Not content with tabletop-sized collectible pieces, Lindsay Lawlor entered the record books for metal giraffes with his17-foot-tall robotic giraffe artwork that walks, talks, and glows. Lawlor said he made the giraffe, named Russell, just to see whether it could be done. Without any practical purpose, the giraffe project emptied his bank account, and devoured hours of after-work and weekend time over the last three years. “I’m completely tapped out, and I’ve never had so much fun in my life,” Lawlor said.
A combination of art and mechanical marvel, his metal framed giraffe features multicolored lights, twitching ears, four ‘walking’ legs, and a long neck that goes up and down. A 500 watt sound system broadcasts soothing music through 12 speakers.
Lawlor is not a mechanical engineer, and has never built anything larger than a go-cart. With a small plastic battery-operated toy giraffe as his only guide, he threw himself into what became 10 months of welding, every day after work and every weekend.
The giraffe was built to 24-to-1 scale, and weighs 2,000 pounds. Its feet are four inflatable tires. “When he’s walking, he’s quite lifelike. We get a lot of people treating him like a real animal,” Lawlor said. Hydraulics controls the head and leg movement, and Lawlor operates the controls from a cockpit on the giraffe’s back that seats four adults or eight children. The giraffe has a sensor-triggered voice that says “Ha ha ha, that tickles,” when its ears are touched. When its nose is scratched, the giraffe says “Oooh, I like that.”
Tags: artwork, King Of The Metal Giraffes, Meet Russell, Metal Giraffes, Pieces
