Artist Michael A. Salter is an associate professor of digital arts at the University of Oregon who, in his downtime, builds massive robots out of recycled “polystyrene”–a Styrofoam commonly used for shipping electronics.

Salter’s ‘Styrobots’ range from 2.5-feet (the little guy above) to 15-feet (the big guy above) to his largest creation, a 21-foot-fall behemoth who lives at San Jose University.

The ‘Styrobots’ are currently on display at an exhibit called, “Robots: A Cultural Icon in Contemporary Art” at Wichita State University’s ‘Ulrich Museum of Art.’ The exhibit runs through December 18, 2009.

Check out two videos showing how these guys are built (and an artist statement) after the break.

“Every city and town has a street, never downtown, lined with strip malls, fast food, and discount stores. Here, I am inspired. It is the most prolific evidence of our current culture. As an obsessive observer I am fascinated, repulsed and hypnotized by the tidal wave of imagery that our visual culture crashes down upon us everyday. I challenge this onslaught and examine it. I want to sort out the cacophony of visual noise and rethink meaning, motive, perception and narrative. In the middle of this infinitely chaotic flow of information, I have a nagging desire, the desire for truth and beauty. Images, moments, situations, spaces, and environments can be so coldly anonymous and at the same time so loaded with meaning. The closer I look the stranger it all becomes. Nothing is as it seems. In a world where mind numbing volumes of stimuli assault my consciousness and elevate my anxiety, I seek peace and clarity. My work is an attempt to slow down, sort out, and focus information. The seemingly simple, runs away from me so fast, and leaves a cloud of dust so thick, I have to stop and wipe my eyes.” -Salter

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