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Brisbanetimes.com.au
Jan. 8, 2011
The older kids on the block
After more than 50 years, LEGO is still building interest, writes Tim Richards.
‘I STARTED with Lego when I was a small child. It lets you be as imaginative as
you want to be. You can change your mind if you’re not happy with it, then be
totally imaginative with it in a different way. For me, it’s the ultimate
creative outlet.”
IT manager Ryan McNaught has a novel way of filling his out-of-office hours: he
builds models out of LEGO, the popular interlocking building bricks patented by
Danish toy company owner Godtfred Christiansen in 1958. They’re not, however,
comparable to the simple misshapen houses you constructed as a kid with whatever
stray blocks were at hand.
McNaught’s creations are sizeable constructions, meticulously planned and
involving hundreds of bricks.
“My Airbus A380(1) model, which I made last year, was 2.2 metres long and 1.8
metres wide,” says McNaught. “The year before I made a three-metre-high Eiffel
Tower that had working lifts going up and down the sides, and up the middle.
Right next to it, for an Australian version of an international attraction, I
made the Big Pineapple.
“I once made a two-metre-long replica of Flinders Street Station, down to the
little hat store at the front, and everybody meeting on the steps. There were
even the coppers turning up to arrest someone who hadn’t bought a ticket.
Everything you expect to see, a busker for example.”
It’s long been known that creative expression is good for you. As VicHealth’s
Building Health Through Arts and New Media action plan for 2010-13 declares:
“Arts participation improves mental health by decreasing stress, anxiety and
depression … and also improves self-esteem.”
However, most people’s creative impulses are satisfied through everyday pastimes
such as painting or knitting rather than constructing huge plastic models. But
McNaught is not alone, being one of a band of aficionados known as AFoLs (Adult
Fans of LEGO).
Sue Ann Barber, a teacher librarian who coordinates Brickvention, the annual
LEGO convention, says LEGO fandom was created almost entirely through the agency
of the Internet - a potent instance of how the web can enable the formation of
creative communities around any interest.
“Before the Internet was really big, I think I met one or two other LEGO fans
just by chance,” she says.
“Sure, I might have met some others along the way, but we wouldn’t have had the
growth in the fandom that we’ve had.”
Though there’s a strong representation of collectors among LEGO fans, there’s
also a significant number of creators.
“It started when Generation X developed a disposable income,” explains Barber.
“They were the generation of kids for whom LEGO was a really big part of their
lives; it was in everyone’s homes. Nostalgia made them start to build again.
They picked up from whatever they were doing as kids, then went beyond that.”
Brickvention 2011 includes a number of competitions for adult attendees. There’s
a timed speed build; Brikwars, a LEGO-based war-game; a coloured tile sorting
test; and a competition in which participants build a LEGO set that’s contained
within a sealed plastic bag.
The My Own Creation series of competitions honours original LEGO structures. The
models can be presented in any size, but it’s the large ones that garner all the
attention.
True to form, McNaught’s project for this year’s Brickvention is a
three-metre-long model of the Love Boat from the 1970s TV series.
“I’ve cut the boat down the middle so you can see the entire insides: the
cabins, the engine room, the restaurants, the casino, the whole lot,” he says.
“And I’m putting elements of sea-based movies like Titanic and The Poseidon
Adventure in it.”
It’s impressive, but does this father of twin sons ever have to deal with
accusations of being childish himself?
“Yeah … People think it’s a toy, but when they see what it’s capable of they
have a different perspective,‘’ he says. ‘‘There is nothing better than when you
build something cool and see the reaction on a child’s face, whatever it is.‘’
Brickvention 2011 runs on January 15-16 at the Melbourne Town Hall. Full
weekend $50; public expo from 10am-5pm, Sunday, $6/$3 (tickets at door). Details
at Brickventures.com.
brisbanetimes.com.au
(1) A380 Airplane LEGO model. Photo taken last year by Ross Crawford at
Brickventures. http://www.flickr.com/photos/roscohead/4301846396/.
-end of report-
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