Michael Salter has been teaching at the University of Oregon since 2005 in the Architecture and Allied Arts school. Though he works in many mediums he has become most well know for his styrofoam robots. He used to have to beg colleagues and students to save styrofoam for him but now it regularly piles up outside his office. Salter transforms the angular white chunks—once packing material for items such as computers and televisions—into massive robot sculptures that have been exhibited all over the nation and a few internationally. In Salter's mind, all of his robots form a giant monster of evidence against a culture that never stops producing, and ironically, they critique the very culture of which they are byproducts of.

If you ever have the opportunity to take a class from Michael Salter, do it! He is a fantastic teacher with lots of great ideas and concepts to spark your creative bug.

The above video is the reconstruction of one of his robots that was built here in Eugene, then dismantled and shipped to the San Jose Museum of Art for a show.