Lego Sculpture as Art Medium?

Nathan Sawaya is a brick artist. He’s obviously not the first. Just look at the pyramids at Chichen Itza, or that giant sphinx we hear so much about in our scrapbooking class. But what separates them from Nathan’s work is that they were created with good old fashioned, mud and dirt (which is really just dehydrated mud) salt of the earth bricks. Nathan, on the other hand, uses Legos. Legos have been around since the 1940s, and are still one of the most popular children’s toys in the world. Because of that, it’s been harder for Mr. Sawaya to gain the respect and recognition of the more established art community.

But while using a toy, or at least an object marketed as a toy, might make the road to industry-wide acceptance harder, it doesn’t make Nathan’s work any less interesting. This guy makes some cool stuff. It’s new, it’s different, and frankly it’s down right impressive. To us, it seem like his real source of inspiration is acceptance, or maybe even the lack their of. When people tell you it can’t be done, do you agree, or do you fight harder to prove them wrong? It’s a situation creatives are faced with all the time, and we all know it’s so much easier to just agree and give up. But those times when you really believe in the idea, the times when you care enough to really push back, that’s when greatness is made. So don’t back down, gentle humans. Find something you love, and push it through.

And also, you should check out Lego Land.

That place is crazy.

Anyway people, what do you think?

Visit: The Brick Artist »
Watch: Nathan Sawaya's Create or Else video in HD quality on Youtube.