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Subject: 
Re: The Mantis - To take apart or not take apart?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.build
Date: 
Fri, 8 Mar 2002 17:17:22 GMT
Viewed: 
431 times
  
In lugnet.build, Eric Sophie writes:
I've been thinking about taking it apart. • *snip*
I would make something better from all the good stuff locked up inside and out. • *snip*
Thoughts?
This ones tough.

Hi,

How is this a tough decision?  You have clearly put a lot of thought into
taking it apart.  You have bleached it for parts, and it doesn't work
anymore.  You sound very unhappy with it as it is now.

Sounds like you already made up your mind, which begs the question of the
real reason behind your post.  I won't address that, but I will address the
question in a larger form because this was something I thought long and hard
about before choosing Lego Bricks to model the worlds in my mind.

Impermanence.  That is the whole reason for working in Lego bricks as a
medium, isn't it?  If you wanted to build truely permanent "works of art"
you would work in a more permanent form, say styrene or wood, or somesuch.
If it hasn't occured why you chose Lego, you should put some serious thought
into that right now.  Was it the novelty of being the 'Lego Master' to your
friends.  Was it desperation of not having the proper materials or knowledge
to model these forms in another material?  Was it a deeper connection to
Lego as a means to invoke feelings of childhood's awe and playfullness?

All art has hidden meanings within the form chosen, and the artist should be
well aware of that.  What you choose to create with is almost as important
as what you create.  As someone who is making yourself out to be an artist,
you need to explore these types of issues.  Art with a capital 'a' is about
making someone see the world in a new way through your perceptions.  Its is
about making statements; even if they are subtle, and some people don't
understand, if you say something... that is what matters.

I believe the medium of Lego Bricks should be thought of as almost a
performance art, rather than a sculptural one.  Yes, of course there is the
physical shape, but the fleeting grace of the whole concept is that they are
only temporary, like a life unto itself.  You pour yourself into the work,
you share the work briefly, then like everything of beauty in this world, it
gets destroyed.

But here's the 'artful' part... you take the remnants and rebuild.  Like the
anchient phoenix, those component bits become reborn as a (hopefully) newer,
better creation.

I personally feel that the fleeting existance of our creations is what gives
them an extra bit of fragility and 'special-ness' that makes modeling in
Lego different from modeling in something meant to be longer lasting.

and last but not least, it will always be a toy at heart, and if you aren't
having fun with something you built... its time to rebuild, isn't it?

sincerely,
Joel Kuester
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design
Lugnet #558, NILTC



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: The Mantis - To take apart or not take apart?
 
Joel thanks for your input, I appreciate it comming from a great builder like you, although your advice seems a little abrasive. You rasie good points, and I know what you mean, it's sort of like I'm asking if it's "okay" to take it apart, I know. (...) (22 years ago, 8-Mar-02, to lugnet.build)

Message is in Reply To:
  The Mantis - To take apart or not take apart?
 
Guys, It's been a whole year since I have had the Mantis Standing. It's really busted. It's dusty, broken, sun bleeched, and loaded, loaded, loaded with useful parts. I have already raided parts from it. Most of the legs have literaly broken, the (...) (22 years ago, 8-Mar-02, to lugnet.build) ! 

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