Being the cultural and artistic heart of Australia, Melbourne always seems to have at least one or two wonderful exhibitions on the go at any given time. This time was no exception with Federation Square playing host to New York artist Nathan Sawaya's The Art of the Brick.
Now, an art exhibition may not sound like the most exciting place to visit for a four year old until you realise the medium chosen by Nathan Sawaya for his work: LEGO!
Ava loved the exhibition and was captivated by the colourful and imaginative creations. As was Lola when she eventually woke up from her sleep. There's something quite accessible about artworks created in such a familiar medium. It really draws children in to appreciate the beauty that can be created with something they see and play with everyday. Maybe Ava will be inspired to build something other than just houses with her Lego!
A tremendous amount of hard work and creativity has gone into each piece and they are just wonderful.
The dinosaur skeleton in particular is quite amazing. The girls couldn't get enough of that one.
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| Roar! |
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| Ava pretending to be scared |
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| More "scared" Ava |
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| A little snack for the dinosaur? |
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| Lola loved the dinosaur too |
There are a few sculptures of people in the exhibition and Ava struck a similar pose next to each and every one of them for a photo. One sculpture, in particular, is set up with just that in mind. A sculpture of a figure deep in thought in a chair has an empty chair next to it for visitors to pose in. I think I took photos for about three other visitors in this chair while we were there! The three of us all took turns as well.
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| Ava strikes a pose |
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| Posing again |
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| I love this one! |
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| My turn. Isn't it good that Ava knows how to use the camera! |
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| If only Lola was awake |
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| Lola's turn - awake this time! |
I'm not really sure what I would pick as my favourite. I really liked the colourful skulls against the black wall - although Ava was a little scared of these to begin with! Very Mexican "Day of the Dead".
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| Scary? No! |
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| Happy skulls |
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| Happy skulls |
I keep being drawn to the simplicity of the world globe. I do have a little obsession with maps so that particular artwork was always going to get me! I want one of these for myself :)
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| Ava's world |
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| Lola's world |
There were so many wonderful pieces. Here are a few more of them.
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| An apple a day... |
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| Piggy and burger at the ticket counter |
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| Ava with mini Melbourne |
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| Peace out |
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| Raindrops |
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| Singing Music Note |
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| "His hands are falling off but it's ok; he's not real. He's made of Lego". Words of wisdom from Ava. |
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| Kanagaroo |
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| Ava attempting to do the splits amongst the artworks |
At the entrance of the exhibition is a wall covered in little squares of lego that will eventually become a mural of sorts. Children are invited to contribute to the piece by creating their own little square. They are given a square of Lego base coloured like a paint-by-numbers painting. They then fill in their square with the corresponding colours from tubs with thousands of little tiny Lego pieces. Each square is then put into its place on the mural.
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| Ava creates her piece of the mural |
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| The finished square |
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| Ava's square is added to the mural |
There were still quite a few pieces to go when we were there but we were told that it would be finished in time for the AFL grand final and was therefore a football related image. You can click here to see the finished mural which is being auctioned off to raise money for defibrillators for local football clubs.
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