22 November 2024
Art

Art of the Brick: Atlanta

Doug is a huge LEGO fan, but did you know that you can’t get into LEGO museums without being an adult accompanying a child? Besides the negative implications of that, who exactly does LEGO think is buying their very expensive products? I digress…

So it was that we found ourselves at the Art of the Brick: Atlanta, an immersive experience somewhat akin to the Van Gogh and Monet experiences making the rounds; the price tag seemed right in line with a LEGO experience, too.

Hawksbill Turtle; 8,947 bricks
Doug laying on the beanbags and fully enjoying the immersive experience.

Art of the Brick is the production of Nathan Sawaya, a “LEGO Artist”, working independently of the LEGO company.

Per the Art of the Brick website, Sawaya is “the first artist ever to take the LEGO brick into the art world as a medium”; every child with a bucket of LEGOs has made their own creations, the difference being they aren’t getting paid to do it.

The exhibit includes over 70 LEGO works of three-dimensional art, along with music and CGI swirling on the walls around you. As the CGI is of LEGOs, it’s naturally very blocky, but I thought it had the effect of looking amateurishly done. Doug did not agree with this assessment, however.

Overall, it was enjoyable but short. I was slightly disappointed that almost every creation was of a solid color, and many of the works were either the same item in a different color, or variations on the same theme. I guess I expected a bit more.

Doug really seemed to enjoy it, however, and since it was his idea to go, that counts as a win. There are other Art of the Brick shows going on concurrently, which means they have different works on display. I imagine this will be touring to other cities, so if it’s something you’re interested in, you should definitely sign up for email alerts.

The cover photo is Rainbow People (+ Doug) and is made up of 100,245 bricks (no bricks in Doug, as far as I know).

Big Yellow; 75,596 bricks. You see smaller versions (about 12,000 bricks) in the background made up of other solid colors.
Ascension; 16,750 bricks.
Zebra Blue; 10,911 bricks.
Working Pac-Man Arcade Game; 42,060 bricks.
Kinetic Skulls is comprised of 250 skulls made up of 248 bricks each; there are mirrors on the side, floors and back to make it all seem much larger. This exhibit rotated and changed colors.
Malayan Tiger; 20,530 bricks.

The following are three short video clips that we filmed at the exhibit.

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