MLK

Another half century mark here, one far more sobering but inspirational. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of one of the greatest voices of the 20th century, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I like to think we've come a long way since he shared his dream, and in a lot of ways we have, but we have a long way to go. A fitting and beautiful tribute to a great man by builder Ochre Jelly.

Stag

Is there any animal of the forest more majestic than the stag? Sure there are bigger animals, and the stag is certainly no apex predator, but larger and hungrier don't equal majesty. Builder JoePerez_Lego_Artist captures this regal beast perfectly in this captivating sculpture. And the use of smooth vs studded surfaces is perfectly done here.

The Earth Seeps And Weeps

Humans have spent a great deal of time, money and effort developing ways to pierce the earth's crust and extract the flammable stuff within. If it burns, we've always been interested in it, no matter the cost. This piece by timofey_tkachev is clearly a commentary on that, and growing up on a coastline dotted with this machinery and occasionally brutalized by it, it speaks to me on a personal level. The true irony of this piece is it wouldn't be possible without our collective obsession with petroleum, for it is what makes plastic possible.

Wait, What?

That's one of my favorite unintentional reactions to a MOC. And I'm guessing you may not have even realized the image below is brick built yet have you? Yeah, take a closer look (now close your mouth, you look silly). It's a self deprecating parody piece by Sheo, lamenting the lack of notifications on his Flickr page. Show him some love.

Captain Phasma

Now that Nerdvember is behind us, and Christmas isn't quite here, we can get to the serious business...namely counting down to The Last Jedi. Powerpig is here to get us in the mood with another excellent Brick Sketch, this time it's everyone's favorite polished Stormtrooper, Captain Phasma. She's shiny.

Sleepless

Here's a compelling and provocative piece by builder Nuju Metro, as with all art it's up to your interpretation. For me it represents the continual distraction and compulsion our phones give us, and the deprivation sleep as we strive to not miss a thing. It's no small irony that the device that connects us so irretrievably from the world, acts as a blinder and wall to those immediately around us.

Tableau Beach

I'd bet just about all of us in the AFOL community, at some point, have heard someone say that we "still play with LEGOs."  Okay, fine, I build spaceships, yes.  And occasionally swoosh them around the house.  It may be a 120 studs long with over 12K pieces, but it's still a spaceship. 

Now, Didier Burtin has created a modern artistic piece that may silence those snarky comments.  A wall mounted, wood backed, studs up rendering of an ocean view.  Using only lines of color, it's very effective, and looks quite impressive as a center piece over what appears to be a living room console.  So stunning, in fact, you may not have noticed his Saturn V Rocket over there on the left.  Zoom! 

Jumpin'

If the style of this seems familiar, it's intentional. Builder Grantmasters decided to take a crack at mimicking the style of American street artist Keith Haring, and the results are pretty spectacularly successful. While Keith's work may have been considered subversive, you can't deny the style and impact, and this MOC is just as eye grabbing.

Falcon Painting In Bricks

At first glance you might think this MOC by city son is just a graphic or painting, then you start seeing studs and think it's bricks arranged around a graphic. Then you see that the Falcon itself is also bricks and find yourself going "whoaaaa". It's unconventional yes, not so much built as arranged, but it's still LEGO, and it's friggin' awesome.

Duck And Cover

I think just about everyone can relate to this moving sculpture by builder daveh_design. With the political environment, climate change, disastrous storms, fires, earthquakes, job losses at LEGO and everything else going on I'm surprised we're not all weeping softly in this very pose. 

BB-9E

The anticipation for The Last Jedi is growing, and with Force Friday things just intensified. A lot of hype is surrounding this little guy, a BB unit clearly aligned with the First Order, with some classic Imperial styling. And what better way to celebrate his arrival than a Brick Sketch, done to perfection by the inventor of the art form himself, Chris McVeigh.

Odin

To the vikings he was the god of war, to nerds he's Thor's dad, and to LEGO fans he's fantastic relief sculpture by 2nd Life Bricks. It's Odin, and no matter who is is to you, you have to agree this is a fine bit of building.

World Map

When faced with what to put on the wall of his living room, builder Dirkb86 (with the encouragement of his wife) decided on a world map. And not just any world map, but this majestic relief map of our tiny blue marble. These few pictures really don't do the project justice, you can see tons more pictures and read the story of it's creation over on MOCpages.

Brick Bride

I won't claim to totally understand this creation by builder LegoWyrm. It draws inspiration from multiple sources, but when I started researching it I could see the rabbit hole was pretty deep, and I need to make breakfast. But I've always said you don't need to understand art to appreciate it, it just has to move you. And I find this to be charming and compelling. The big question is did she say "I do"?

Pipes

I'm certain that I'm not the only person who will think of the classic screen saver "Pipes" when they look at this abstract work by builder Legobird3. There's something very satisfying about this piece, it's simple, yet the intersecting pipes add a layer of complexity that draws you in. I'd much rather see these in ABS than in OpenGL.

What's On My Mind?

I can sorta relate to this unorthodox but absolutely compelling MOC by timofey_tkachev. With the present political climate, continual angst on social media, equipment failure, frustrating clients and a creative dry spell, yeah, I can totally relate to this. I think just about everybody could use a primal skull scream, then carry on.

Orbiting, Rotating Kinetic Magic

This thing is mesmerizing, totally mesmerizing. This is the Gräjjs 5.1, a kinetic sculpture from builder gonkius, and it's a sight to behold. I can't imagine how much trial and error it took to get all these nested mechanisms to coexist in such a tight but elegant space. Check out the video to see it in motion.

E.T.

E.T. was one of those movies that shaped me as a person. The late 70's/early 80's were a damn fine time to be a fan of movies and a budding filmmaker. Between Lucas, Spielberg, Henson, Reitman, Landis and a few others, I was scarred for life in the best way possible. So this brilliant poster recreation by builder Chris Adams resonates with me on a level that's hard to articulate.

It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's A Cubist Interpretation

Superman has probably never been edgier (see what I did there?) than in this cool cubist version by builder Amida Na. The man of steel is a man of bricks, and I think he looks pretty super. Now some may debate that everything in LEGO is cubist, or even say that this isn't cubism at all (art is so subjective) but no one can deny that this is pretty awesome.

Fountain Of Blood

Yes, it's a bit grisly, morbid and borderline distasteful, but this sculpture by builder timofey_tkachev is also compelling, evocative and strangely beautiful. And while my first reaction was "ooh", I have to admit the second thing I thought of was the demon from Sword and the Sorcerer (yeah, I'm a cheesy movie fan) emerging from his crypt. I don't know what that says about me.