Teeny little blocks of art
August 24, 2010 12:43 AM Subscribe
There are 9 Lego Certified Professionals. Nathan Sawaya, Rene Hoffmeister, Sean, Kenney Nicholas Foo, Dan Parker* , Robin Sather, Adam Reed Tucker, Beth Weis and Dirk Denoyelle.
A couple bonus links that I found interesting.
~The World's First Female Lego Artist (Her site)
~Lego planets
*Dan Parker seems to have a very limited (read: no) web presence.
(Pre-viously)
A couple bonus links that I found interesting.
~The World's First Female Lego Artist (Her site)
~Lego planets
*Dan Parker seems to have a very limited (read: no) web presence.
(Pre-viously)
My mum was the first person to work for lego in australia. lego bricks were still new, she was seventeen at the time, and she spent her summer holiday playing lego with kids in the Myer department store. At the end of the summer lego offered her the job of being their australian manager. She turned them down and went back to high school, but they did let her keep her demonstration box. (i still have some of the pieces)
She often tried to explain to me that if she hadn't turned down the job, i would never have been born, and at the time lego was just an obscure imported plastic toy. As a child this did nothing to dilute my moral outrage that my mum gave up the chance to be the queen of lego australia, and i could have had heaps and heaps of lego.
posted by compound eye at 3:08 AM on August 24, 2010 [9 favorites]
She often tried to explain to me that if she hadn't turned down the job, i would never have been born, and at the time lego was just an obscure imported plastic toy. As a child this did nothing to dilute my moral outrage that my mum gave up the chance to be the queen of lego australia, and i could have had heaps and heaps of lego.
posted by compound eye at 3:08 AM on August 24, 2010 [9 favorites]
There are 9 Lego Certified Professionals
Given the Lego love often apparent on MeFi, I'm going to say:
There are 9 Lego Certified Professionals for now
Dun dun duuuuuhh!
posted by djgh at 3:15 AM on August 24, 2010
Given the Lego love often apparent on MeFi, I'm going to say:
There are 9 Lego Certified Professionals for now
Dun dun duuuuuhh!
posted by djgh at 3:15 AM on August 24, 2010
Clearly the best toy ever invented.
However, I wish there were more attention paid to Lego Technic creations. Lets see some huge robots.
posted by colinshark at 3:16 AM on August 24, 2010
However, I wish there were more attention paid to Lego Technic creations. Lets see some huge robots.
posted by colinshark at 3:16 AM on August 24, 2010
@compound eye - As a child this did nothing to dilute my moral outrage that my mum gave up the chance to be the queen of lego australia, and i could have had heaps and heaps of lego.
Never mind that you would not have existed to enjoy those heaps and heaps of lego. Kid logic at its best.
posted by kcds at 4:11 AM on August 24, 2010
Never mind that you would not have existed to enjoy those heaps and heaps of lego. Kid logic at its best.
posted by kcds at 4:11 AM on August 24, 2010
When I was in kindergarten, some reporters from my K-12 school's yearbook came to ask us what we wanted to be for a living. At this point, my horrific nearsightedness had already shattered my dreams of being an astronaut or fighter pilot, and I didn't know the term "Lego Certified Professional," but this is basically the answer that I gave.
posted by cobra_high_tigers at 4:39 AM on August 24, 2010
posted by cobra_high_tigers at 4:39 AM on August 24, 2010
What about Zack? Zack? I was led to believe he was a Lego maniac.
posted by inturnaround at 4:52 AM on August 24, 2010 [8 favorites]
posted by inturnaround at 4:52 AM on August 24, 2010 [8 favorites]
If you're visiting DC before Sept. 2011, you can see the work of one of the pros, Adam Reed Tucker, at the National Building Museum in Lego Architecture: Towering Ambition.
Exhibition review.
posted by longdaysjourney at 4:56 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Exhibition review.
posted by longdaysjourney at 4:56 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Clearly the best toy ever invented.
Really? You're going to go with that? Because I'm going to fight you on the word "clearly." Lego may be the best construction toy ever invented-- as opposed to Lincoln Logs or Tinker Toys-- but lots of kids don't like playing with construction toys. Dolls (which include G.I. Joe and little green army men) would be higher on my list as would be Game Boy and all its descendants.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:41 AM on August 24, 2010
Really? You're going to go with that? Because I'm going to fight you on the word "clearly." Lego may be the best construction toy ever invented-- as opposed to Lincoln Logs or Tinker Toys-- but lots of kids don't like playing with construction toys. Dolls (which include G.I. Joe and little green army men) would be higher on my list as would be Game Boy and all its descendants.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:41 AM on August 24, 2010
To become a Lego professional, do I have to kill one of the current 9?
posted by Theta States at 6:21 AM on August 24, 2010 [8 favorites]
posted by Theta States at 6:21 AM on August 24, 2010 [8 favorites]
but lots of kids don't like playing with construction toys.
I haven't seen every kid in the world, but I have yet to see one that flat out didn't like legos. I will admit that it's possible, but not probable.
The beauty of lego is that kids will use them to make whatever it is that interests them. It doesn't matter if there's a bucket full of them or 3 random bricks that in a kids head can be a gun, or a person, or a spaceship. Not to mention that if you have 2 or more kids and a pile of legos, you instantly have as clear a window into the fundamentals of human nature as you're going to find. Even if there's just one kid, there are very few things that will bring a kid's true nature to the surface like a pile of legos.
posted by billyfleetwood at 6:23 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
I haven't seen every kid in the world, but I have yet to see one that flat out didn't like legos. I will admit that it's possible, but not probable.
The beauty of lego is that kids will use them to make whatever it is that interests them. It doesn't matter if there's a bucket full of them or 3 random bricks that in a kids head can be a gun, or a person, or a spaceship. Not to mention that if you have 2 or more kids and a pile of legos, you instantly have as clear a window into the fundamentals of human nature as you're going to find. Even if there's just one kid, there are very few things that will bring a kid's true nature to the surface like a pile of legos.
posted by billyfleetwood at 6:23 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Nathan Sawaya is the one that gets the most attention. I saw an exhibition of his art this past weekend and was, well, sub-impressed.
As art goes, it's just not that good. And as Lego goes, it's mostly just large, not interesting. I see more things in the Flickr Lego pool every day that impress me than any of this "Here's a huge thing made out of Lego" stuff.
I don't mean to be a hater, and I recognize the dude's got skills. I'm just saying, I don't know the appeal.
posted by Legomancer at 8:48 AM on August 24, 2010
As art goes, it's just not that good. And as Lego goes, it's mostly just large, not interesting. I see more things in the Flickr Lego pool every day that impress me than any of this "Here's a huge thing made out of Lego" stuff.
I don't mean to be a hater, and I recognize the dude's got skills. I'm just saying, I don't know the appeal.
posted by Legomancer at 8:48 AM on August 24, 2010
Clearly the best toy ever invented.
Really? You're going to go with that? Because I'm going to fight you on the word "clearly."
OK but I am going to fight you on the word "toy."
Dolls (which include G.I. Joe and little green army men) would be higher on my list as would be Game Boy and all its descendants.
Dolls and army men count, but Game Boys are not toys, they're games. Games are products of somebody else's imagination, which is why they come with instructions on how to play. Toys require the player's own imagination in order to work. IMO Lego freestyle is the best toy ever invented.
posted by headnsouth at 11:32 AM on August 24, 2010
Really? You're going to go with that? Because I'm going to fight you on the word "clearly."
OK but I am going to fight you on the word "toy."
Dolls (which include G.I. Joe and little green army men) would be higher on my list as would be Game Boy and all its descendants.
Dolls and army men count, but Game Boys are not toys, they're games. Games are products of somebody else's imagination, which is why they come with instructions on how to play. Toys require the player's own imagination in order to work. IMO Lego freestyle is the best toy ever invented.
posted by headnsouth at 11:32 AM on August 24, 2010
Dolls (which include G.I. Joe and little green army men) would be higher on my list
Ah, but if you have minifigs, then you have the best of all worlds. Lego dolls FTW! (Several Christmases in a row, my sisters and I built sprawling Lego towns on the living room floor, then played out the lives of their inhabitants.)
posted by epersonae at 11:37 AM on August 24, 2010
Ah, but if you have minifigs, then you have the best of all worlds. Lego dolls FTW! (Several Christmases in a row, my sisters and I built sprawling Lego towns on the living room floor, then played out the lives of their inhabitants.)
posted by epersonae at 11:37 AM on August 24, 2010
Clearly the best toy ever invented.
After Erector, maybe. Because for a "construction" toy, Legos deconstruct way too easily.
posted by Camofrog at 12:08 PM on August 24, 2010
After Erector, maybe. Because for a "construction" toy, Legos deconstruct way too easily.
posted by Camofrog at 12:08 PM on August 24, 2010
I haven't seen every kid in the world, but I have yet to see one that flat out didn't like legos. I will admit that it's possible, but not probable.
Maybe I inhabit a strange corner of the world but I don't know any kids that like Legos aside from my Japanese nephew. Mostly going by what I saw on play dates and what was requested on birthdays but no one seemed interested. My daughter certainly never had any interest and neither does my American nephew-- he has always been crazy for miniature cars. Perhaps all these children have a secret passion that was never revealed to me but I think Legos may be a bit less popular than you think.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 12:15 PM on August 24, 2010
Maybe I inhabit a strange corner of the world but I don't know any kids that like Legos aside from my Japanese nephew. Mostly going by what I saw on play dates and what was requested on birthdays but no one seemed interested. My daughter certainly never had any interest and neither does my American nephew-- he has always been crazy for miniature cars. Perhaps all these children have a secret passion that was never revealed to me but I think Legos may be a bit less popular than you think.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 12:15 PM on August 24, 2010
After Erector, maybe. Because for a "construction" toy, Legos deconstruct way too easily.
Thats a feature, not a bug
posted by wildcrdj at 6:14 PM on August 24, 2010
Thats a feature, not a bug
posted by wildcrdj at 6:14 PM on August 24, 2010
My parents went for quantity over the brand-name so I got t Brix Blox from Sears instead of Legos.
Sure, I could only make things that were red, white, and blue, but I had cogs, baby! COGS!
posted by Dr. Zira at 7:47 PM on August 24, 2010
Sure, I could only make things that were red, white, and blue, but I had cogs, baby! COGS!
posted by Dr. Zira at 7:47 PM on August 24, 2010
The blocks were of a very similar grid pattern to the Lego system, but not quite. Rather than using a stud and tube system, Loc Blocs used a tall stud and short channels on the bottom of bricks. The tall studs were just tall enough to engage the channels. The knobs were too tall and spaced just a little bit off for fitting between Lego tubes, but could be integrated with Lego through the medium of Best Lock bricks, which used tall channels, and thus accepted both Loc Blocs and Lego. The result was that children who owned the much cheaper LOC BLOCs were often excluded from group play with other children who owned the more popular Lego bricks.
I just realized that this is also a succinct, yet dead-on accurate summary of my childhood. sigh.
posted by Dr. Zira at 7:53 PM on August 24, 2010
I just realized that this is also a succinct, yet dead-on accurate summary of my childhood. sigh.
posted by Dr. Zira at 7:53 PM on August 24, 2010
So what's the difference between a Lego Certified Professional, and a Lego Master Builder?
Nathan Sawaya used to call himself a Lego Master Builder.
Maybe the Certified Professional is the Yokozuna of Lego Master Builders. At least there's a more plentiful lower layer of paid Lego builders that mechanically minded children (and their parents) can aspire to.
posted by eye of newt at 10:00 PM on August 24, 2010
Nathan Sawaya used to call himself a Lego Master Builder.
Maybe the Certified Professional is the Yokozuna of Lego Master Builders. At least there's a more plentiful lower layer of paid Lego builders that mechanically minded children (and their parents) can aspire to.
posted by eye of newt at 10:00 PM on August 24, 2010
Thats a feature, not a bug
My brothers and I capitalized on this feature and made loosely assembled hand grenades that we would lob at each over the couch fortress. We all survived despite the horror of Lego shrapnel. Don't even get me started on the hot wheel track arrows we use with our bows after the 'real' toy arrows were confiscated. Micronaut cannons are a whole other story.
How the hell did I survive my childhood?
posted by srboisvert at 4:35 AM on August 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
My brothers and I capitalized on this feature and made loosely assembled hand grenades that we would lob at each over the couch fortress. We all survived despite the horror of Lego shrapnel. Don't even get me started on the hot wheel track arrows we use with our bows after the 'real' toy arrows were confiscated. Micronaut cannons are a whole other story.
How the hell did I survive my childhood?
posted by srboisvert at 4:35 AM on August 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
An argument over the best toys? Uh you guys did see this thread right?
posted by jcruelty at 10:44 AM on August 25, 2010
posted by jcruelty at 10:44 AM on August 25, 2010
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This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
Profile says: "In 2000, he formed The TBP Group, a company that produces custom LEGO displays, events, and education venues."
And The TBP Group is online here and here.
posted by pracowity at 1:37 AM on August 24, 2010