Unlike most Lego artists—the guys who built the 20,000-piece Batcave, the expert who produced the ultimate Ghostbusters HQ hack, the builder who crafted a 400,000-piece replica of the Hogwarts—Nathan Sawaya is content to let his creations step out of the limelight, even just a bit. For In Pieces—"series of tableau compositions based on ideas about nature, culture, society and more specifically, identity"—the New York-based "brick artist" collaborated with photographer Dean West on works that combine minimalist scenery and tiny jabs of architecture with actual Lego sculptures—a tiny little train depot sits behind Lego tracks (above), a Lego dog waits outside a stucco building (below). "The combination not only builds on and accentuates the images' aesthetic," writes the duo, "but also compels the viewer to deconstruct each tableau, thereby exposing elements of the construction of cultural identity itself." Ultimately one ends up doing a double take just trying to figure out what component of each digitally edited photo is actually constructed from a child's plaything. Have another look below, and find more optical illusions right this way.
· All Lego coverage [Curbed National]
· Can You Spot the LEGO Sculptures Hidden Within the Scenes? [My Modern Met]
· In Pieces [official site]
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