Hit the Bricks!: Legos Rule, What Aren't You Playing with Them?

While testing the affects of radioactive horseflies within the presence of his little sister, Dr. Louis L. Brickashire stumbled upon a revolutionary invention that would end up changing the would forever. Contrary to what Rudy Giuliani might tell you, 9/11 was not the first time everything changed.

The lego brick is something pretty special. It's so great, no gimmicky bells and whistles need to be added to get sales. Give a grown man a bucket of lego bricks, then lock him in the room for seven hours. When you return, he would have either escaped out an open window(with said bucket in hand), or he would have created a colorful piece of modern art with it's contents.

You don't really grow out of something that fun. It's the whole creation aspect. Take a bunch of miscellaneous parts, and try to make something from them. It's a simple concept. The only thing that can limit your creativity is lack of free time, a slump and malls that aren't open twenty four hours. Everybody knows creative minds are at their best late at night!

Another thing that hinders Lego art is perception. You see, Lego bricks are a toy. Everybody has played with either Legos or Mega Bloks as kids. Stop and think for a moment: At what point did you STOP playing with toys, and what persuaded you to do so?

The reasoning may include lose of interest, focus needed to be on school work, or even the all too common "my dolls/action figures started a turf war that ended up causing a grease fire and burning the house down. Thus, toys were annexed from our new home" excuse.

Cabbage Patch Kids and G.I. Joe don't get along, what's that got to do with brick based toys? Lego People would never stand on either side of a turf war. If anything, they would band together and build a wall between waring gangs, and Lego Priests would do their best to defuse the situation. They'd probably end meetings saying stuff like "Make kickass play sets, not war!"

You can't let a few bad apples ruin a lifetime of fun. Lego artists over the age of twelve have put together some pretty neat sculptures. Such creations include The Statue of Liberty, Chrysler Building, life sized Darth Vader and a functional replica of The Large Hadron Collider....

...Okay, so the last item has yet to be legofied, but it's only a matter of time!

Lego culture has intercepted the world of video games(another play medium you don't really grow out of). Lego Star Wars: The Video Game was released in 2005 and, well, you could brand a can of farts with a Star Wars logo and it would probably sell. Wasn't that the case with Clone Wars?

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures was released June, 2008. Lego Batman just came out late September. Other than the Lego license, what do all these games have in common? Nostalgia, humorous representations of famous movie characters, and a play system that even casual fans can master with ease.

Lego creations should be considered as being art. The only difference between Lego Liberty and Copper Liberty is the building building materials that were used. Why do know-it-all art snobs scoff at plastic bricks, but allow clay sculptures in museums? I've never seen a Lego dry up and crumble when left our of it's tin overnight. That alone should make Play-Doh it's *$^@&!!!

In closing, I feel everyone should invest a little time in reclaiming a part of their childhood. Get some bricks, and create something. Use your imagination if you lack advanced building skills. These are serious times we are living in. Take the edge off by having a little fun for once!

Lego culture:
Nathan Sawaya: The art of the Brick
TechEBlog » Top 10 Strangest Lego Creations
Brickshelf