Find what fascinates you
Tal Avitzur, age 59 and an artist from Santa Barbara, CA, creates robots from found objects as diverse as window crank handles, parts from a discarded piano or the motor housing from a 1937 Kenmore vacuum. Much like his sculptures, Tal鈥檚 path to becoming an artist combined seemingly unrelated parts into a life he describes as one he鈥檚 鈥渋ncredibly fortunate to have.鈥�
The diverse experiences that led to that life started early. Tal was born in Haifa, Israel, grew up in Pennsylvania and earned his master鈥檚 degree in mathematics. His first job involved traveling to aircraft carriers to study plane repair and determine the parts inventory needed to keep planes ready to fly. He later became a college professor.
While searching salvage yards for cost-effective options to remodel his home, he was fascinated with the parts and history found in discarded objects. He started collecting random pieces which he meticulously cleaned, disassembled and sorted.
Because the collection quickly outgrew his garden shed, he decided to create robots, creatures, transporters and other sculptures to make use of what he鈥檇 found. He started decorating his house, then as his art gained attention and people wanted to own their own 鈥淛igsy,鈥� 鈥淏arbiebot,鈥� or 鈥淜odar,鈥� he created his company, Talbotics.
