Little Coloured Bricks

The word Lego is actually derived from the Danish term Leg Godt which means “play well”. And this is exactly what most people do with their Lego bricks!

Since it’s debut more over 50 years ago, Lego bricks have taken the imaginations of every child, and the child at heart, to endless artistic possibilities. The creator of Lego really intended for the toy to be something that is endless and true to its purpose, there are an infinite number of objects you can make by snapping together these colorful, studded blocks. To name a few, the following are attempts of people to go beyond the conventions of Lego-kits and venture in doing MOCs (short for My Own Creation):

First on the list is Nathan Sawaya’s work. This corporate lawyer-turned-Lego master builder is one of the most renowned Lego artists today. Nathan Sawaya is responsible for creating sculptures, portraits, even three-dimensional profiles people’s heads, and all that done entirely out of Lego blocks! This is a picture of the man himself posing with one of his greatest art pieces.

Playing with Lego for some people, have become more than just a pastime. While others play with Lego blocks to occupy their minds, some people play with Lego to set world records. Yes! You read that right! People have gone out to set world records using these colorful bricks. The record for the world’s tallest Lego tower was just recently set in Oslo. On the 24th April of 2010, a 30-meter tall tower made entirely of Lego (about five hundred thousand bricks) stood tall and strong even as winds blew.

Photo Via UberGizmo.com

If towers are not your thing, maybe this one  is. This is a replica of the of the famous Japanese warship Yamato. It took Jumpei Mitsui four months and some two hundred thousand pieces of lego to put together this mammoth piece of Lego art! And talk about being mammoth, this Lego warship, this ‘miniature’ model of the Yamato is 6.6 meters long, 1 meter at it’s widest, and it weighs a massive 150 kilograms. (And check out the soldier minifigs all lined up on the deck!)

The Lego enthusiasts’ world is a very beautiful world and is home to many subcultures. These subcultures form due to a certain theme of MOCs they enjoy doing. Browsing through pages in flickr, one may find clusters of pictures of MOCs  and Lego replicas with a specific theme. This one, created by mondayn00dles is one of the most amazing  things you’ll ever see. The replica of the mech seen in the movie District 9 can be seen here. What  is amazing about this and all of mondayn00dles’ is the amount of detail put into each model or MOC.

Most people make lego MOCs for fun. However, there are people who take Lego to different purposes. In the example of Sean Kenney and his exhibit at Philadelphia Zoo, he used his Lego building skills to create models of endangered animals. The exhibit that took place allowed the zoo to attract and educate their visitors about these certain animals and their dwindling population in the wild.