“I try to give them their own personality, a little hidden story,” said Michael Klapthor as we sat down to talk in his basement studio in Decatur. “The idea of a robot having a hidden personality is sort of a funny oxymoron.”
Positioned at his clay-stained worktable, Klapthor is surrounded by his tools and creations. A shelf of figurines and comic books is conveniently within reach of his pottery wheel. Next to an array of robotic creations, photographs of Michael with his wife and daughter peek out from the edges of a dry-erase board. Near the door, a utility sink occasionally lets out a gurgle of discontent.
This is the home of Klapthor’s Universal Robots.
Michael Klapthor is a working artist and teacher who has been crafting joyful robots out of clay since 2012. He’s a regular at craft markets around the region, and his unique retro future designs include functional and decorative pieces. He makes mugs, planters, jars, and even pour-over coffee makers.
On a shelf are rows of mugs, vases, and planters shaped like robots and rocketships. Klapthor’s creations look deceptively like metal, with details that resemble rust around the edges. But all of them are made of clay and fired in a kiln, with the occasional wires or glass domes incorporated into the design.
Born in Louisiana, as a child Klapthor moved frequently with his family to follow his father’s career in the Air Force. Eventually they landed in Ohio where they lived until his father retired when he was 15 and the family relocated to Augusta.
Klapthor explained that living in Air Force bases was kind of fun in some ways, as being within the gated communities lent his family a sense of safety and granted him freedom. Klapthor recalls spending much of his childhood wandering the neighborhoods and woods around his homes. “I would tromp through forests, build things in the woods, stuff like that. I was really into exploring,” he said.
After high…
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