Lots o' bots

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

A metallic prosthetic leg hangs in Chris Wollard's midtown garage.

The leg's not his — not in the sense that Wollard needs it to walk.

Rather, it's another oddball treasure of his, found on the side of a Memphis street.

As Wollard, 33, told the story of the runaway leg, his garage stereo, as if it were a knowing robot, offered Elvis Presley's version of "My Way:"

I traveled each and ev'ry highway/And more, much more than this, I did it my way."

Wollard's way? Just take a gander at his garage. It's where he sports a welder's mask and leather Godzilla apron to create robotic sculptures. Some are small and potbellied, others seem as if they're packin' and could use a shot of Jack.

Wollard will showcase his many robot sculptures during his Build-A-Bot gallery show Friday at Dwelling Spaces downtown.

For less than $100, attendees can purchase one of Wollard's miniature robot kits. His larger bots (and they are definitely large) will go for a lot more. After all, it takes countless hours to create robots out of scrap — scrap he keeps near at hand.

Outside Wollard's garage is a hulking aircraft drop tank. Big and green, it looks as if it could incinerate the block if it weren't just a fuel tank. What you won't see is what Wollard sees: the robot it will become.

Mary Beth Babcock, who owns Dwelling Spaces, recalled the moment she realized Wollard's unique perspective.

"I remember driving down the street with him one
day and everything he saw, he saw a robot in it," she said. "To see someone's mind work that way is very cool."

Elsewhere in Wollard's yard, he's parked a few automobile cadavers, which will become art cars, or maybe just spare robot parts.

Looking over his personal scrap yard, Wollard said, "My neighbors are real happy about it, let me tell you."

Inside Wollard's house, you'll have to excuse the mess. He's renovating. It's essentially a garage with carpet and air conditioning. Wollard is unmarried, by the way.

In the living room, two robots stand guard: a samurai-bot with black pincers for hands, and one that just waddled off Easter Island.

Another robot is nothing but a 200-pound metal sphere that Wollard uses as performance art. It has crushed, among other things, a microwave oven. Don't make it angry.

Oh, and expect to have a good time at Wollard's gallery show.

"I still get bored when I go to galleries, because after you eat the cheese and drink the wine, what do you do?" he said. "I like to get people involved. I like interactive. I'm very hands-on. I like to touch things when I go to galleries, which is bad. This way, I try to engage people in the art and let them be a part of it and have fun."

Pssst! Wollard aims to build a 20-foot-tall robot to plop on the roof of Dwelling Spaces. But that's a story for another day.

BUILD-A-BOT
The Metal Creations of Chris Wollard

When: 5-9 p.m. Friday

Where: Dwelling Spaces, 309 S. Detroit Ave.

By MATT GLEASON World Scene Writer