The Bots are small (and sometimes, big) totemic, art objects programmed to help. They are created by me, Gary Hirsch, an artist and consultant living in Portland Oregon.

I wake up everyday thinking about how art can help and the Bots have been my vehicle for doing this in (hopefully) a delightful and surprising way.

I experiment with the Bots by making thousands painted small on the back of dominos (most recent Bot count is 37,456) , and a few painted giant on the sides of buildings. Please steal this idea and make your own.

The idea for the Bots came from a sketch I did in 2000 as a prompt (see image on the left) in a co-creativity journal. Weirdly tons of folks came back to me after receiving this drawing telling me all of the wonderful things that their invisible robot was telling them. So...

• We decided to make the Bots real (not just invisible and imaginary) so you could carry them around in your pocket. I made a test batch of 400 while on a family trip to Mexico and we gave them to clients and friends as our corporate gift in 2010.
• Bots were wildly popular with our clients and I LOVED making them. In my “real” work I am up on my feet, moving, facilitating, acting, improvising. When I am making Bots I am quiet, still, listening, focused and improvising. It’s a ying/yang thing. Bot making has become a vital part of my day-to-day action
• I started leaving Joy Bots on the streets as gifts for random strangers to find. I donated Brave Bots to children's hospitals. I paint them as big as I can in mural and street art form. To date I have made over 37,000 Bots and I am always looking for new ideas for using them to help folks that might need one.
• I'll keep making these until it isn't fun anymore. So far, it's still fun!!!