Robin

Robin Williams passed away on August 11th, 2014 and on that same day someone contacted me about donating a large amount of used Rubik's Cubes. I grew up watching Williams' films and had the idea to build a mosaic to auction off for charity.

I also had a friend who teaches art at a local school who had been trying to get me to meet with one of her students, a talented speedcuber named Dan Pastushkov. We agreed that he should come to the studio and help me build this mosaic.

This 600 cube portrait I originally called 'Goofball' was created from start to finish in over 4 hours. Dan worked from one end and I worked from the other. A number of San Francisco area news organisations carried a story about the project. I put the mosaic on Ebay and auctioned it off for $4300, $4100 of which was split between donations to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.

The man who purchased the mosaic owns a recording studio where Robin recorded voiceover work for many of the movies he was cast in. He had lots of stories about Robin.

Another lovely couple who placed the runner-up bid contacted me after the auction about having a second one made. This 400 cube alternate is hung in their home, less than a mile from Robin Williams' home in Tiburon, California.