Robot vs Sloth is a collection of cute animals fighting each other + handmade local art.

Seattle artist La Ru (Lauren Rudeck) created Robot vs Sloth to showcase her artwork as well as a curated selection of local (and some non-local) talented artists. Robot vs Sloth opened in January 2018 and is located in the heart of Pike Place Market in Seattle, WA. 

Why is it called Robot vs Sloth?

People often ask why robots, why sloths? (La Ru here – owner and creator of Robot vs Sloth.) Well in the 80’s Seattle had a terrible sloth problem. By 1982 they were everywhere. So many sloths people were tripping over them, they’d fall out of trees onto their roofs, they’d climb important Seattle buildings; the sloths were taking over Seattle. During a heavily debated city council meeting, city council voted, 7 to 2, to bring in robots to take care of the growing problem. The robots came in, but went overboard, they got rid of all the sloths except for two that now live at the Woodland Park Zoo. The robots shipped all of the other sloths safely down to Costa Rica, where they have flourished as a species. February 10th is the anniversary of the infamous battle between the robots and sloths. Just kidding, but that would be a fun story, right?

I’ve always been obsessed with robots. When I moved to Seattle in 2006, I would draw robots on stickers and then walk the different neighborhoods leaving behind my robots while discovering the city. I fell in love with sloths at the Jaguar Rescue Center in Costa Rica in 2011. When creating Robot vs Sloth I thought it would be fun to combine two of my favorite things, with a name that would stop people and make them wonder “what the heck?!”

History of Robot vs Sloth

In 2012, La Ru opened a shop called Ugly Baby and La Ru, shared with another Seattle artist. It was a super small shop, located on the back side of the Pike Place Market. Over the years she grew her business and expanded her illustrations and products. After 5 years, she outgrew the space and found her new location. In January 2018, Robot vs Sloth had a soft opening and the official grand opening was February 10th.