Cat-AT-tude and the Wandering Mind...

When I first saw the image, I laughed. The name didn’t make sense, but then again, I hadn’t memorized the names of Star Wars creatures and creations. So I Google-searched to find out that the inspiration for this piece of art is the Star Wars All Terrain Armored Transport (AT-AT) walker.

Per the entry on StarWars.com, an AT-AT is a four-legged transport and combat vehicle used by the Imperial ground forces. Standing over 20 meters tall, these walkers are intimidating, and are used as much for psychological effect as they are for tactical effect. The command crew pilots the AT-AT from the walker’s head, which is connected to the main body by a flexible neck. The crew consists of a commander, a gunner, and a pilot. Additional crews and troops can be carried in the walker’s main storage bay.

Sounds a lot like the huge, hollow wooden horse (AKA Trojan Horse) constructed by the Greeks to gain entrance into Troy during the Trojan War.

Drilling down for further context I learn that it was “clever Odysseus (some say with the aid of Athena)” who ordered a large wooden horse to be built. Its insides were to be hollow so that soldiers could hide within it.

The Trojan Horse apparently was not intimidating. Rather, the curious Trojans saw it as an awesome gift — one that would bring them luck.

The rest of the story isn’t pretty. In fact, it reinforces how the AT-AT and the Trojan Horse are similar.

But circling back to the beginning…

DesignTaxi Email

DesignTaxi.com, a great website full of all kinds of creative inspiration, pushed an email to me that featured the Cat-At by Scott Park. Scott is a clever dude!

And upon further review, it looks like Scott has a store where his works are available at a site called The Bazaar Creative Objects (Bza.co) where you can “Discover and buy all things creative, interesting and awesome!.”

Sounds like a Jedemi type of place.