Nothing attests to humans’ instinctual love of making stuff and taking it apart more than the Lego brick. The plastic toy has been featured in films and music videos and is the basis of some serious modern art projects — including Jan Vormann‘s ongoing “Dispatchwork” pieces in Berlin and Bocchignano, Italy. Vormann identifies damaged buildings and plugs the gaps with brightly colored Lego bricks.
It’s not uncommon for passersby to feel the urge to play with Legos and join Vormann as he works, giving the project a communal aspect. But the work isn’t kids’ stuff: It takes structural know-how to “repair” organic shapes with Lego blocks.
The work also gestures to World War II, when air raids created many of the buildings’ nicks and craters. Curiously, Legos — which first became popular in the late 1940s — seem to lend themselves to art about WWII, including Polish artist Zbigniew Libera’s darkly ironic Lego construction kits of concentration camps.
Vormann’s work is more uplifting, wouldn’t you say?
+ Jan Vormann
Via dornob
Artist Jan Vormann did a great work. Tell all the architects in http://www.formicon.com about this.
This is such a great idea and terribly creative. However, I would like to know why Germany\’s buildings are still showing this kind of damage when they have had nearly 70 years, give or take a few, to repair the damage they themselves caused. My sister went to Germany a few years ago and it was pretty evident that the Germans *blame* America for the damage caused to their cities and monuments. Somehow this just doesn\’t add up. Yes, there were air raids, but there would not have been if Germany\’s leaders were not committing mass genocide and other war crimes. This would be like Atlanta telling the North that the burning of their city during the Civil War was, inherently, the North\’s fault.