Friend or foe, I’d like to know

At first glance of this strangely serene scene by Thorsten Bonsch, it seems this pair of poorly armed passersby facing off against an insectlike robot have bitten off more than they can chew. While it is not clear whether the robot wants to help them disarm peacefully, or separate them from their arms literally, one thing is clear… There is more to this model than meets the eye; It was inspired by Tales from the Loop, a series of illustrations and short stories by Swedish artist Simon Stalenhag.

Tales from the Loop

Thorsten captures the delicate but strong appearance of the multi-segmented limbs, as well as the large industrial elements of the robot’s body depicted in the inspirational source material.