Robert’s illustration for Canadian Forum magazine accompanied the story, “Brian’s Dilemma,” about an out-of-work fisherman who has trouble adapting to circumstances after the collapse of the fisheries in Nova Scotia. In the story, as conditions worsen, fantasies spring up about technological solutions.

In the 1960s, pop artists like Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg showed everyday products, including food, through the lens of mass marketing and media. For Robert, watching television is a key ritual of this media-saturated world. His drawing, The Lobster Network presents a sea creature as if it were the logo of a TV channel. The lobster’s body is made of uniform dashes and spaces, as in a digital display. The former fisherman, who once had a direct interaction with lobsters, is now reduced to watching them on television.

There’s a touch of humour in this image. In a multi-channel universe, everything under the sun now has its own channel, so why not a lobster network?