Rotund Edition A by Cris Rose / History of Rotund (Part Two)
Here's an exclusive first-peep at ROTUND EDITION A by UK-artist Cris Rose - scheduled for a release this coming Saturday February 28th - from 18:00pm GMT [10:00 PST (LA), 13:00 EST (NYC), 18:00 GMT (London), 2:00 the next morning Singapore time.]. There will be 20 REGULAR Editions to be had, with 1/4 of them being a CHASE edition (note the wee "hat" capping off the clear-resin "head"). SRP is US$50 per Rotund.
(Do note that random ones will also have one or the other of the arms in the air - just for the fun of it. All the damage is unique to each one, and they'll all be numbered when they go out.) Spotted right in the middle of the two, is the GRANDFATHER Edition Rotund - limited to only 1/1 - with a SRP of US$150.
Each Rotund is hand-cast resin and hand-painted by Cris himself, with each edition having something different cast into the crisp clear head. Edition A has a leaf (the most basic element of plant life) and ties in with the earlier released RUNCIBLE EDITION A [blogged]. The Grandfather Edition is a one-off with parts of a 1940/50s radio literally belonging to his Grandfather, embedded in the resin head [READ story]
[Higher-res on my flickr / Music by Death In Vegas: "Rocco"]
/// CLICK THRU to read the history of the creation of Rotund [a continuation of the First part regaled HERE] - including a glimpse behind-the-scenes of Rotund's production.
**In celebration of the TRE-Blog Birthday, we have a little "surprise" in store for TRE-readers, as well as fans of Cris' work - I would advise you to bookmark this particular blog-post now, for it will come in for handy-reference, by the end of the week :)**
THE HISTORY OF ROTUND [PART TWO]
Twelve months after the recognition of Runcible's remarkable constitution, his creator completed construction of his newest helper to humanity, the stout by rugged Rotund. The international ruling on Robot-Human equality had decreed that Robot intelligence and complexity be limited, so it was to be that each should be designed with a specific task and limited programming. Runcible's creator found this disturbing but was bound by law to accept it.
He decided that as Runcible had been a reflection of himself, to satisfy his curiosities and desire, so Rotund would be for his daughter. Thusly Rotund was designed as a robotic companion that would play, teach and grow up with children all over the world. While Rotund would never seem a threat to any adult, his creator knew that the more children that grew up seeing Rotund as just another friend, so they would turn into adults that felt the same.
[Higher-res version on my flickr / Music by Art Of Noise: "Ode To Don Jose"]
Though small, Rotund was designed with strength in mind - his stout little body would allow him to talk to children at their own level, while being strong enough to protect or rescue them from any of the little scrapes kids get themselves into... His core technologies were identical to Runcible, yet greatly miniaturised. His legs would extend as the child grows taller, and a wide array of large buttons across his chest allowed for maximum interaction and fun! Like his older brother Runcible, Rotund never spoke, instead all his thoughts would be projected inside his head.
On her 4th birthday, Rotund was presented to his creator's daughter, and soon they were the best of friends. Within months, Rotund's brothers had been produced by their tens of thousands, becoming a must-have item for wealthy young families. By the time his creator's daughter had been blessed with her own children, scores of updated and upgraded models had been developed, but Rotund was kept original throughout. While robots had become almost disposable, replaced bi-annually, traded in for the latest model, many of adults that had grown up with the original designs chose to preserve their ball of curiosity for their own children...
One afternoon, April 2318, Rotund was running around in the yard being a bumblebee with the familiy's young girl. He saw Runcible walk off towards the forest to gather wood and buzzed around him silently, images of bees flashing in his head. Half and hour later, the sky flashed bright and the great house collapsed upon him.
[Music by YAZOO: "Ode To Boy"]
140 years later, Runcible was tending to the grounds and getting to know the animals he now lived with. He had spent some time wandering the country that used to be England, but had returned to his family home, he felt drawn there. All the people and robots had gone, wiped away as if they never existed, but he's been saved by the mightiest Oak and was grateful. A terrible storm the night before had torn down many trees, and Runcible was moving the debris, recovering delicate birds nests and clearing the entrances of badgers sets.
He found a particularly large tree blocking his route out the forrest, and after cutting it into pieces with the magneto-plasma emitter in his hands, he set about making a standing circle with them. Without warning, his left arm snapped under the weight and was crushed by the massive section of trunk. The decay to his body had been severe while he slept, and without new parts, repairs had been rough.
It suddenly became clear that he needed spares, asap.
After much searching the forest (it had tripled in size over the last century and a half) Runcible found the buried remained of the great house he used to live in. He knew the basement laboratory of his creator had many spare parts and tools, and hoped it still existed. Digging one-handed was slow, but after several days he'd broken through the basement wall and found a treasure trove of parts!
Once repaired, he decided to rebuild the house there in the forest and set about excavating the site. By the second week, he found something small and round that he recognised... it was Rotund, buried in the dirt and severely damaged. He gathered up all the pieces he could find, took him to the workshop and began work to repair him. Many parts were too damaged, and with no working spares in the lab, Runcible set off to London to salvage from the ruins. Almost two months later, he returned with the parts he needed and more. Rotund was reborn.
They both started work on the house. Well, Runcible was. Rotund was being a grasshopper.
(Do note that random ones will also have one or the other of the arms in the air - just for the fun of it. All the damage is unique to each one, and they'll all be numbered when they go out.) Spotted right in the middle of the two, is the GRANDFATHER Edition Rotund - limited to only 1/1 - with a SRP of US$150.
Each Rotund is hand-cast resin and hand-painted by Cris himself, with each edition having something different cast into the crisp clear head. Edition A has a leaf (the most basic element of plant life) and ties in with the earlier released RUNCIBLE EDITION A [blogged]. The Grandfather Edition is a one-off with parts of a 1940/50s radio literally belonging to his Grandfather, embedded in the resin head [READ story]
[Higher-res on my flickr / Music by Death In Vegas: "Rocco"]
/// CLICK THRU to read the history of the creation of Rotund [a continuation of the First part regaled HERE] - including a glimpse behind-the-scenes of Rotund's production.
**In celebration of the TRE-Blog Birthday, we have a little "surprise" in store for TRE-readers, as well as fans of Cris' work - I would advise you to bookmark this particular blog-post now, for it will come in for handy-reference, by the end of the week :)**
THE HISTORY OF ROTUND [PART TWO]
Twelve months after the recognition of Runcible's remarkable constitution, his creator completed construction of his newest helper to humanity, the stout by rugged Rotund. The international ruling on Robot-Human equality had decreed that Robot intelligence and complexity be limited, so it was to be that each should be designed with a specific task and limited programming. Runcible's creator found this disturbing but was bound by law to accept it.
He decided that as Runcible had been a reflection of himself, to satisfy his curiosities and desire, so Rotund would be for his daughter. Thusly Rotund was designed as a robotic companion that would play, teach and grow up with children all over the world. While Rotund would never seem a threat to any adult, his creator knew that the more children that grew up seeing Rotund as just another friend, so they would turn into adults that felt the same.
[Higher-res version on my flickr / Music by Art Of Noise: "Ode To Don Jose"]
Though small, Rotund was designed with strength in mind - his stout little body would allow him to talk to children at their own level, while being strong enough to protect or rescue them from any of the little scrapes kids get themselves into... His core technologies were identical to Runcible, yet greatly miniaturised. His legs would extend as the child grows taller, and a wide array of large buttons across his chest allowed for maximum interaction and fun! Like his older brother Runcible, Rotund never spoke, instead all his thoughts would be projected inside his head.
On her 4th birthday, Rotund was presented to his creator's daughter, and soon they were the best of friends. Within months, Rotund's brothers had been produced by their tens of thousands, becoming a must-have item for wealthy young families. By the time his creator's daughter had been blessed with her own children, scores of updated and upgraded models had been developed, but Rotund was kept original throughout. While robots had become almost disposable, replaced bi-annually, traded in for the latest model, many of adults that had grown up with the original designs chose to preserve their ball of curiosity for their own children...
One afternoon, April 2318, Rotund was running around in the yard being a bumblebee with the familiy's young girl. He saw Runcible walk off towards the forest to gather wood and buzzed around him silently, images of bees flashing in his head. Half and hour later, the sky flashed bright and the great house collapsed upon him.
[Music by YAZOO: "Ode To Boy"]
140 years later, Runcible was tending to the grounds and getting to know the animals he now lived with. He had spent some time wandering the country that used to be England, but had returned to his family home, he felt drawn there. All the people and robots had gone, wiped away as if they never existed, but he's been saved by the mightiest Oak and was grateful. A terrible storm the night before had torn down many trees, and Runcible was moving the debris, recovering delicate birds nests and clearing the entrances of badgers sets.
He found a particularly large tree blocking his route out the forrest, and after cutting it into pieces with the magneto-plasma emitter in his hands, he set about making a standing circle with them. Without warning, his left arm snapped under the weight and was crushed by the massive section of trunk. The decay to his body had been severe while he slept, and without new parts, repairs had been rough.
After much searching the forest (it had tripled in size over the last century and a half) Runcible found the buried remained of the great house he used to live in. He knew the basement laboratory of his creator had many spare parts and tools, and hoped it still existed. Digging one-handed was slow, but after several days he'd broken through the basement wall and found a treasure trove of parts!
Once repaired, he decided to rebuild the house there in the forest and set about excavating the site. By the second week, he found something small and round that he recognised... it was Rotund, buried in the dirt and severely damaged. He gathered up all the pieces he could find, took him to the workshop and began work to repair him. Many parts were too damaged, and with no working spares in the lab, Runcible set off to London to salvage from the ruins. Almost two months later, he returned with the parts he needed and more. Rotund was reborn.
