The Adventures of Robbo-T - Halloween Edition

So, for something a little different I thought I’d chronicle some of my adventures with a bit of a blog. It’s probably not for everyone but read on if you want to hear a bit more about the adventures of Robbo-t, what goes on behind the scenes, or more accurately an insight into the crazy workings of my brain.

*Disclaimer - These will most likely be adhoc series of posts, because if I planned for a fortnightly or monthly cycle of posting, I guarantee it won’t happen!

Firstly, it’s been a long time since I’ve put anything up, other than a few opportunistic stickers around and it feel like forever since I was actually out and about with any other street artists, so I’m really looking forward to this session!

Recently I’ve had a bit of a break from social media, in part because I’ve been busy, but also because I have nothing interesting to say or show, and I really don’t want to recycle old content, when my brains been moving 100mph with new ideas. The solution - radio silence. This also has the added benefit of letting me work on a whole lot of ideas and hopefully stockpile some content, for a consistent run of posting towards the end of the year.

Also, in my mind this is going to be an important day because I plan to put up some wooden robots and robot hearts, both of which I’ve been thinking about and working on for ages but have remained mostly hidden from the real world. Both are a little bit different to some of the things I’ve worked on and sharing new ideas with the world, always feels like the chance to get discovered by new people and open some chances to collaborate with some of the other amazing street artists out there.

I originally had plans to stick this robot up in a different place, but the timing of this catch-up and the foot traffic through Hosier Lane, was too big to resist. Having said that, if street art is transient, then Hosier Lane is street art and all types of graffiti at light speed, so things can last for literally minutes to months…

It’s the first one built out of timber, so it’s not perfect! In fact, the arm has broken off and been repaired twice already, so “shoddy” would be a better description of my first attempt. It’s been a bit of a steep learning curve, but a whole lot of fun along the way.

So, the day arrives, and my preparation is far from perfect! I’d travelled back from interstate the night before and hadn’t got home until 2:30am, so despite the best of intentions I get up late, really late.

As per usual, 10 minutes into the road trip I realise I’ve forgotten something. It’s only the instructions for the collapsible ladder, which I’ve never used before, so what could go wrong right?

I arrive in the city and then forced to do that awkward walk that you do when you’re carrying way too much stuff, but the thought of making multiple trips is not an option. It’s the one where you walk about 50 metres, then must change hands and readjust everything, only to do the same thing in 50 metres time.

Eventually I make it to Hosier Lane and it’s buzzing with a mixture of tourists, artists, wannabe be social media influencers and the poor people who have chosen the wrong lane to walk down on their commute.

I see some familiar faces, but as luck has it, most artists have set up at the top of the lane. By this stage the tolerance of my arms is dwindling, so the stops between my awkward walk have decreased to just ten metres, but eventually I make it there.

After catching up with everyone and finding some spots for my pieces, I get to work. I unwrap my carefully packaged wooden robot, that I’ve awkwardly carried this far, only to find the arm has broken cleanly off. I act like it’s no big deal, but secretly I’m cursing my robot, its poorly designed arm and the two previous timely repair jobs I’ve already completed.

Next the moment of truth! I start “uncollapsing’ my collapsible ladder (minus the instructions) and start to realise just how uneven Hosier Lane and its bluestone paving really is. A small crowd gathers around, probably more hoping to capture the next viral “person falls from ladder” moment, than see my robot. I power on and somehow manage to get my robot stuck up, minus any embarrassing and/or injury inducing falls. I’m happy with the outcome and hopefully it survives the mean streets of Hosier Lane, for at least a little bit.

Buoyed by my success I paste up my Halloween themed paste-ups and marvel at the work of the many other, far more talented than I, street artists that have been working all afternoon on their pieces.

All in all, it was an awesome day, with an awesome crew of artists and photographers

Perhaps the only downer for the day, as eerily predicted at the start of my blog, was the person that decided to take the transient nature of stree tart and graffiti to a whole new level, by literally scribbling incoherent dribble on @jl.art amazing work as he was literally putting the final touches to his piece.  Whilst it put a bit of a dampener on what had been an amazing day, John was able to complete some quick repairs, before we called it a day and had some well-deserved drinks.

Thanks to @v_is 4_vasso for once again organising everything and a massive thanks to all the street artists,  photographers and everyone that stops by to make these catchup as fun as they are!

Thanks for listening to what feels like my dribble, but I thought it might be fun to share my adventures. Please let me know what you think?