Rise of the Robots is a short story about a group of robots. They are left in a dystopian environment, while they are in the middle of very typically human activities. Maybe the world is suffering under the effects of climate change, or there could have been a whole other reason. We might even be witnessing nothing more than a robot’s dream.

The story is narrated by Ron, a small robot that is left on the beach. He opens the story with the opening lines of the cultshow “Mr Robot”. He is talking to an imaginary human friend that lives in his mind. He explains to us, in this way, that robots have a very strong desire to learn all kinds of very common things from the humans. If robots are shaped like us, and are supposed to live like us, it is only natural that they want to embrace our culture too. But people fear the rise of the robots, for many different reasons.

Herb shows us various graffiti projects in an abandoned building. Graffiti is the ultimate form of protest art, but it is also a very oppressed form. Maybe this is a prelude to the struggle that robots will face when they will have the desire to rise to higher levels of individuality.

Rise of the Robots is written and produced by Jan De Coster.

Thanks to Scott Holmes, for lending his music to this project. www.facebook.com/ScottHolmesMusic