Mona Lisa: Bricked (Photo: Marco Pece)

The Cult of Lego, by John Baichtal and Joe Meno and just released on November 12th, celebrates the superfans that take LEGO building beyond the instruction book. Bursting with photos of their awe-inspiring creations, the book is an inspiration to children and adults alike on the million different ways creativity can be expressed with bricks.

As the mother of three boys who have been obsessed with LEGO since before they were technically even old enough to be playing with them, I understand where the people in The Cult of LEGO are coming from. In fact, I have become so swept up in the love of those little inter-locking bricks that I would swell with pride if any of them took their childhood hobby to the levels that the men and women featured in this book have.

The Cult of LEGO highlights the work of LEGO enthusiasts on every scale — from an entire section devoted to the lowly mini figure (cleverly recreating movie scenes, impersonating iconic figures in history, and the customized “Pimp Your Fig”) all the way to colossal models and figures that taken months and hundreds of thousands of bricks to build. In addition to covering the many types of builds that enthusiasts flock to, i.e. the technical builders, the artists, the humorists, the re-creationists, etc., the book does a great job letting readers know where they, too, can share their enthusiasm for LEGO. It lists websites of interest, flickr groups, and has a full rundown of all the various LEGO conventions that happen around the USA, all places where the LEGO-obsessed can find an audience and each other.

Few toys have inspired such fanatical followers, and The Cult of LEGO is a testament to the massive creative potential that every tub of bricks holds. This book is a must for anyone who loves LEGO.

Relativity

Artist M.C. Escher had it easy creating his optical illusions on paper — Henry Lim, commissioned by the Hong Kong Science Museum to create LEGO recreations for an Escher exhibit, had to figure out how the illusions could be sustained in 3-D brick form. Lim succeeded and pointed viewers to a "sweet spot" where the illusion could be seen, and then allowed viewers to walk around the models to see how he did it.
Photo Credit: Henry Lim, Escher (The Cult of LEGO p. 105)

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Images from The Cult of LEGO by John Baichtal and Joe Meno, published by No Starch Press. Photos courtesy of Andrew Becraft, Allan Bedford, Arthur Gugick, Henry Lim, Jerry Mann, Marco Pece, Jan Vančura and David Winkler.

Read more of Amy Windsor’s writing at Bitchin’ Wives Club.
Follow Amy on Twitter and Facebook.

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