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The cryptic fliers started turning up around Brevard
County, FL, in December: “Robot Love v.2.0, coming January 22nd-30th.” If you were
one of the lucky few who caught a glimpse of 2009’s Robot Love art and music
gathering, you at least had some idea what to expect. But as the rest of us
waited with baited breath to see the end result, clues about the massive
undertaking trickled out: the entire affair moved a few miles west from
downtown Melbourne to the old Metro Cinemas plaza, a non-descript strip mall at
a ridiculously busy intersection. Rumor had it 2010’s Robot Love installation
would include a number of popular Florida bands, over 100 artists of every stripe,
and the biggest gathering of like-minded creative types ever on the Space
Coast.
Inside the massive 18,000 square-foot space
commandeered by Brevard’s 321 Agency, two empty units and a former movie
theatre were transformed from bare concrete into a mind-boggling mix of artwork
— sculptures, paintings, drawings, photographs, life-size installations,
lowrider bike displays, mannequins, robots, trees and shrubs, live chickens,
shopping carts, origami, and a gigantic soundstage surrounded by 30-foot high
graffiti pieces that would easily put New York City subway cars to shame. The
list of exhibitors was endless, from surf impresarios like Chris “Slow” Maslow,
Justin Brown, Bruce Reynolds, Damien Share, Rick Piper, Tony Soland, and
Kristina Mekdeci to formally trained artists like Sara Pedigo, Derek Gores,
Casey DeCotis, and John Sluder. And the scope of the Robot Love project was
massive. “We had to knock down several walls,” Sluder said, “in addition to running
electrical conduit and installing plumbing and A/C before the art could even go
up.”
The list of events on the Robot Love v.2.0 schedule
was a whirlwind, as well: local indie rock stars like B.L.O.R.R. played Friday,
January 22nd, before Orlando-based hip-hop crew Solillaquists Of Sound blew
minds after a break-dancing competition on Saturday, January 23rd. On Sunday,
…Lost sponsored a full day of activities, with teamrider autographs, fashion
shows, bikini contests, and of course live painting by Slow and his cohorts. Monday
was Open Mic Night, Tuesday hosted an open exhibit, and Wednesday featured free
admission for students, before a spoken-word poetry night took over on Thursday
and a hardcore showcase hit the stage on Friday, January 29th, with Coldside,
Junkie Rush, Whole Wheat Bread, and Elephant Gun performing after a roller
derby. Then, to finish the whole shebang off, DJ Abagale Fisher put on a Melt
Experience Saturday, January 30th. Long story short? Even the heartiest of
barflies probably couldn’t have taken in every night of Robot Love happenings.
321 Agency Project Director/Events Designer and Robot
Love curator Cliffton Chandler had much to say about the project’s goals and
roots. “This is a philosophical project that promotes all-inclusiveness and
gives everyone a voice,” he said. “Too much artistic importance is put on modes
created 200 years ago — Robot Love is all about giving first-time artists
the opportunity to hang work around more established artists to decide whether
they want to work harder at it.” To that end, artists weren’t grouped by
subject matter, materials, or prestige inside Robot Love; instead, thousands of
pieces of art were comingled to the point where oil paintings and collages,
sculptures and drawings, and graffiti and portraiture were often rubbing
shoulders on the same wall. “We wanted the art to be situated as it would be in
somebody’s home,” Chandler said. “It’s all stuff we like, and nothing is
decided by one genre. Cross-referencing is the ultimate goal.”
Chandler also emphasized Robot Love’s focus on the artist’s
welfare, rather than strictly on the spectator’s enjoyment. “At most galleries,
artists pay money to get told, ‘No, you can’t exhibit here.’ With Robot Love,
the artists didn’t pay anything, but the spectators did. It’s the inverse of
most galleries.” Chandler was quick to defer credit from himself to Kevon
Greenidge and Ryan Speer, President and Creative Director respectively at 321
Agency, along with other volunteers like Jordan Stewart, Ryan Dodge, Christine
Wilson, Hailey Clark, Akira, Karl Liebau, Paul Lucas, and many more. He also praised
the help of Coy Clark, who owns the Metro plaza and made Robot Love possible, along
with the “patient and supportive” city of Melbourne. “This is the world we live
in,” Chandler finished. “I’m a second-generation Melbourne Beach resident, and
these are the people I know. It’s a community effort to spotlight the
nationally known artists and musicians among us. We’re all loosely affiliated, but
when we hit a magnitude like this, we have to wonder how to make it permanent.”
Just in case you were wondering, once Robot Love reached
its conclusion, the art came down, the graffiti was covered up, and all signs
of the exhibit disappeared. Until next year and Robot Love v.3.0…
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