The Lovebot character was created by
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
artist and designer Matthew Del Degan,
consisting of a geometric, faceless robot with a red heart logo (called the "hero heart") on its torso.
The character is used as a symbol for the "Love Invasion," a movement that aims to share love and kindness globally. He invented the idea for the campaign and character after moving to Toronto and noting the uninspired actions of city subway passengers and realizing he personally felt that people needed to express more compassion.
Del Degan chose to add the heart to the robot's design to signify that people of the city have ability to love and be kind to one another. He decided to use concrete as the Lovebot's artistic medium, which he felt referenced Toronto's urban architecture and history.
The campaign was initially created as a street
sticker art
Sticker art (also known as sticker bombing, sticker slapping, slap tagging, and sticker tagging) is a form of street art in which an image or message is publicly displayed using stickers. These stickers may promote a political agenda, comment o ...
campaign but Del Degan and his team eventually chose to also create more than 100, 2 foot concrete statues, each weighing 200 pounds which they placed throughout Toronto. Each robot sculpture was made by hand in his backyard with over 30 volunteers. Each robot is now dedicated to a person who has made a difference in some way and is intended to inspire others into performing additional acts of kindness. In 2013 the campaign took off with a great deal of press coverage, like the
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
,
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
and ''
The Grid
The Grid is an English electronic dance group, consisting of David Ball (formerly of Soft Cell) and Richard Norris, with guest contributions from other musicians. They are best known for the hits "Swamp Thing", "Texas Cowboys", "Crystal Cle ...
'' (which gave Del Degan a Mensch Award for his work with the Lovebot character and named him one of fifty individuals that had "made Toronto a better place this year").
Lovebot is now a brand owned and operated by Matthew Del Degan. Together the company offers Lovebot merchandise and a toy design that was crowd funded through
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
. In addition, the Lovebot continues to be a vital part of Del Degan's artistic practice in
street art
Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art.
Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graff ...
and design. Those volunteering for Lovebot continue to work together under the name "The Lovebot Leaders." The group has doubled since its conception has plans for global outreach. The Lovebot Leaders also emphasize work with charitable initiatives while continuing to build and distribute Lovebot sculptures.
[http://lovebot.com/]
References
External links
* {{official website, http://lovebot.com/
Official creator website
Public art in Toronto