Zsolt Budai

Tell us about yourself.

I graduated in the Moholy-Nagy University of Arts and Design Budapest in 2008 with neon light creatures and a wall-window relief. I dealt with the light creatures for a long time after graduation, but somehow the series suffocated, one day I hope to return to them. I have been working with robots more seriously for fifth year. I wonder if it is possible or how I could make robots out of glass, because usually robots are not made of glass, they are not fragile things. They are usually big, strong and want to subdue us, or something like that…. I imagined a glass robot civilization of who they are, what they are, what they can do, but we don’t know that, they’re just here among them in an alternative world / reality. We see that they exist. They are here, but we do not know where they came from and why. Forerunners of a world to come, or remnants of a bygone age? My passion for robots partly started from cinematic inspiration. Sci-fi and animation and a mix of these are my favorites. I also like the world of alternative reality sci-fi movies. I could place and imagine my robots in such an alternative world, with some Miyazaki touch. On the other hand, the challenge inherent in glass also inspired and encouraged their creation. Can the employee realize such complex, movable sculptures out of glass?

What draws you to the material you work with?

The easiest way to create a different parts of the body out of wax is to get the different parts together and most accurately without deforming. Then it is relatively easy to turn the modeled elements into glass using some steam and kiln. On the other hand, the modeled robot can be made more beautiful and alive from wax, as if I were carving from plaster.

What themes do you pursue in your work, and why have you chosen the processes that you use in your work?

Alternative word, foreign being, robot world.

What is something about you that most people don’t know?

Many people ask me why robots? This is the easiest and hardest to answer because I love robots, on the other hand, it’s a kind of worldview. With them, I try to show that we are not alone in the world. Others exist / may exist outside of us, in an alternative reality.

What is your dream project?

Life size glass robot

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