I am, it has to be said, something of an arachnophobe. Small, little, or tiny spiders – they’re perfectly fine. Larger varieties – Well, keep them away from me. Put a really large spider in front of me – say a tarantula / bird-eating spider, or even the UK’s cardinal, tube-web or nursery-web spider – and I can guarantee I’ll be one of the first out of the door and moving at a reasonably fast pace.
I mention this because for May 2026, Cica Ghost brings us the curious combination of Robots and Spiders. But fortunately for those of us with any degree of fear when it comes to spiders, those present in Cica’s work are disarmingly friendly-looking and not at all what you might otherwise imagine.
These are spiders which appear to live on a world very different from our own; one they share with a bunch of seemingly happy-go-lucky robots. In fact, like the robots, they appear to be artificial in nature, made of metal parts – bulbs, tubes, poles, etc., suggesting they have specific purposes, although their eyes remain very human and expressive.
Rather than hunting prey or weaving webs, these spiders appear content to live within the metal town they share with the robots and a handful of metallic gusenica (caterpillars). The latter are certainly a happy-smiley lot, and not in the least afraid of the spiders, even if the latter on our world often see caterpillars as prey.
The robots, meanwhile, are by far the most anthropomorphic-looking (unsurprisingly)of the locals. Admittedly, some do lack arms and others look like they have old Mac computer cases or arcade game consoles for bodies (something which raises a possibly interesting question about their lineage!). However, they also appear to be a welcoming, happy bunch, ready to wave a greeting rather than snap at you with the claws that might occupy the ends of the arms they might have.
As noted, all of these creations live in a metal town in which some of the houses look like they might have once served as the heads of very big robots: hemispherical units with two eye-like windows to the side one on either side which may have once housed hearing units, and a large opening cut into the remaining side to form a doorway. Other parts of the town look like they are components of some large electrical or industrial installation or to have been made from metal boxes, and a couple of places look more akin to cabins or similar found here on Earth, making for an eclectic mix.
Rounded out by an appropriate quote from Dr. Seuss, Robots and Spiders is an unusual and light-hearted artistic fantasy.
Slurl Details
- Robots and Spiders (Mysterious Isle, rated Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 