In many ways, this website is neither about Robots, nor the woods. Robot in the Woods is a vehicle for developing a community of artists and promoting their work. However, robots are a bit of an obsession for me. And as Mark Cuban once said, “If you have an exit strategy, its not an obsession.” Truth be told, Robot in the Woods is my entrance into the concept-o-sphere. I want to operationalize all those techy buzzwords and apply them to the arts to grow not only my business, but yours. We’re talking trendy slogans such as web 2.0, the hive-mind, the long tail, virtual communities, intellectual property, connectivism, crowdsourcing, etc. But I am also hoping to use this as a venue to advance some of my own buzzwords: MicroGrants, MicroCommissions, open-source microfranchising and communal capitalism.

As Lloyd Dobler once said, “I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don’t want to do that. ” As such, to promote trust and transparency about my motivations, please consider the following:

Art costs money and so does operating this forum. If this idea takes off, I hope to pay artists, cover my cost and give fellow robot-lovers who donate a high quality product. I think the current state of science fiction for mass consumption is lacking a soul and diversity despite its wonderful production values. However, take a look the fabulous reads over at RayGun Revival. They found a market and are wildly successful in this hyper-niched market of classic space opera.

As an art dealer and promoter, I am not profit-driven. I am robo-driven and will work like a robot to obtain your proposed commission price using MicroGrants. I will only work with artists whose art I would hang on my own walls. And there are many artists out there who already create robots. Diversity of imaginations and creativity is absolutely the key to my vision. I want to see Robots from people who don’t normally think to draw robots. If you are a great artist, I would like work with you regardless of your normal subject matter. I want to bring as many of them to Robot in the Woods as possible.

Viral campaigns are silly, however, so are interesting Robot revolutions. As such, this is not about t-shirts or other swag. This is about producing great pieces of art. However, we could create some really cool t-shirt designs and have them support the website in a sustainable way that still promotes the true aesthetic. I don’t want to push things people don’t want. I want to turn the virtual into real products that people want.

I want to build into the system a sense of accountability and trust amongst users, artists and donors. My goals for this website are to develop a robust community as I believe there are others like me. I want this community to post and recommend/refer artists. I also want this community to operate as a sort of market. The robot arts market is only so big as such, the economics will dictate who will earn their commission and for how much they can charge.

I have lots of other community arts projects in the works and other personal goals. Soon, I hope to enroll in a doctoral program in Instructional Technology to pursue another dream of becoming a professional educator in Geography. If you were a student, you would love to have me as a professor. I require that each person brings old editions of textbooks to class. We then pick each book apart and aggregate into a form of our own. I call it Open-Source Geography. This educational model requires students to claim ownership of their work and to realize that it has value beyond the classroom.My one truly selfish economic motivation is that I want to self-publish and mass market a book. That is why I ask that artists provide me with exclusive rights to distribution. However, remember that the donor is credited dollar for dollar after their first $15 donation to the Robot arts. So, if you want one of these books too, you will both help produce it and purchase it using dollars previously donated. Also, I work with the highest of ethical standards and don’t want anyone to feel slighted by any success this book may have. And a note of humility for all my naysayers and potential truth-tellers about my niavete, I hope you are wrong. This is my vision. This is what I want.