Artist Jan Vormann Uses Legos to ‘Repair’ War-Damaged Buildings
Posted By Cameron Scott On June 7, 2010 @ 1:00 am In Architecture,Art,Urban design | 2 Comments
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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 [5] and is the basis of some serious modern art [6] projects — including Jan Vormann [7]‘s ongoing “Dispatchwork” pieces in Berlin and Bocchignano, Italy. Vormann identifies damaged buildings and plugs the gaps with brightly colored Lego bricks [8].
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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 [10]” 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 [11] of concentration camps.
Vormann’s work is more uplifting, wouldn’t you say?
+ Jan Vormann [7]
Via dornob
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URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/artist-jan-vormann-uses-legos-to-repair-war-damaged-buildings/
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[3] Email: mailto:?subject=http://inhabitat.com/artist-jan-vormann-uses-legos-to-repair-war-damaged-buildings/
[4] Image: http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/06/Jan-Vormann-Lego-Brick.jpg
[5] music videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRDi67G0Siw
[6] art: http://inhabitat.com/art/
[7] Jan Vormann: http://www.janvormann.com/
[8] Lego bricks: http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/03/31/amazing-lego-table-would-make-even-the-most-boring-meeting-fun/
[9] Image: http://inhabitat.com/2010/06/07/artist-jan-vormann-uses-legos-to-repair-war-damaged-buildings/damage-with-legos/
[10] repair: http://inhabitat.com/renovation/
[11] construction kits: http://users.erols.com/kennrice/lego-kz3.jpg
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