about matt hawkins' mechanical man papertoy & print
Matt Hawkins' Mechanical Man paper-robot is printed on a letterpress in 2 colors on metallic silver paper (*sweet*) - standing 5"-ers tall and limited to 250 sets, Prints 1-50 are hand cut and assembled by Matt himself, and comes signed and numbered (@ US$30-per), while Prints 51-250 are being sold as 10"x13" flat prints (also signed and numbered / @ US$20-per) ~ you have a choice of building it up or leave it flat as an art print.
/// CLICK HERE TO READ Q&A WITH MATT & ORDERING DETAILS
TOYSREVIL: did you print these babies yourself, Matt? and why?
MATT HAWKINS: It was printed here in Kansas City by Skylab Letterpress.
What I love about this project is it's made from a replenishable resource and most of the manufacturing was done by the artist or it's made by the person who buys it. A little DIY interaction! And at the end of the day paper is also bio-degradable!
TOYSREVIL: why offer Mechanical Man for sale (now), rather than your previous free downloadables?
MATT HAWKINS: I've been designing paper toys that are free and can be downloaded from my blog for a while. I wanted to take my art to the next level by incorporating different papers and printing methods and stuff that you can't get from a digital download. So i opened a shop to hopefully fund other experiments. My work has become so digital it's a thrill to actually hold something tactile in my hands.
TOYSREVIL: tis also an opportunity to "control" the "final" quality of your designs, i reckon - to see it with optimum effect, IMHO ... with 250-pieces, why only do up the first 50? and how much does each version run for?
MATT HAWKINS: I've decided to cut and build 50 by hand (which is a fair amount of work) so I could offer the toy to those who don't have the time to build one or like the idea of it being assembled by the artist who designed it.
I'll be curious to see how it goes over. At $30 for a built model and $20 for a flat it is just as expensive as toys that are vinyl or plush. Will people accept a toy that's made of paper for that same price? I hope so. It has just as much love and hard work behind it as anything else out there.
TOYSREVIL: i reckon the print-quality is something that many (or few) may not have much control over or most importantly, have time for? (IMHO, of coz) - hell, my bustedass colorprinter makes darn sure i don't get to enjoy the pleasures of making papertoys (LOL) - and where can interested folks get their hands on either Mechanical Man formats?
MATT HAWKINS: It's available through my Big Cartel shop at www.custompapertoys.bigcartel.com and for those who can't deal out that kinda cash, I'm still posting a new downloadable free paper toy every month on my blog @ www.custompapertoys.com.
TOYSREVIL: cheers for your time and trouble, Matt and all the best for Mechanical Man!
