MINI-ME // TWINKIND

Photographs via: Twinkind

Far out, this is cool. Hamburg based company, TWINKIND has worked their technological wizardry involving custom engineered 3D photogrammetry scanning and a multi-camera system to produce photorealistic miniature models of yourself (or anyone else). The 3D miniatures measure anywhere between 15cm and 30cm and are made of polymer plaster powder.

What's awesome and unique about TWINKIND is their process. Unlike other 3D modeling companies that can take anywhere up to 20 minutes to perform a full 3D scan, TWINKIND's process only takes a couple of seconds and therefore means that the scans can be altered and rescanned until you're happy with the end result. This speedy process means that you can also scan your pets and toddlers and create an entire miniature family!

Having a miniature you comes at a price though with the smallest figurine starting from 225 Euro. So what do you think of that Herkshire Bathaway?

SEEK BEAUTY IN IMPERFECTION // KINTSUGI

The Japanese have a long tradition of repairing broken ceramics with a lacquer resin mixed with genuine gold powder. It's called 'Kintsugi' or 'Kintsukuroi' meaning ''golden joinery'' in Japanese. It is said that the story of Kintsugi may have begun in the late 15th century, when the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa sent a damaged Chinese tea bowl back to China to be fixed. It returned held together with ugly metal staples, inspiring Japanese craftsmen to seek a new form of repair that could make the broken piece look as good as new, or better. It is said that Japanese collectors acquired such a taste for Kintsugi that some were accused of deliberately breaking prized ceramic pieces in order to have them repaired in gold.

The Japanese believe that when something has suffered damage and has history, it becomes more beautiful and more precious than before. This old Japanese tradition teaches one to cherish imperfection rather than masking it. To see the beauty and value in imperfection where previously we would have only seen detritus  is something I feel is incredibly special. To put into question and shift the perspective of what beauty means. Perhaps we are less ruthless in our approach to damaged and broken things and in turn, more gentle in our approach to those around us who feel damaged or experience brokenness. 

THE ART OF THE BRICK // NATHAN SAWAYA

Yellow, Nathan Sawaya. Photograph via: The Art of the Brick

Red, Nathan Sawaya. Photograph via: The Art of the Brick

Blue, Nathan Sawaya. Photograph via: The Art of the Brick

Tyrannosaurus Rex Skeleton by Nathan Sawaya

Nathan Sawaya is a New York based corporate attorney turned full-time independent LEGO artist. Impressive.

Sawaya's LEGO sculptures take anywhere between a couple of days to a couple of months to create depending on the size and complexity of the form. His sculptural process often begins with a proposed sketch of the form on grid paper and then he will occasionally use Lego Digital Designer software which has virtual bricks programmed with gravitational physics for positioning.  

There's something so relatable and nostalgic about the use of LEGO pieces as a sculptural medium. On average, most of us have built something out of LEGO at some point during our lives. So, to take LEGO and incorporate it into the art world makes one perceive the medium and the art form in an entirely different light. You can go to a museum and admire a sculpture carved from marble but you can't necessarily go home and carve one for yourself. However,  unlike the marble most of us can quite easily get access to some LEGO pieces and create sculptural art of our own. I think it's this nostalgic familiarity of Sawaya's choice of medium that makes the art world seem a lot more 'accessible' and a lot less daunting - something that he should be commended for in my opinion. 

And if that's not quite enough for you to commend him on, how about the 20ft T-Rex skeleton LEGO sculpture he built for Singapore's ArtScience Museum over a summer of 8 to 12 hour days, commanding 80,000 Lego brick pieces? All I'm saying is that I built a small LEGO panda recently measuring in at about four fingers wide and it took me all of an hour. I was quietly chuffed with my efforts after its completion. And did you know that a professor of Mathematics calculated that 6 LEGO pieces can be combined in over 915 million different combinations? I'm even more impressed than I was at the beginning of this post..

Sawaya's art is currently touring museums in a show titles, The Art of the Brick. It's the first exhibition focusing exclusively on LEGO as an art medium. The creations, constructed from countless individual LEGO pieces were built from standard bricks beginning as early as 2002. More information on the tour, dates and location can be found on the Art of the Brick Museum page.