Bringing LEGO to life: Interview with the man behind “The Art of the Brick” immersive experience

The Exhibition Hub Arts Center is debuting its newest art exhibit this week, “The Art of the Brick,” an immersive art experience featuring brand new LEGO sculptures from builder and artist Nathan Sawaya. The Connector was lucky enough to be invited to a special private tour with Sawaya and he was kind enough to answer some of our questions about the exhibit and it’s creation.

What was the thought process and goal behind this exhibit?

The idea behind this whole show is to take LEGO kind of into a new place and a new arena.

So, making LEGO art?

Yeah, but more than just making it art because you can put an art sculpture on a pedestal, right? And that’s what I’ve done for years but I wanted to do even more than that. Not just put the art on the pedestal, but give it some life. Give it some motion, some sound and some music so that it really envelops the senses. That’s the thinking at least. So I’ve worked with these guys who did the Van Gogh (immersive experience) and they’ve taken my art and given it a new spin.

What made you want to take your LEGO sculptures in this new and immersive direction?

I’ve been doing more traditional art shows for so long and I really wanted to just take it in a new direction and experiment and play. I mean LEGO is about play, and I wanted to play myself and this is taking play on a different level. I wanted to really make people think about the art medium in a different way and hopefully inspire them. I think an artist should inspire. That’s my whole goal, inspire folks to be a little more creative in their own life. I’m not saying they need to spend two months working (on a LEGO sculpture) but you know even little stuff like doodling with the kids. That’s the type of thing that is just gonna make a better world. So I do push people to stay creative. At the end of this exhibition we have big piles of LEGO so if people are inspired they can just dive in and build their own LEGO creations.

What’s the process for making you’re LEGO sculptures?

I have an art studio. I have two art studios, one in Los Angeles and one in Las Vegas, and between the two I have well over 10 million bricks and I keep that inventory up at all times. I keep all the colors I can get my hands on as you can see with all of these different colors. And part of the thinking with (having_ so many bricks is if I have an idea for a new piece I don’t want to think “Do I have enough red pieces? Do I have to order more?”. I just want to grab the bricks and go once I have that inspiration. So I keep that huge inventory just so I can keep building and keep going. So I order about a quarter of a million bricks every month.

That must get pretty expensive right?

It is my biggest capital expense by far. I spend more money on LEGO than anything else.

So what’s your design process? I’m sure you probably draw or sketch everything out beforehand.

Yeah, I mean it all starts with the idea of course. I do have multiple exhibitions which means I do get to travel a lot and I use that for inspiration. I always carry a sketchpad or jot down ideas once I (have) the idea. It is a slow process. In fact, kids ask me all the time, “How do I be you?” and I say you have to have patience. Because it’s drawing it out and coming up with a plan.

In my experience, I want to visualize that final piece in my mind before I even put down the first brick. And as I’m going I’m gluing everything together. So if I make a mistake, it’s a hammer and chisel. So I have buckets of brick under my desk that are just useless because they’ve got glue on them and I’ve had to chisel them apart. That’s why you need all that patience because these take weeks, sometimes months for the bigger stuff. And if it doesn’t look right you have to just chop it apart and start over.

Which of your pieces took the longest to finish? Is it Big Yellow?

Yeah, that was about six weeks.

What made you choose LEGO as a medium for your artwork?

I like the look of it. I like the distinct lines. I like (the perspective). Everything in life should be about perspective. You see something from a different perspective; it’s gonna help you think about that. So I like that if you see the perspective up close it’s corners but when you back away it’s curves. That element is part of it but it’s more than that. It’s about accessibility. Everyone has a familiarity with this toy. Everyone has snapped a brick together. I mean universally. Everywhere that I’ve been to, everyone knows this toy and that’s what makes it so universal and allows people to connect with this type of art differently than say a marble statue. You can appreciate a marble statue. Very few people have marble at their home. But everyone’s got LEGO bricks and that allows people to connect to this type of art and hopefully inspire them on a different level.

“The Art of the Brick” is currently open to guests of all ages and is located at the Exhibition Hub Arts Center at 5660 Buford Hwy NE in Doraville, Georgia. You can also follow Nathan Sawaya and his works on Instagram @nathansawaya.