TRUST MIGUEL

NOVEMBER 17, 2010 · 10:48 PM

Former JCCC student’s robot empire

Robots grow from Baker Medlock’s mindBy JAMES A. FU SSELL

The Kansas Ci ty Star

As a mar oon mi ni v an dr ov e dow n a si de str eet that l i nk s Lenex a and Shaw nee, a y oung boy l eaned out a w i ndow and

poi nted ex ci tedl y at somethi ng shi ny i n Bak er Medl ock ’s f r ont y ar d.

“Ro-bot!” the boy scr eamed at the top of hi s l ungs.

Medl ock — a moder n beatni k of a man w i th goatee, l ar ge gl asses and l i ght br ow n dr eadl ock s snak i ng out f r om under a

k ni t beani e — smi l ed and gav e the boy an appr eci ati v e f i st pump.

Rew i nd to 2005. Medl ock di dn’t k now w hat to do af ter gr aduati ng f r om Shaw nee Mi ssi on N or thw est Hi gh School .

Af ter some odd jobs, he took a w el di ng cl ass at Johnson County Communi ty Col l ege and made a few buck s mak i ng

w r ought i r on stai r r ai l i ngs. By 2008, that had gr ow n ol d. That ’s w hen i nspi r ati on hi t .

“I’m goi ng to bui l d a r obot,” he sai d.

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That fal l he w ent to the Pl aza Ar t Fai r and saw metal scul ptur es — for sal e.

“They w er e m ak ing m oney at i t ,” he sai d. “It w as i nspi r i ng.”

So i t w as that. W i th no for mal tr ai ni ng, Bak er Medl ock deci ded to become an ar ti st .

A r obot ar ti st .

Hi s f i r st r obot bar el y r eached the mi ddl e of hi s thi gh. Made f r om ol d l aw nmow er par ts and scr ap i r on, i t had a

muff l er for a head and an ai r -f i l ter cov er for an ar m shi el d. Then he got ser i ous.

Hi s r obots gr ew i n si ze and compl ex i ty . In 2009, he began to put them i n hi s f r ont y ar d. He posi t i oned a 7 -foot r obot

near the cur b. He made i t l ean for w ar d and r each out w i th an ar m and an atti tude as i f i t w er e enfor ci ng — and

r ei nfor ci ng — a 25-mph speed l i mi t si gn. Fr om the r oad, the 800-pounder he cal l ed “Bi g Man” l ook ed l i k e somethi ng

pl uck ed f r om a mov i e set .

Cl oser i nspecti on r ev eal s a mor e pedestr i an pedi gr ee. The metal man i s made w i th a gas tank f r om a Kaw asak i 650

motor cy cl e, heav y metal gear s donated by a l ocal busi nessman, scaf fol di ng metal , mounds of r ebar , an el ectr i c motor

fr om a gar age door , tattoo guns and bi k e shock s.

Ther e w as a cer tai n “humanness” to the r obot that dr ew peopl e to hi m.

Car s stopped. Peopl e ask ed questi ons and snapped pi ctur es.

Medl ock made mor e scul ptur es. He di d ar t i st i c tur ns on a metal l i c dr agonf l y , a l ady bug, a pr ay i ng manti s and a w asp.

Fr i ends w er e stunned. How di d he k now how to do thi s?

He di dn’t k now , he tol d them. He just saw the f i gur es i n hi s head, then found w ay s to cr eate them out of junk .

“Hal f the fun i s f i ndi ng the par ts,” Medl ock , 23, sai d.

He f i nds par ts al l ov er the ci ty . In the str eet, i n tr ash bi ns, by the r i v er , on the cur b.

“It ’s r eal l y fun,” he sai d. “And i t ’s cool to be abl e to mak e somethi ng out of i t .”

At f i r st Ol i v er Medl ock di dn’t k now w hat to thi nk about al l the junk hi s son w as br i ngi ng home.

“It al l star ts to l ook a bi t l i k e the y ar d f r om ‘Sanfor d and Son,’ ” he sai d.

But he’s compl etel y suppor ti v e.

“Once I accepted the fact that he w as not goi ng to go to col l ege — w hi ch i s w hat I w anted hi m to do — i t w as f i ne,”

Ol i v er Medl ock sai d. “I sai d, ‘Tel l me w hat y our goal s ar e, and I’l l hel p y ou i n that di r ecti on.’ And I hav e to hand i t to

hi m, he’s pr etty cr eati v e.”

Ji m Br other s, a w el l -k now n Law r ence scul ptor , al so pr ai sed Medl ock ’s tal ent.

“I thi nk he’s a v er y cr eati v e i ndi v i dual ,” he sai d af ter seei ng sev er al of Medl ock ’s cr eati ons. “Ver y w el l done. Ver y

w el l thought out. I hav en’t seen al l of hi s w or k , but w hat I’v e seen, I l i k ed.”

Other s must agr ee. A l ar ge cr ow d sur r ounded one of Medl ock ’s metal r obots at a r ecent Fi r st Fr i day ev ent. The same

happened at Fi nal Fr i day s i n Law r ence. He sol d a dr agonf l y scul ptur e for $1 ,800. Then a Law r ence man si gned hi m to

hi s ar ti st and mar k eti ng agency , W hi r l ed Ar t.

“W her e other s see a pi l e of scr ap metal , Bak er sees l i f e,” sai d agency ow ner Er i c Ki r k endal l . “He can tak e that v i si on

and tr ansl ate i t i nto an amazi ng one-of -a-k i nd pi ece of ar t .”

Ry an Hammond, the ow ner of a Shaw nee t i l e i nstal l ati on company , i s a fan as w el l . He w as shock ed w hen he met

Medl ock .

“I thought he w as goi ng to be some ol d r edneck ex -mechani c,” Hammond sai d. “Then I saw hi m, and I’m l i k e, ‘Ar e y ou

k i ddi ng me?’ I coul dn’t bel i ev e he w as the one mak i ng these thi ngs. I’m l i k e, ‘You’r e too y oung to k now how to do that,

that w el l .’ ”

The tw o became f r i ends. One day , Medl ock tol d Hammond he needed a tr uck i n w hi ch to haul hi s cr eati ons.

Hammond had one.

“I’l l tr ade y ou the tr uck for the r obot,” he sai d, jok i ng.

“I’d do that,” Medl ock sai d.

“Oh, no w ay ,” Hammond r esponded. “I’d be r i ppi ng y ou of f . It ’s w or th far mor e than that.’ ”

But Medl ock i nsi sted, and the tr ade — a r obot for a customi zed 1 989 23-foot for mer U -Haul tr uck , compl ete w i th

w or k shop and w or k i ng si nk — w as made. N ow both men ar e happy .

Hammond pl ans to di spl ay hi s pr i zed r obot i n a pi ctur e w i ndow and r un a gas l i ne thr ough i t so i t can shoot f l ames.

“W hen I hav e a cook out I’l l mov e hi m to the deck and w e’l l r oast mar shmal l ow s on hi m,” he sai d. “It ’s goi ng to be so

cool !”

In al l , Medl ock has made f i v e l ar ge r obots.

“I hav e pl ans to go a l ot bi gger than thi s,” he sai d. “I’d l ov e to donate some to par k s and boul ev ar ds. Put out r obots al l

ov er . I’m just l ack i ng the space and the equi pment. I’d l i k e to get Kansas Ci ty k now n for bad robots , man.”

So bad they ’r e good. That ’s the dr eam, any w ay .

He’d sett l e for bei ng abl e to mak e a l i v i ng w i th hi s ar t .

That ’s a w hol e other dr eam.

Robots gr ow f r om Bak er Medl ock ’s mi nd – KansasCi ty .com.

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