The Art of the Brick Exhibition

 

You'll be surprised to learn that the Disney100 Exhibition was not our only trip of the day. 

A few hours later we went off to explore The Art of the Brick, an in depth look at art created through lego.

Jay adores Lego, and I am quite partial to the odd build or figure myself, so off we went to explore this quirky exhibition as we were in town.

Located, quite aptly, in Brick Lane, the Art of the Brick exhibition is an interactive Lego experience full of photo ops and unique thinking. 

You know, I wasn't expecting to see how deep some of these pieces were. Most of them seemed to depict something missing or something tragic, the former I guess is easy as a missing lego brick here and there is easy to spot. But this was emotional artwork.

The overall exhibition was fun, it was bright and airy and full of inspiration. But in the same sense it was also deep, impactful, some of the pieces were a bit too serious for the light surroundings. This was hardcore stuff for lego. I couldn't help but walk around with this little pit of sadness in my stomach, like something wasn't quite right and it was all inspired through these works.

As you'll see below, some of the pieces have names which tells more of the story than the artwork that hits you in the face. This one is simply called 'Incomplete'. If that doesn't hit you in the gut I don't know what will.

Moving on from the more impactful artwork in this exhibition though, you also have the fun ones. The huge and accurate apple pitted against each other just because the artist wanted to see if he could. Then you have the random lego builds inspiring a bit of fun.

Further on in this exhibition we see again a less serious take as the artist conquers floating dresses, large heads, skulls and something akin to the triangle head in Silent Hill only there are more of them this time.

We also have to mention the opportunity for interaction during this exhibit. Although you are told not to touch the art, the photo opportunities are limitless and if you get your angle just right you can look like you are touching when you aren't...

As you can see from the below there is plenty to do, from sitting with a lifesize lego man to partying it out with 100 skulls in a multisensory room, it is all here. I even lost Jamie to a massive Lego pit at the end of the self led tour.

My favourite part of this just happened to be the skulls. I love a good skull and I spent way too long in the room of 100 skulls that it was unhealthy.

We also got to look at quite the surreal art such as the flip flops and train tracks. These were mostly accompanied by framed photos showing the lego model in a place where the real thing should be. It was actually quite Wes Anderson-eque which has inspired a future visit to the Accidentally Wes Anderson exhibit.

Portraits was another thing this artist is good at and we have to admit they were pretty cool, he even did a few self portraits along the way!

The only thing that spoilt the visit was that the gift shop was lacking. A handful of t-shirts or fridge magnets was on offer, otherwise overpriced lego you can find in shops. We got a free poster as VIPs but otherwise it was naff and there wasn't much to take home from the experience which was a shame!    

This was a soft hour long outing which wasn't overly stimulating but fun all the same. I probably wouldn't call it family friendly even though I guess it could be, simply because of the no touchy rule and that it might be a bit boring for kids, but for teens+ its a quirky thing to do. 

Would we go again? Lauren: personally no, in this case once I've seen it once I don't feel any need to do it again. While I love Lego I didn't really connect enough with anything in this exhibition to want to view it again. This wasn't a Lego endorsed event, this was just an artist's gallery of works made from Lego. For me it was very much 'oh that's cool, onto the next one'. If there were new works added, perhaps, but as it stands? No, I enjoyed it, but not enough to go again. Jamie: I absolutely would, personally because Lego is a big part of who I am, seeing it in art form is truly wonderful. Generally, it was a great exhibition because it told a story through something as simple as a small plastic brick. Truly inspiring. 

DISCLAIMER: Now for the official bit. This blog does not receive any paid promotions from the places mentioned above. We have not been approached to promote or act as spokespersons for any attraction mentioned within this post and this is simply a post intended to act as a day in the life of a couple on a cute date. All photos included are taken by ourselves and as such the rights for these images our ours, no links, brands, or companies mentioned otherwise belong or are associated with Phantom Adventures UK. We are responsible only for this blog. Opinions are our own and not influenced by any third party source.. 

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