Brick Planet – WOW!
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According to Wikipedia, “Sean Kenney is a New York-based artist recognized by The Lego Group as a Lego Certified Professional. He is best known for creating scale models, sculptures and portraits with Lego [bricks].”
From his website, Sean Kenney creates a Lego sculpture
I’d never heard of him before visiting Springs Preserve recently with our friends, Kelly and Mike from Wisconsin. We went to the Preserve to view the botanical garden and its museums, and while there, we noticed that an exhibit entitled ‘Sean Kenney’s Brick Planet’ was on display. Hmm… why not take a look?
All I can say is WOW! We spent an hour or more walking through the exhibit, and I was so enthused by what I saw, David and I went back this past weekend to take a closer look. We learned a couple of new things on our return visit. First, Las Vegas is the world premiere city for the Brick Planet exhibition. Cool! But more importantly, the docent who greeted us as we entered asked if we were aware of the ‘Easter egg’ found in each sculpture. Easter egg? Yup, each Lego sculpture has a hidden brick with Sean Kenney’s signature. So an Easter egg hunt AND appreciating the artwork!!
The first sculpture - ‘Bicycle Triumphs Traffic’ - 573 hours to build and 47,000 Lego bricks
And there, under the bicycle saddle was the ‘Easter Egg’
According to his website, “Sean believes that art made with LEGO bricks needs to be more that just a stack of pieces pressed together the right way… It has to have a spirit; a spark; some magic; and a story.” And each sculpture we saw achieved his goal.
Peacock… that’s Pavo Real in Spanish - literally royal turkey - As in nature, the colorful front of the feathers was spectacular, but the back was a single color. 625 hours - 68,827 bricks
Animals were a key focus of the exhibit. From the African savanna to the Arctic and Antarctic, from an undersea world to mountains and plains, and even insects were represented. Each sculpture was associated with a sign showing how many bricks were used, how long it took to create and some special note about the animal… a story.
From the Arctic, a polar bear with her three cubs - 1,049 hours and 133,263 bricks - The winner of the exhibit with the most hours and most bricks
From the Antarctic, An emperor penguin and chick
We moved from animals to buildings, places and people and again attention to detail caught our eye. A close-up look revealed one gardener had a trowel in her pocket. The child had buttons on her overalls and another gardener was wearing a belt and had a moustache.
The Times Square sculpture not only displayed iconic buildings and Broadway show marquees, but it also included a subway entrance, tiny fire hydrants, and food vendors.
And the ‘Easter eggs’? We didn’t find them all. They were quite well hidden, but we found quite a few. Some folks thought we were nuts looking under the sculptures, behind them, up and down the brickwork, but we enjoyed the hunt and the sculptures.
Brick Planet is one of five traveling Sean Kenney Lego exhibitions. If you get a chance to see one, we think you’ll enjoy it. And don’t forget to look for the Easter eggs!
