Built Like A Brick Playhouse | Nathan Sawaya halps Telus World of Science get rectangular with his exhibition The Art Of The Brick.
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This week finds Mandy and Jill exploring the Telus World of Science’s exhibition The Art of the Brick, a showing of sculptures by Nathan Sawaya made entirely from Lego.
Jill: I always forget about the Telus World of Science. You go there all the time when you’re a kid, and then slowly it slips out of your social vocabulary. But every once in a while, an exhibit like The Art of the Brick pulls you back in: you are reminded of just how much time you used to devote to making little buildings and cities out of Lego; you hear that this Nathan Sawaya character builds life-sized figures out of these same bricks; you become aware of just how much more time this guy spends on Lego than you could ever imagine. And this is worth a visit.
Mandy: I enjoy how you use the word “you” rather than “I,” when clearly you’re talking about yourself. Fantastic! Yes, the Telus World of Science, who knew that place was awesome? Our trip there was actually my very first visit to the world of sciency goodness, and I was super-pleased with the entire thing. The building, the permanent displays, the interactive features, and the main exhibition which brought us there in the first place. Lego!
Jill: Nathan Sawaya was apparently a corporate attorney in New York before dropping his day job for an exciting career building things out of kids’ toys. We are eternally jealous. The show itself displays a surprising variety of Lego techniques, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional. We were especially enamoured with the troubled, brightly coloured figures — Sawaya is kind of a genius at creating figures that are partially destroyed while retaining an element of human personality (as in “Hands,” where a kneeling figure anguishes over a pile of bricks that used to be his hands).
Mandy: There’s a wide range of subject matter in here too: giant pencils, huge hands, a giant heart, portraits, and pieces that look like abstract three-dimensional mazes. But most of the sculptures are human shapes, constructing and deconstructing the body. I found these pieces to be surprisingly powerful. I mean, I walked into this show thinking it would be enjoyable and maybe kind of funny, but some of Sawaya’s themes are pretty extreme. I’m thinking specifically of the bodies that were cut off at the torso, either “melting” or pouring open from the chest. That’s some violent imagery.
Jill: I think there’s a strong comic book influence on these works. The figures are very idealized, and superhero imagery is a recurring motif. I don’t think the imagery is intentionally violent, but is simply violent in the way that all comic books are. But I know what you mean. The sheer awe factor, and the obvious technical challenges Sawaya has overcome make all of these pieces impressive, but I found myself drawn to the more light-hearted pieces, like the giant three-dimensional pencil writing the word “fun” on a two-dimensional sheet of “paper.” It’s interesting, the way he uses both two-and three- dimensional aspects to create works with layers.
Mandy: I’m imagining what it would be like if the human sculptures were made of a material other than Lego. Since Lego is a toy, there’s a certain implied non-seriousness to the work. I don’t mean that they didn’t take an insane amount of time and effort — clearly they did — but the bright toy colours and the association with childhood are still front and centre, which tends to neutralize the images’ power. Also, Body Worlds was the show on display before this one, and even though I didn’t see that exhibit, it was definitely in my head while I was looking at Sawaya’s work. I suppose my point is, it’s important to realize how much the material any work is made of affects how we interpret it.
Jill: Absolutely. And I have to assume that Sawaya has that in mind. He certainly must have plenty of time to think over the meaning of what he’s doing as he works — these sculptures have got to take forever to make.
Mandy: I don’t even know how he made that T-Rex. But I’m pretty glad he did.
The Art of the Brick is on display in Telus World of Science’sExplorer Gallery until May 3.
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