The Force Awakens has been out for three months and I still haven’t had my fill of Star Wars. If you’re a fan of Legos and the force, then youll appreciate this week’s Q&A with the multitalented James Garrett of Arbot 138.  Artbot 138 has recently gone viral with his co-creation of the rolling Lego BB8 from The Force Awakens.

 

TD: Please tell the ladies and gents of Aggressive Comix a bit about what you do and create and what Artbot138 is.

JG: For the last 10 years with my day job I’ve done design work for scientific companies. It has allowed me to merge my interests in art and science together. At night you can find me in my warehouse studio working on a wide variety of projects as ARTBOT138. I paint, do computer based illustrations, customize toys, do apparel design, and some 3D printing.

For example; I’ve done a series of 100 paintings on vintage Atari game cartridges called ARTARIs. With these I match up the game with an image of a pop culture icon.  I repurpose empty spray cans into an ART2-D2 figure. These are pretty popular and sell out quickly.

Last fall I did a series of fossilized resin pop icons; Storm Trooper helmets, Hello Kitty, Mickey Mouse. I really love arty bootleg action figures. The figure that I’m the happiest with was called “The Transporter Incident”. It’s based on an illustration of a fake Star Trek episode that I did – were Spock’s face gets transported off of his skull while he calmly says, “Live long and…”.I love to do t-shirt, button, and sticker design. I get a real kick out of seeing some random person wearing one of my designs. My most recent design mashed up a Spock with the Santa Cruz screaming hand.

TD:  What influences you when you’re creating?

JG:In general I’m influenced by; sci-fi, skateboarding, comics, vintage/art toys, and punk rock. ARTBOT138 is about fusing all of these together. Specifically, I’d say Jack Kirby, Geof Darrow, George Lucas, Frank Kozik, Brian Flynn (of Super7), Fugazi, and Japanese culture.

TD:  What’s lead you down the artist path, and when did you decide to take it on as a hobby and profession?

JG: I’m not a formally trained artist – my degree is actually in history. I’m just good at problem solving, concepts, and teaching myself to do things. I have a DIY ethos that comes out of punk rock. I just decided one day that I wanted to try to paint something and I threw myself into it. I just taught myself what I needed to know in order to pull off the project at hand. I’ve just kept on working that way for the last 5 years.

TD: You recently launched a rolling Lego BB-8 with another Star Wars fan; how did his come to be and how has the reception been? Will you be offering a limited run on these Lego BB8s?

JG: The Lego BB-8 project has been a blast. My buddy Mark Smiley and I are working on it together (he kicks ass). We wanted to offer a Lego version of BB-8 that could actually roll. It took us about a month to finalize the design.  Lego has a program called Lego Ideas, where fans can submit designs. Lego will consider turning it into a retail set if it gets 10 thousand votes. This is how the Ghostbusters, Wall-E, Minecraft, and Dr. Who sets came to be. The project started off strong – but we’ve been blown away by the reaction. Popular Science, The Nerdist, Gizmodo, Popular Mechanics, TechCrunch, and a number of other media outlets have written stories about it. We’re a week in and we’re already a third of the way there! It’s been a great experience and I’d like to thank everyone that has voted, liked, and shared.  If it goes into production – everybody will be able to have one!

Here’s a link to the project if you want to check it out and cast a vote:
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/132170

 

TD: What are you currently planning but also what would be dream project to work on?

JG: I have a number of projects in the works. I’ll have an exclusive bootleg toy at San Diego Comic-Con. I’m working on a 3D printed robot/record player toy that will be available soon through my site. And I’ll soon be starting a series of painting that sets vintage Kenner Star Wars action figures in midcentury modern chairs (called “Vintage On Vintage”). My dream project would be designing vintage style Star Wars figures that Kenner never got around to producing.

If you’d like to see the progress on the rolling Lego BB8 and all of Artbot 138’s projects the best place to catch me him is on Instagram @artbot138. – Taffeta