This week has been so great! Andrew forgot to yell at me, and even asked me to grab him coffee. And you know what’s amazing? I didn’t mess it up! Josh was so proud. He decided I’d be allowed to “help” with the “Battle of Bricksburg” display for BrickCon! He says I’m not allowed to chew on any bricks though. I’m not sure how much I’m going to like that.
My minion training seems to be going well. Caylin just hits her face with her palm and sighs really loud, and tells me to do it again. She says if I don’t get it soon, then I’ll have to help Ralph clean up his lab. I’d rather not, cause the last time I did that I ended up with an extra tail. It was red! Simon joked about shipping me to BrickNerd.
Okay, time for this week’s questions!
Do you think LEGO is an art medium?
Yes.
I use it all the time! To paint with, as a nice garnish for dinner…but I think you mean ART art. Well, yes. Yes I do. Here’s the thing with artists: they’ll use whatever medium is available or preferred. For some people, its traditional media, like paint, clay, stone, etc. Other artists use non-traditional media, like found-objects. Others create things like music and theater. Why can’t LEGO be an artistic medium, too?
What are the Dark Ages?
The Dark Ages is a historical period typically used to describe the time between the fall of Rome and the European Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment. I don’t often get history questions on here!
Oh. Wait. Not those Dark Ages.
In the LEGO hobby, AFOLs refer to the Dark Ages as that time between when you play with LEGO as a kid and when you pick it up again as an adult. These are usually brought on by things like puberty, girls or boys (depending on which you prefer), peer pressure, school, and foraging for food the first time. Sometimes, after re-entering the hobby as an adult, you sometimes find yourself entering a “Gray Age” when you’re still very much into LEGO, but you don’t have the time for it you need. Gray Ages come from major life events like moving, work responsibilities, grooming, marriage, divorce, children, and grad school. Sometimes all of it at once!
I often see non-AFOLs lamenting that current Lego sets “have too many specialized pieces” etc. Can you point me to a resource that debunks this?
I personally blame Jack Stone for this. Actually, everyone at The Brothers Brick blame a lot of things on Jack Stone. And Galidor. I tried chewing on some Galidor pieces once, but I got sick. But going back further, of COURSE there have always been specialized pieces. How else did kids make cars without wheels? There were those awesome old gears, too. Oooh! Fabuland! There are the windows and doors, not to mention those really nifty old plastic trees, cars, and people that were all part of the LEGO system of play.
There have always been specialized pieces. Our friend over at New Elementary wrote a really good piece on this last year, and like all of his stuff, it’s well written and researched, so I’d say it makes an excellent resource.