LEGO "play well"
From Mod Mania
¬¬¬¬¬LEGO “Play Well”
¬¬¬¬LEGO is something we are all familiar with, and we have all played with LEGO at some stages of our lives, mostly as a child. For those who have forgotten LEGO, LEGO is a line of construction toys manufactured by the LEGO Group. The LEGO features little plastic interlocking bricks, easily snapped together and pulled apart to construct toys. These LEGO bricks have been around as early as the 1890’s.
Over the years LEGO has changed, creating new themed Lego kits, for example ‘Harry Potter’ or the ‘Bionicles’ to accomplish the Lego Groups ideas and visions. “To inspire children to explore and challenge their own creative potential”, so thus building with LEGO bricks is about “learning through play”.
As these were the LEGO Groups ideals and visions, when a new LEGO kit was released in 1996, it caused a lot of controversy. Zbigniew Libera a polish artist born in Pabianince in 1959. Many would describe him to be one of the most interesting and important polish artists. The works of Libera would somehow play with the stereotypes of contemporary culture. During the 1990’s Libera got involved with the idea of creating objects from modifying already existing products, usually products of mass consumption, he called it “correcting devices” (Universal penis expander and Body master). Libera also transformed toys, intended to illustrate the gap between the ideal world marketed to children and the real one created by adults. The most famous and controversial piece is the “LEGO concentration camp”.
The LEGO concentration camp was made in 1996, which is made up of a set of 7 boxes. When the bricks are assembled the finished product can resemble the image of a concentration camp. The kit also featured crematories, gallows and doctors administering electric shocks to prisoners. The figurines of the prisoners (skeletons) and the doctors was taken from other LEGO kits such as “pirates" which were then slightly modified by Libera. What made this LEGO concentration camp so controversial was for its many reasons. At the time the LEGO Corporation donated thousands of LEGO pieces to artists around the world who were part of the Lego art competition; they gave Libera LEGO bricks for free without knowing the full intentions of what Libera was going to do with the bricks. At first when Libera requested for the LEGO bricks he planned to make sets for prisons and hospitals but then the project evolved into the concentration camp. He then led to include another controversial matter by adding a notice on the box kit saying, “sponsored by LEGO systems”. The LEGO group insisted they did not support his artwork, and responded by saying “If he had described his ultimate project to us in advance, he naturally would not have received a single LEGO element from us!”
Other controversial reasons such as the potential violence in the childrens toys, for LEGO are about “learning through play”. A fear of children learning horrific acts taken place at a concentration camp, this would be a bad influence on the impressionable children. Also reasons such as memory and remembering, which for many people in many countries the subject of concentration camp is a highly sensitive area of topic. And taking on the holocaust with the world’s most loved toys is out of line. This matter has daid to have "split the polish art community, and has raised emotional questions about art, history, business and freedom of expression in a country still tormented by its past".
What many people didn’t seem to understand was that Libera’s play kit are only one offs and would not be distributed around the world, so his actions was frowned upon. The work today is in the collection of the Jewish museum in New York.
There are also other LEGO works displayed in museums/galleries, displaying artist’s works who have taken LEGO bricks to another level. Artists using LEGO bricks as their art medium. An example of this is artist Nathan Sawaya. Like the most of us Nathan Sawaya’s first encounter with LEGO was when he was a child. From getting his first set of bricks, he soon transformed his living room into a “LEGO city”. In his city is where his creativity and imagination blossomed.
It wasn’t until 2004 when Sawaya come to national attention as a talented artist, when he won a national wide search for a professional LEGO master builder. Competition sponsored by the LEGO Group. Sawaya then quit his job as a Wall st attorney to pursue his passion for art (using LEGO as his medium). Sawaya’s LEGO work is in such exceptionally high levels that even the “LEGO Group recognizes his efforts and have the ability to not only use the LEGO name and copyrighted logo, but have earned an in-depth relationship with the company”. There are also 5 more artists in the world that has those recognitions also.
Nathan Sawaya makes incredible artwork with LEGO pieces. He creates works from sculptures to oversized mosaic portraits that would require thousands of Lego bricks. His artwork has captured the audience’s attention from all ages around the world. When his work as he calls it “The art of the brick” exhibited at the Lancaster museum art in Pennsylvania, nearly as many people visited the all-LEGO art show as attended the museum in a given year. Sawaya has caught the audience’s attention in amazement. And also receives commission from individuals and corporations.
Here we see the light and shade between these 2 artists. On one hand the community and the general public supports the work of Nathan Sawaya. On the other hand the works of Zbigniew Libera caused up a stir in the community and to the general public.
On a different side of many LEGO enthusiasts, take LEGO onto another level. Many of them make “brick film” also known as “Legomation”. To put it simply a series of short movies or a recreation of feature films using LEGO bricks. Some even create webcomics, which is the use of LEGO features to make a comic which is illustrated photographically.
LEGO has now become more than just bricks.
