Artist Helps New York 'Lego' of its Crumbling Buildings
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(March 13) -- German artist Jan Vormann may have new Yorkers reconsidering the structural integrity of a Lego. Vormann, 26, spent two weeks in February repairing some of the city's dilapidated walls and buildings with the plastic building blocks as part of a project he calls "Dispatchwork."
Careful observers in the city might have seen Legos replacing a missing tile at a Roy Rogers across from Madison Square Garden, Lego repair work done on a wall at a post office and Legos filling out a mosaic in Times Square. at one spot in Manhattan, a miniature Lego house was built into the space where a brick was missing from a wall.
Vormann writes on his Web site that he came to new York "to support Mayor Bloomberg in his everyday struggle to make this city even more amazing!"
New York is the 10th city the artist has worked in for his project, which began in 2007 in the small town of Bocchignano, Italy, when he and some other art students were working in the region. The ancient walls of Bocchignano had been repaired with a variety of stones over the years, reminding Vormann of the methods kids use to build structures with toy bricks. If they are missing a certain color or type of brick, they just grab whatever else is around, ignoring aesthetic "to complete your 'vision,' " Vormann wrote in an e-mail to AOL News.
From Italy, Vormann has taken Dispatchwork global, from Tel Aviv to St. Petersburg to Quito, Ecuador.
"The idea behind Dispatchwork has been consistent since shiny and colorful plastic toy bricks are used to repair damages in dusty and mostly [gray] walls," Vormann wrote. The work is about contrasts, between muted colors and bright ones, between old, dirty materials and shiny new ones.
But it's not all heavy art world ideas. The artist calls it "playing" instead of "working" and says the idea of using toy blocks to restructure real buildings is "absurd." Lego says it has not supported Vormann's work so far, though the artist says he got some blocks from the company for the Berlin and new York projects. a spokeswoman for Lego told Aol News that "what he's doing is terrific."
In new York, Vormann walked and biked the streets in search of the perfect gaps to turn into toy-infused canvases. he and several "assistants," who ranged in age from 3 to 40, spent two weeks working on the locations throughout the city.
"I want to encourage especially young people to see the possibilities in creating their environment as they want it to be, and to be aware of the creative power of playing. same, of course, for adults," Vormann wrote.
Unfortunately for architects and developers in need of light, cheap building materials, the Legos have not stood the test of time. Most of the repairs have already deteriorated. on Tuesday, half the Legos in the missing tile across from Madison Square Garden had fallen off.
Leah Wechsler, 28, works nearby and has been photographing the progressive decay with her iPhone. She said the Lego tile fell apart quickly, but she still appreciates the gesture.
"I like the guerrilla art style myself," she said. "It's art for art's sake."
Most of the people who walked by Tuesday didn't notice the oddity at their feet. one young girl led by her hand smiled when she saw the tile and asked, "Who did that?" before being dragged off by the unsuspecting adult at the other end of her arm. a group of Texans trying to find their way to Macy's didn't notice the Legos at first, but laughed when they did.
"He's trying to clean up new York," said Nika Carter, 48, one of the Texans. "Instead of 'Don't mess with Texas' it's 'Don't mess with new York.' "
If you are a resident of Barcelona, Toulouse or Lausanne, keep an eye on your crumbling walls for Legos. Vormann plans on repairing those cities next.
Artist Helps New York 'Lego' of its Crumbling Buildings
Tags: Manhattan, plastic building blocks, careful observers