In Pieces, Nathan Sawaya and Dean West

New YorkArt & Culture

In Pieces, Nathan Sawaya and Dean West

Closer inspection reveals melancholic scenes to be plastic fantastic...

The collaborative project In Pieces from Nathan Sawaya and Dean West has resulted in work that requires a double-take, or even a triple-take, to both notice what sets these scenes apart and appreciate the skill it took to create. So before you read any more, have another closer look. Go on.

Right, did you spot the twist in these everyday scenes? Yep, a lot of what you see here has been cunningly constructed from LEGO® building bricks by Sawaya – the sculptor of the duo – from the fairly easy to spot dog to the almost imperceptible pair of poolside flip-flops or hanging towel. Photographer West was responsible for capturing the tableaux, the bricks suggesting a pixellated effect to the otherwise hyper-real images.

The thrust of the enterprise as a whole is a commentary on the commercialisation and manipulation of identity, which led to the highly-stylized characters that populate In Pieces, which varies in tone from suburban banality to the cinematically dramatic. The project, realised in the form of an exhibition, runs at 201 Mulberry St, New York, 28th February – 17th March.

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