A celebrated master builder, Sean Kenney used to have a desk job much like every regular guy. His love for the plastic bricks however showed a different career path. Getting paid to make lego sculptures may be the dream of every Lego enthusiasts but it is hard to make Lego art. It takes time, effort, patience and of course, lots of Lego bricks to be able to succeed in such an endeavor.
In his website seankenney.com, Sean says that “Creating art with LEGO bricks is a lot more fund than sitting at the office!” After 10 years of working on a serious job, the Lego master builder started doing what he has always loved to do.
Sean started building at a very early age (age 4) and is now known as one of the best Lego builders around the world. His first creation that got the interest of the media is his 50, 000 Lego piece model of Greenwich Village. The creation is complete with pedestrians, taxis and bagel carts along the road making the Lego artwork as interesting as the real Greenwich Village.
In one of his interviews Sean said, “People build models based on what fascinates them. A kid will watch “The Matrix” and then pull out the LEGO pieces to build a hovercraft; I’ll walk along 7th Avenue in Manhattan and go model a cool high-rise. In fact, I was in Madrid a few weeks ago having lunch in a beautiful Spanish plaza, and out of nowhere I got an urge to build the entire plaza! I spent about 20 minutes photographing every building, tree, you name it. The local Spaniards were looking at me like I was crazy—”Some American took a picture of my garbage can!”
When asked if he has plans to recreate the whole of New York City with the coloured bricks, he said ” Well, the city acts more like an inspiration than as a template. My model of Greenwich Village isn’t a literal reproduction of any particular street corner, or of actual buildings. I just wanted to capture the feel of the neighborhood. But there are some parts of town that I would like to create literal reproductions of at some point. Times Square comes to mind—complete with some little LCD televisions! I also thought it would be fun to research a random street corner and build it from the exact same angle in different time periods, say, in 1930, 1970 and today. You could watch it transform from paddy wagons to Vespas to SUVs as the buildings adapt (or crumble) over time. Mulberry Street seemed like a fun place to try out something like that.”
For more information, you can go to Sean Kenney’s website at seankenney.com.
If you want some gun-slinging action in Legoland, better get some horses and a few cowboys to accompany you in your adventures. Cowboy Legomen have been riding on horseback in the Wild West of Legolandia for decades. If you do not have a cowboy town worthy of the Old West just yet, you should browse among LEGO’s cowboy sets such as Frontier Patrol where you can get your very own cavalry soldier wearing a bandana. No need to follow Paula Cole’s lyrics in Where Have All the Cowboys Gone anymore because finally you will have your own Old West set.
Photo Courtesy of CustomMinifig.co.uk
If you want a showdown, you should also include Sheriff’s Showdown in your list. This collection is where you get to have a sheriff and an outlaw along with a horse and a few other things you would usually see in the desert. You may also want to include a covered wagon set for your Old West merchants. And you would also need a cell for the outlaws which means you’d need one of LEGO’s Sheriff’s Lock Up collection.
Get Bandit’s Secret Hideout so you can have a headquarters for your criminals. Place this set in the outskirts of town so that the sheriff and his men will not be able to find it.
Build Fort Legoredo, a 673 piece Lego collection with 10 Legomen. This is one of the most coveted items of all because the fort is massive in Lego proportions and real fun to play with.
Do not forget your Bandit with a Gun set so you can finally have a chase between the most dangerous outlaw and your sheriff. Now won’t that be exciting?
For parents whose kids want a Cowboy Lego set, go ahead and buy your kids what they want, it will help hone their minds and nourish their creativity.
Here’s some food for thought: children are birthed in this world with creativity attached at their hips. It’s the singular inherent force that connects us to the primordial life source – the strand that links us to the universe and makes us one with it.
And LEGO blocks? They’re creativity’s first conduit, the bridge between our physical senses and the universe, something that gives us a taste of imagination actualized…It’s the toy that’s so much more.
See, exactly because they’re toys, humans interact with them in the earliest stages of consciousness. When kids play with LEGO blocks, their creativity develops and may result to them being architects, engineers or whatever they want to be. That’s what makes them awesome.
But it doesn’t end there. These technological marvels are also highly affordable, easy to use, baby-proofed, kid-friendly, environmentally safe, indestructible and, not to mention, timeless. Children of all ages can create with them, even those kids whose souls stayed young but whose bodies grew old.
They’re even considered art! Last August 2005, two artists by the names of Darren Neave and John Cake (also known as the Little Artists) held an exhibition called Art Craziest Nation in Liverpool Museum using nothing more than pure unadulterated LEGO blocks, a few other materials and their wits. Their fierce socio-historical commentaries were subdued in tones by the use of pop iconic figures like Pokemon and, of course, LEGO products, but their rage against commercialization is nonetheless intact, albeit displayed in simplistic blazing hues. These showed that not only do LEGO products play a huge role in creativity but in education and social mores as well.
And if that’s not enough, note the fact that it enforces a stimulating atmosphere where a multitude of stories are born each time they are used, and that it brings people closer, from fathers and sons building model LEGO Planes together, to grandparents and their grandkids shaping LEGO Nations while teaching each other values and experiences the other would always benefit in remembering.
A final note: Although mainly targeted for kids, LEGO products have also helped adults through all the years of its existence; when hobbyists collect LEGO toys and slowly build towards bringing their fantasies, their ideals and their desires into a miniaturized reality, they have an outlet in releasing their frustrations and their bottled up creativity, making it a therapeutic activity not just for their body but for their souls as well. The difference between a LEGO hobby from other hobbies is that this is a hobby even children can do, and therefore it can be a lifetime project. Add the fact that LEGO blocks cannot be worn out by excessive usage or by time, and you get a hobby that has the potential to transcend generations without fear of getting shattered or broken – an unbreakable, immortal heirloom.
Adults who played with Lego as kids have now forgotten how to go about the blocks when they are building with their own chidlren. This creativity can wane after a few “Legoless” years but can be regained if you practice everyday. You would notice that your kids are actually doing better than you are but don’t fret, you can always take a look at the instructions. If however you bought a pail of Lego blocks and your son or daughter wants you to build a castle without a blueprint, then you would probably need to look for instructions online or you can take a look at one of our old How-To articles and learn how to build a Lego Castle.
Regaining your Lego-building prowess may take some time but as the adage goes, patience is a virtue and you should be very patient when building with your child even if he or she is a much better builder than you are. Master Lego brick building again by spending an hour a day to play with your kids, apart from learning how to build again you will also be building your relationship with your children. you might even get a “The World’s Best Dad” or “The World’s Best Mom” mug for Christmas. Now that’s not bad.
Those Legoless years where all of us are busy with school and work and building our families is time well-spent of course but now that we all have the time to play with old toys when we were kids with our own children, we should make the most out of it.
Many hands-on moms and dads build with their kids and this is truly a great way to bond as a family. As a Lego enthusiast said in a blog “A family that builds together, stays together” or maybe they build a great bond so to speak.
The Chinese are now so successful in terms of economy –they have products shipped to all parts of the world, do all sorts of trading with different countries and are by far the fastest growing economy in Asia today. From Africa to its neighboring countries, the words “Made in China” can be found. Chinese Legomen can also be found in the world of Lego and they have small eyes as well. These Chinese Lego people were not made in China though, they are just custom figures made by Chinese Lego fans.
The colors of these figures were no longer changed because Lego minifigs have always been yellow anyway so it’s just fitting for the Chinese Lego folks. A rather cute creation is done by Lego builder named “squintyeyes”. The photo of a Lego Chinese gas man on his bicycle is just so accurate that it would make you smile and might even make your eyes as squinty as the custom Lego minifig. Gas men in Hong Kong usually ride a bike to deliver gas, making the creation very accurate and apt. Children should see this photo because for one, they will learn that things are so different on the other side of the globe.
Kuromi another builder built 4 Chinese historical figures. Whoever these guys are, they sure do look Chinese and look rather heroic as well. It’s possible that one of the minifigs is Genghis Khan. The guy on the lower right side might be an emperor from the Han Dynasty but this is only based on observation because the creator of these little figures did not label his creations. If you can’t see the photo you may check it out at Kuromi’s blog.
Kuromi also made other minifigs based on historical characters. These characters include Englishmen and other Westerners.
Photo Courtesy of Bored-Bored
If you really want a Lego Chinese experience, Lego Beijing is a place you should visit. The place however can be a little outdated already because the theme of the Legotown is Lego Beijing Olympics. The creation however is very cool and it was made by a team from Lego.
