Robot Marvin

What the sculpture looks like

Robot Marvin comes across as a small visitor from another planet who has stopped for a while in České Budějovice and is calmly looking around. He does not seem dangerous. Rather odd – and that is exactly why he really does look as though he had travelled from some distant alien world. He measures roughly one and a half metres in height. At his widest point, that is around the head and the broad rim surrounding it, he reaches a width of about one metre.

Marvin stands on six legs. The legs are long, thin and curved in an arc. They emerge from underneath the body and descend to the ground in broad soft curves. Each leg ends in a widened flat foot resembling a suction cup or a small saucer. Because of this Marvin stands firmly and stably, even though his silhouette looks light and a little uncertain, as if he were still getting used to the earth's gravity.

The legs do not resemble real limbs. They look more like tubes, cables or the legs of a mechanical creature. They are smooth, rounded and taper slightly where they join the body. Their arrangement is symmetrical. The front legs stand closer together, the side ones are splayed further out and the rear ones are hidden behind the body. A good deal of open space is left between them, through which you can see into the middle of the object.

Above the legs is a small angular body. It has the form of a simplified polyhedral block. Compared with the whole figure it is fairly small. It works as a technical link between the legs and the head. From the middle of this block a rounded form resembling a weight or a soft sack hangs down towards the ground.

The head rests above the body on a short narrow neck. The neck is shaped like an inverted cone or a drop – wider at the top, narrowing downwards. On it lies a wide flat form resembling an enormous hat, a plate or a flying saucer. This is the most striking and most recognisable element of the whole sculpture. This wide form is thin, markedly stretched out to the sides and ends at both ends in sharper elongated points. From below, its oval, slightly curved surface is visible.

Exactly in the middle of this wide form is the upper part of the head. It has the form of a rounded horizontal block with soft edges. It recalls a low capsule or a helmet. On its front side are three small circular openings arranged side by side in a single row. Each opening is framed by a slightly raised rim. They may recall eyes, viewing ports or indicator lights. They do not create a human face, yet they are enough to give us the feeling that Marvin is looking at the world around him.

The surface of the sculpture is dark, almost black. In sunlight it shifts in places into deep brown tones. Warmer metallic glints appear in the falling light. The surface is smooth.

Marvin's whole figure is simplified and geometric. He has no mouth, nose, hands or other realistic body parts. His "body" consists of only a few basic elements. Even so, these shapes let us perceive Marvin as an unusual being – half robot, half insect and half alien with a hat resembling a flying saucer.

And one more important piece of information: we are in no danger… Marvin is made of bronze. The sculpture is the work of Jaroslav Róna.

How to find the sculpture

Háječek park, České Budějovice – behind the observatory, by the jetty at the confluence of the Vltava and Malše rivers. Marvin stands on six legs: the front pair closer together, the side ones splayed outwards and the rear ones hidden behind the body. The sculpture stands firmly even though its silhouette looks light.