his art and previous life, he showed me back to the portal to the common world.

The Robot Man stepped outside with me and said,” Before you go, because you were not afraid to learn of new things, I will tell you that there is a wonderful place where you may purchase your own metal art. Your species has a means of transport available to you called the internet where you start your own collection” He finished our conversation with the Vulcan sign and a “May the force be with you”

I will never forget meeting the Robot Man. Neither will I forget the art he shared with me nor the lesson that discarded junk metal can become beautiful art but most importantly, where I can find my own pieces to start my scrap metal collection.

---