Perhaps in defiance of the ease and convenience of booming production technologies, or just as a result of one widespread case of retro nostalgia, artists and designers are currently turning towards an unlikely medium for their work: tiny injection-molded modular bricks of ABS plastic, otherwise known as Legos.
While building models out of these beloved toys has been a treasured pastime since the their invention in 1934, lately they’ve been used less as a hobby than as a creative medium, replacing traditional materials in places one would have assumed they don’t belong. There are iPhone accessories, prosthetic limbs, and entire works of art that illustrate Legos’ real, albeit completely, impractical potential. Tokyo-based artist Rie Hosokai, for example, used them to weave an uncomfortably rigid white dress for the Lego-sponsored Piece of Peace World Heritage Exhibit, on view in Hong Kong through the end of July. “We construct things from the most basic building blocks. What are we to discover from this process? To find the answer, we must continue to turn our gaze toward those around us,” her artist statement reads. (Take that as you will.)
More perplexing than Hosokai’s explanation is the fact that the same objects are also being reincarnated in plastic by 3-D printers, Lego’s high-tech foil. In contrast to the fluid, self-manning process of rapid prototyping, Lego construction requires human labor, attention, and lots (and lots) of time. So in light of modern competition, what’s its prevailing appeal?
“I think it has been happening for years, but we are seeing more and more coverage of the creations as Lego gets accepted as an art medium, rather than a only a children's toy,” says Nathan Sawaya, the artist who used Legos to replace both the stone of the Rapa Nui people’s monolithic Moai sculptures and the oil paint of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” in his critically acclaimed “Art of the Brick” exhibition currently on view at the Discovery Times Square.
“There is something very special about creating artwork out of this simple medium. I appreciate the cleanliness of the Lego brick, the right angles, the distinct lines,” Sawaya explains. “Everyone can relate to it since it is a toy that many children have at home. But it is more than that. My favorite thing about using Lego bricks is seeing someone be inspired by my artwork to go and pick up a few bricks and start creating on their own.”
ARTINFO has surveyed the recent, most creative uses of Legos: here are 11 amazing designs.
To see highlights from our findings, click the slideshow.
Watch video of "Art of the Brick" show at Discovery Times Square: