As Josh pointed out, nnenn’s influence on the LEGO community extended past his favorite theme. Hermitage is an excellent example of his more Earth-based creations.
Be sure to join us in sharing your own thoughts on Nate’s online eulogy.
Category Archives: People
A message from Nate Nielson’s family to the LEGO community
Though nearly all of us knew him only as nnenn, Nate Nielson was so much more to those with whom he lived his life.
We received the following message from Nate’s family today and — with their kind permission — we’re privileged to share it with our fellow LEGO fans.
My sister Elizabeth and I want to express our appreciation and thankfulness to you and your site for the amazing tribute to our brother. All of the comments have been a comfort to us. They are difficult to read at times, because we miss him so much, but to know how loved he was, well, there are no words. What a neat community you have. I hope his legacy will live on here for as long as legos are around. Thank you for this. His personality was the same as his persona on here. He was a true artist.
Our mom and dad would also like to express their appreciation to you. All the kind words have been a help in such a difficult time. What a wonderful father, husband, brother, son and man. Your site has brought as many tears as smiles to us. This has been the most difficult time in our lives, but you have given us a little peace in the outpouring of love.
Liz and I would like to come to the Lego convention you have in Seattle this year if you think there will be a tribute to him. You were a huge part of his life and he loved all of it. Nate made lego spaceships and castles for us since we were very young. He even would, very reluctantly, build us a house once in a while. He was just a grown up kid.
We miss and love him so much. Thank you.
Emily and Elizabeth
Though the sadness is not diminished, it is perhaps some consolation to know that our voices have been heard by those to whom Nate mattered most.
If you haven’t already, please join us in adding your own thoughts and feelings to the growing tribute to Nate “nnenn” Nielson.
The best of nnenn: Nglotki
In so many ways nnenn‘s love of the Vic Viper epitomized what building with LEGO is: finding and creating ways to make a vast array of beautiful and varied things, limited only by imagination, skill, and budget. He was a craftsman and an artist pushing the boundaries of a seemingly limited form. There’s a certain beauty in that. His ability to combine sharp and organic forms was phenomenal.
Be sure to join us in sharing your own thoughts on Nate’s online eulogy.
The Best of nnenn: MRMP
As we’ve said, nnenn‘s building was as much about making fun toys for his sons to play with as it was about style.
This creation is a great example of where he really brought playability to his work. The roving city/base has a great style, and the aircraft with it aren’t shabby either. The great thing is, you don’t just get one of those things, you get them all. It looks like more fun than Autobot City, and I’m sure most kids could spend countless hours playing with this thing. I love it.
Be sure to join us in sharing your own thoughts on Nate’s online eulogy.
Farewell to a Legend: Mourning the passing of Nate “nnenn” Nielson
Over the last couple of months, Keith has brought us joy every Sunday with his interviews. Today, the burden of responsibility falls on Keith’s shoulders to bring us tragic news…
It is my unpleasant duty to report the passing of our friend and fellow builder Nate “nnenn” Nielson. Nate’s death was the result of an automobile accident earlier this month. A resident of Tekoa, Washington, Nate was a father, an artist, and a professor specializing in graphic design. Nate is survived by his beloved wife and two sons ages 3 and 8.
It is important to Nate’s family that he is remembered by our community, one that he took great joy in participating in. Above all they want Nate to be remembered as a devoted husband and father, and for us to know that his interest in the brick was inseparable from his love for his boys. Nate was notorious for his brevity, and when I was searching through his models, interviews, and comments for inspiration, this quote jumped off the screen:
“Ha! Spring break a week ago. Rainy day today. No friends. Two boys.”
Nate’s other great passion was teaching the principles of design and graphic art, something that should seem obvious to our community. It was Nate’s goal to encourage others and to push people to their creative potential. In our small corner of the universe, I think it is safe to say: mission accomplished, Nate.
I didn’t know Nate very well, certainly not as well as I would have liked. We did however share a love of the brick, 70’s sci-fi and being a father. I always imagined I’d run into nnenn at a convention…that he’d slip out of the crowd on public-day looking like a dead ringer for Christopher Walken. In this fantasy he would walk up to my model on display and say something like:
“Guess what Goldman?! I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription… is more cowbell”.
I’ve always been a fan of Nate’s models, even when I initially disliked him in a superficial way for his heretical tendencies with my sacred bricks. In time I grew to respect him for his uncompromising stance and commitment to form over purist devotion. It was my distinct pleasure to interview nnenn last month, and in the process we exchanged some fun emails; I only wish I’d asked better questions.
You know a builder is big-time when he not only gets an entire scale named after him, but an element as well. Nnenn’s consistent level of quality and production since his debut in late 2006 is nothing short of extraordinary. I can say without exaggeration that Nate influenced a generation of builders, and even an old man or two like me. Nate had 1347 contacts on Flickr, 1347 students for a guy who loved to teach. I think time will prove that he taught us well.
For those of you missed it, James Wadsworth of LAML Radio conducted an audio interview with Nate last summer. Tom over at Masoko Tanga also has a wonderful interview with Nate on his site.
Missing Man Vic Viper Formation – BrickWorld & BrickCon
I’m organizing a fly-in style community build for the Brickworld 2010 fan convention in Chicago, and potentially at BrickCon 2010 in Seattle. Anyone who is interested in celebrating the life and models of nnenn is invited to bring or mail a small space-fighter in his iconic Vic Viper style to the convention. The vipers will be arranged in the traditional “missing man formation” common to air forces around the world.
Nate drew inspiration from his father who served the US as an F-16 fighter pilot, making the fly-in seem even more appropriate. So if you’d like to participate in the formation, contact me at Legomankeith AT aol DOT com for further details.
Guestbook
It only seems fitting to close this tribute to a legend with a word or two from some familiar voices in the community. The Brothers Brick and I invite all of you to add your thoughts to this memorial guestbook. There is no rhyme or reason to these first 20 fans; they are simply friends that I reached out to, to help make sense of Nate’s untimely passing. The one exception is Peter L. Morris, who contacted me after speaking directly with Nate’s widow and graciously invited me to participate in this tribute. Pete was closer to Nate than most of us, and his insights into Nate as a friend have been invaluable as we prepared this tribute.
Rest in peace nnenn, you’ll be missed.
Read the guestbook and leave your own comments after the jump: Continue reading
Cole Blaq: If destiny’s on a break, we control the action – Boilerplate & Beyond Vol. 7 [Interview]
For our seventh installment of weekly interviews, Keith Goldman goes urban. Take it away, Keith!
If you have a Flickr account, and a decent list of contacts then your photo stream has probably been tagged by this week’s builder, Cole Blaq. Legally known as Aran Jitsukawa-Hudson (which is an awesome name and far more interesting than yours or mine), Cole has done what is so difficult to do in our flabby sea of Mannkinder; achieve a truly unique style.
I sat down with Aran on a cold November night, thirty feet over the Autobahn on the backside of a billboard for BMW. We drank whiskey from the bottle and talked about Fritz Lange, the evils of Teflon and the enduring comedic value of the Maginot Line. We also talked about LEGO.
The Build
Keith Goldman: Talk to me about bombing, burning and “getting up” with bricks. How did you develop your signature graffiti style, and what techniques serve as its core?
Cole Blaq: The ride’s quite a while ago, it dropped hard and after that all was left to burn. Getting up, spreading your name and development still continues. The material has changed but the style is still the integral element of self-expression. The context of public space is amiss, but yet it refers and in the proper spotlight this discussion definitely will be continued.
Since I restarted building with bricks in early 2008 I’ve had a vision of creating graffiti styles – it came naturally according to my previous years of expression. My signature was developed long before my brickish time. Now it just reappears into the bricks. Often the style has a certain character next to my signature that originates from the brick matrix and the character of the parts used.
The development with the bricks started with simple drafts to see with what techniques one can approach style-lettering. It started as a simple challenge over at the Urban Culture and Bricks group last May and within a month fully articulated and developed styles were achieved, wherein many of those previous draft builds melted together.
I have developed two basic techniques, one is based on straight slopes and the other one is based on wedge plates. The second technique includes hinges and hinges and hinges in order to break and angle the letters at the right places. With those parts I can shape the letters two dimensionally and in the next step I extend the letters into third space — considering different possibilities. That’s where it becomes really tricky and interesting. I am actually working on another founding structure based upon Technic parts. All these techniques can be modified and intermixed and limitless ways of creating styles are possible – it’s all about experimenting and trial and error.
KG: You are an art history student; does that influence your building? I once used this diorama for an Egyptian history course. Have you ever used the brick for an assignment?
CB: Art history is all about theory, not practice, which is my grande critique of the art historian education: Most students miss empathy for the work, its material and inner pictorial issues. As I have a continuous creative output I see myself in the same line, except I am not offishal, Mr. Offisha. An artistic approach is quite different than model building. Models are nice to build and the experience from that flows into my free works.
It is another issue to create something new, something not based upon a real life or a concept draft. Spaceship designs for example reach within these realms, but are too bound to our standardized perception of what a spaceship must contain.
Bricks have their value; they lay out a foundation and a certain pattern which enables certain things, predominated directions and characteristics.
At the same time the pattern and the material itself limits a free artistic expression. These days I often come to the limits of the bricks being true to my expression. Another problem is the core of a build. After creating a ground structure and building upon it, it is very often impossible to reach back to the core and tweak the structure, if one wants to change things later…
But that’s a topic I continue to ponder: how to approach that part practically and theoretically (due to my art historian studies).
No assignments up to now, but I am working on it and will share my success or cover my face in shame if I fail.
KG: Another fan of LEGO, Jon Palmer turned me on to Banksy. We have debated if it would be possible to do something “Banksy”-like with the medium of LEGO, what do you say?
CB: Yay, the Banksy question!
OK, what is Banksy-like? Banksy set a certain latter in subversive political humor without taking a direct position. Also most people are familiar with the stencil style he applies. If you are talking about his humor, it is possible to depict that kind in any medium. If you’re talking about stencils, its techniques are similar to those used for a silhouette / cut-out principle. Doing brick mosaics with bricksaic and some pre-editing in Photoshop will produce a similar effect. The theme / images with which Banksy plays, the interlocking stencil technique, are somehow copy-able. The biggest issue you’ll encounter is that of public space as the integral canvas / background which will be impossible to surrogate. Even his public space works being exhibited inside the white cube (classical museums and art galleries) raise the same problems. His work relating to the art business is different as it is an examination and debate within that context and also only works inside the gallery.
There are a few people who have managed to bring the brick message to the streets in their very own way. Two of them are Jan Vormann from St. Petersburg and ame72 from the UK.
Seeing Banksy’s kind of black and subversive humor in bricks would be great, but you’ll have to be prepared to question all existing rules and cut your precious little bricks until they bleed.
More of Keith’s interview with Cole after the jump: Continue reading
Philadelphia Zoo display features sculptures by Sean Kenney
Sean Kenney has been busy building sculptures for the Creatures of Habitat display at the Philadelphia Zoo. The display aims to inspire awareness of endangered species and protection of our planet, and it will run from April 10 to October 31, 2010.
This huge life-sized polar bear is made up of over 95,000 LEGO pieces and took over 1100 hours to construct together with a team of 5 assistants. Sean deliberately and carefully captured the realism of a bear that seemed to be a little frustrated, a little sad and confused at the same time about the predicament of being an endangered species.
Maciej Koszyka: In the case of Poland, of course! – Boilerplate & Beyond Vol. 6 [Interview]
We’re now in our second month of interviews by Keith Goldman. For our fifth installment, we delve into the cabal of mysterious builders known only as LUGPOL. Take it away, Keith!
LUGPOL… You’ve heard the name whispered in every corner of the internet, sometimes in fear, sometimes in awe, always with respect. Until now, this group of expert builders has been content to remain quietly in the shadows, hatching byzantine schemes to control your LEGO. This week’s builder is willing to break the iron-clad code of silence and give us a rare glimpse into Poland’s LEGO scene.
In the real world he goes by the name of Maciej Koszyka, but Flickr-users may know him better as “PigletCiamek”. I sat down with Maciej in the Wieliczka Salt Mine amidst various religious icons sculpted from salt. We drank Okocim beer and talked about Disco polo, Stanislaw Lem vs. George Orwell and why Polish people marry the youngest within the European Union.
The Build
Keith Goldman: You build in many genres, do you have a favorite, and do you find any particular genre more difficult than the others? Also, you have built several models inspired by Polish history, is there a particular period that you find interesting?
Maciej Koszyka: The three themes that I most often exploit are Castle, Pirates and Military (If I can call the last one a theme, as there were never official sets). The Castle and Pirate sets from the 80’s and early 90’s were the most beautiful designs in my childhood. I loved to look at them in my LEGO catalogs and I was a happy owner of the 6276 Eldorado Fortress. It must have had an impact on my AFOL interests. I make military MOCs because I was always interested in modern military aircraft. Later I got into WW2 era planes and armor.
I definitely find it more difficult to build a model of an existing vehicle or aircraft. I try to be as accurate as possible, while simultaneously being happy with the functionality of the model. It sometimes takes over a dozen tries to build a particular section of a model and often requires Briclink / PaB ordering. Generally it takes anywhere from one (PZL P.11c) to six (Sherman) months to finish a model.
For Castle or Pirates models I’m not so precise. Although I sometimes use reference material or a general knowledge of how something should look like, it’s mainly a work of my imagination. It takes me far less time to complete such a model. A good example is the Neptunine which took me about two weeks to finish.
I rarely buy bricks specifically for a Castle or Pirates MOC and I always disassemble them, which is very uncommon for the military models. Well, I still keep some of my helicopters in a cartoon box, even though by today’s standard they are not great models (you know – the bunches of studs sticking out everywhere).
I’m not a historian, but I’m interested in World War Two.
The Polish historical dioramas you mentioned were made for a local (LUGPOL) contest about the September Campaign. It was great motivation for me, as I always wanted to build something from the Polish 1939 arsenal, but was always afraid to start.
The Invasion of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union is a very important and tragic event in our history that took away our independence for 50 years.
I was worried about the result, building a model of a Polish plane should be thorough and with great attention to detail. It is very important that the final product doesn’t make us (Poles) feel embarrassed, even if it is only in front of the small world of AFOLs. I may sound a little pathetic but I feel an inner duty to depict my country’s history and military equipment as “professionally” as possible. It might serve as a kind of tribute. PZL P.11c is a symbol of Polish defense in IX 1939 and I think my model fulfilled my requirements for a proud commemoration.
More of Keith’s interview with Maciej after the jump: Continue reading
The Man, in Living Color. [April Fool’s!]
The Living Brick, that sage site of salacious scuttlebutt, has landed the most important interview in the history of the blogosphere. He actually nailed down the Man behind the Curtain. Heck, I’m friends with the guy and I can hardly ever find him. So check it out, while you still can.
Photo by repoort
The newest member of TBB: Ace Kim [April Fool’s!]
From time to time, we have the opportunity to add new faces to our stable of contributors. We try to bring on people who have a unique perspective and a good eye for a well-turned LEGO creation.
The latest member of our staff fits that description to a tee.
Please welcome Ace Kim!
Ace is best known for his former position at the helm of From Bricks to Bothans, the premier site for fans of all things LEGO, Star Wars, or both. In an unprecedented move, the Brothers Brick has purchased all rights to FBTB and will be running it as a sister site, under the TBB banner. A variety of personal issues had led Ace to rethink his desire to continue running a fansite. He was looking for a place to air his considerable opinions and, fortunately for us, we were able to work out a deal with him.
We look forward to a long and prosperous relationship between Ace and The Brothers Brick. For those people who are worried about the changes that will take place on FBTB, fear not. It will be a wild ride!
Pete Reid: Pop his eye like a grape – Boilerplate & Beyond Vol. 5 [Interview]
In our fifth installment of interviews with LEGO luminaries, Keith Goldman crosses the Atlantic. Take it away, Keith!
This week’s builder is one turtle-neck away from being the Carl Sagan of the Classic Space Crowd, Peter “Legoloverman” Reid.
Pete is known for his fine detail work, impeccable presentation and disarming smile. When I was recruiting heavy-hitters for my Zero Hour on Highway 44 project, Pete Reid was at the top of the list.
I sat down with Pete in his favourite booth at Old Pink Dog Bar on the lower south side of Han Dold City. We drank Nutrimatic beer and talked about Supermarine Spitfires, Benny Hill and the war of 1812. We also talked about LEGO.
The Build
Keith Goldman: What percentage of your builds never makes it to Flickr? Give us an example of a time you’ve failed with an idea or model.
Pete Reid: I’d guess around half the things I start don’t make it online. I feel duty bound to maintain a certain level of quality. A poorly-finished, half-assed model would reflect badly on my existing stuff. I can’t produce magic every time – sometimes it’s safer to destroy things than risk my reputation. I can’t build in that quick, instant gratification way anymore. These days, every move needs to be carefully considered (and preferably agonised over) before I’ll let it be part of the finished product. I fail all the time – there are just as many misses as hits.
I’d love to be able to build a big, beautiful Neo-Classic Space SHIP, with an insane level of interior detail and an exterior form to make a man weep. But I’ve had bad experiences building large models, and I’m daunted by the amount of time, money and effort I’d have to invest. I just don’t know if I could see it through.
KG: Sometimes I end up building things top-down, which isn’t terribly practical when building a structure. Do you have an order you build in, or a direction? Does it vary according to the type of model you are attempting?
PR: Totally. When I’m building ships I generally start with the cockpit, and let the model evolve and flow out naturally from there. With robots I usually start in the middle of the chest and work outwards (just like real robot builders do). Can I just ask – why would you start building a model from the top down, Keith?
KG: I’ve frequently read criticism of other old-school builders that goes something like: “Yeah, he’s ok, but he basically builds the same thing over and over.” I don’t read that or hear that about you. What do you think of that critique in general, and why have you beaten the rap over the years.
PR: I can’t believe I’m not accused of repeating myself more often. I remember when I first read the word ‘boilerplate’ on a LEGO forum (I think it was you who wrote it, actually). I felt a terrible guilt – you were talking about me, clearly. At every phase during my life as a builder I’ve developed things in tiny, mind-numbingly dull increments.
Could it be that nobody’s noticed I’m only capable of building four things, slightly differently, over and over? There’s infinite diversity to play with, of course, but I still feel like a charlatan sometimes.
More of Keith’s interview with Pete after the jump: Continue reading
Brendan Powell Smith: Boilerplate & Beyond Vol. 4 [Interview]
Our fourth installment of interviews by Keith Goldman feels a bit like Stephen Hawking interviewing Albert Einstein, with the added danger that a pair of dice somewhere may come up snake eyes and the universe will implode. Take it away, Keith!
This week I bring you perhaps the quintessential LEGO-nerd who is famous around the world and has been interviewed more often than any other AFOL.
I’m talking about the hobby’s one true rock star, who is all at once: builder, author, musician, actor, artist, raconteur, scoundrel, low-guy, philistine and the unofficial spiritual leader of our mannkinder flock: The Reverend Brendan Powell Smith.
I hung out with the critically acclaimed author of The Brick Testament series on Mount Golgotha, a rock cliff west of Herod’s Gate and just beyond the Old City of Jerusalem’s northern wall, overlooking the Garden Tomb. We drank Al-Sharq beer and talked about the Papal bull of 1493 (and the Treaty of Torsedillas), transubstantiation vs. consubstantiation, and the revelation that there were two “Roys” in “Seigfried and Roy.”
We also talked about LEGO.
The Bible
KG: You have mentioned in other articles that you have been flooded with requests to use your images by religious groups around the world. Give me three groups or places that you found the most interesting.
BPS: Over the past three years now, I’ve been getting requests at the rate of one or two per day from churches and other religious organizations around the world to use material from The Brick Testament in sermons, Sunday Schools, church retreats, etc. The requests are so frequent nowadays that I don’t have time to read and reply to them all in person, and have set up an automated system to handle these sorts of permissions.
I find it interesting, but not all that surprising to receive such interest from religious groups. I am well aware that it’s possible for people to read the Bible and not end up an atheist, so it makes sense that religious folks would enjoy a creative and humorous but also faithful-to-the-text retelling of the Bible’s stories in LEGO.
I’m not sure I can pick out three particular groups that I found most interesting since I know very little about the religious groups that write to me. But I can share a three anecdotes.
There was one teacher from a religious education class who found The Brick Testament very useful in class and found that the students really responded to it. But when some of the other faculty discovered that some of the Bible’s sexual content was illustrated in LEGO, the teacher got fired from his job! He wrote not to express any bitterness, but rather to express his admiration for the website, and hoped the higher-ups at his next job would see things differently.
A handful of times I’ve had secular college professors let me know they’ve used The Brick Testament in their religious studies classes, and that’s been pretty gratifying.
And about a year ago I unexpectedly got a $16,000 check from an agency that collects usage fees for copyrighted materials in Australia. I am not even particularly clear on the details of who was paying these fees. There was a note about Educational Institutions and photocopying or something like that, but um… thanks, Australia!
The Community
KG: I met you at Bricks West 2 (2003). It was my first convention and you were the person on the roster I was most fired up to meet. I was disappointed because I was hoping for a Garey Busey looking character with salt-and-pepper hair, a white suit, black cowboy boots and a Texas string tie. Can you fathom my disappointment when I finally laid eyes on you, and have you had a similar experience meeting LEGO fans?
BPS: I could fathom anybody’s disappointment upon meeting me in person. It’s been the low point of many people’s lives.
The closest experience I can think of to yours is this: After seeing the name “Leonard Hoffman” for years on LUGNET and, based on nothing more than the sound of his name, I had this image in my mind of Leonard Hoffman as an uppercrusty, high society, monocle-wearing, prudish British minor royalty. I’m not sure I can say I was disappointed upon meeting the actually Leonard Hoffman, but there was a real sense of cognitive dissonance when I had to now associate that name instead with the image of an easy-going stoner-college-roommate type who friends called “Lenny”.
KG: Do you pay attention to what’s going on with the great unwashed masses of builders, through flickr or any of the older means? If you do, is there a type of MOC that catches your eye?
BPS: I usually check in here at The Brothers Brick once or twice a day, and that’s become my main way of keeping up with the best of what’s being built these days. I find it a little sad that there’s no longer one single place where AFOLs can both see and have substantial discussions about what’s being built. Flickr and blog sites are great for seeing great MOCs, but simple comment boards just don’t allow for in-depth discussion. Message board sites like Eurobricks allow for better discussion, but have never mastered a way for the best MOCs to be spotlighted. And The Brick Testament never really fit in at the niche sites like Classic-Castle or Classic-Space.
Anyhow, the MOCs that catch my eye are the ones that are innovative, clever, and/or humorous.
My favorite stuff is probably going to be close to the same sorts of things I build, so I look for a new way to pose minifigs, an unorthodox combination of parts, or just something deeply and darkly funny. I’m too focussed a builder to deviate into participation in fads, but that’s not to say I don’t appreciate them or try to give them a shout-out in my own work.
For other well-established building genres, I tire of the same old same old, so they tend to only catch my eye when they really stand out from the crowd, put a new spin on things, subvert the genre, or take it to new levels.
But with so many great builders out there now and so many ways to share photos, I’m pretty much guaranteed to see something I like or am impressed by everyday.
KG: Has anyone inside or outside the community ever tried to glom-on to the success of your publishing career? Also, do you get groupies like other famous authors?
BPS: Every so often I get e-mails from other builders looking for advice on getting published and/or how not to get sued by LEGO. I’m afraid I don’t have much helpful advice to pass on. When I actively tried to find a publisher, I failed, so I just went back to creating, and eventually the offers came to me.
I haven’t really had any troubles with people glomming on to me personally. I get a lot of nice comments via e-mail, but The Brick Testament has no comment section or message board, and maybe this has prevented potentially rabid fans from combining forces or whipping themselves into a frenzy, constructing effigies of me and burning them or having sex with them or both.
The Future
KG: Say you burn through the bible and you look for the next great project involving LEGO, would it feature some other sacred text, or would you leave the literary genre completely?
BPS: I have some interest in illustrating other holy books, but I’m not sure that would be at the top of my list. And considering the Bible has kept me occupied for over eight years now, I’m not sure I could work up the same devotion for the Qu’ran, Book of Mormon, or Rig Vedas. Maybe if I had more lifetimes.
I won’t know for sure what project I’ll feel like doing until I actually finish the Bible, which could conceivably happen two or three years from now. But already I am embarrassed by the poor quality of my construction and photography from eight years ago, so maybe I’ll be caught in a vicious cycle where I’m always re-illustrating the crappy work I did eight years before and I’ll be stuck illustrating the Bible for life. That wouldn’t be so bad.
But as of right now, the non-Biblical material that interests me the most for a future illustration project would be the various Christian gospels, acts, and apocalypses that didn’t make it into the New Testaent, or the works of the historian Josephus who recounts in great detail the events during and leading up to the First Jewish-Roman War of 66-70 CE. Fascinating, humorous, and tragic stuff, much in the vein of the Bible itself.
KG: Will we ever see a sequel to your groundbreaking independent debut in Vendetta: A Christmas Story? Has Hollywood come slouching to your door? What about Bollywood? Have you considered directing a brick-flim?
BPS: Vendetta was a blast to make, and I’m quite proud of it, but like any video project it was very labor intensive. I’m not particularly drawn to doing a brick film since I feel like still photography storytelling is a genre I’ve become quite good at and appeals to me much more. From adolescent experimentation I know a little about what goes into making a stop-motion film, and unless I had a paid and motivated crew assisting me, I think I’d always rather spend my time adding more still-image illustration stories to The Brick Testament.
I get requests from Bollywood at the rate of one or two per day. But they are all for me to stop singing, stop dancing, and stay out of India.
KG: Since the hobby keeps growing I’m sure you’ll agree that it is only a matter of time before some C or D list celebrity will become an AFOL. Give me three celebrities from any field that would make great AFOLs. I know you’re a Patrick Swayze apologist, but I’d appreciate if you’d limit your answer to the living.
BPS: Sam Elliott, Peter Scolari, and George Peppard.
5 Boilerplate Questions
KG: If you had to pick only one of your MOCs to go in the great FOL time-capsule, which would it be?
BPS: For The Brick Testament I really consider the photos to be the finished artwork rather than the MOCs themselves, so if it’s a valid answer, I’ll say a printout of the Book of Revelation. If that’s invalid, just take The Last Supper which I still actually have around as a MOC.
KG: If you had to pick only one of my MOCs to go into the great FOL time-capsule, which would it be?
BPS: Now THAT is Black Fantasy, no doubt.
KG: If time, money and proximity were not an issue, give me 2 builders besides me that you’d like to collaborate with on a project?
BPS: I’d love to have Michael Jasper work on character and prop design for The Brick Testament, and Sir_Nadroj for vehicles, architecture, and scenery.
KG: What’ is your favorite comment or review you’ve ever received on a model?
BPS: I really enjoyed watching random residents of Bratislava, Slovakia come across my “Accept Communism or Die” story that the SPACE gallery had displayed across the length of their building. Their stony silence spoke volumes.
KG: And finally, good sir, who controls the action?
BPS: Yahweh controls the action.