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'The Art of the Brick' exhibit opens in London

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"The Art of the Brick" displays works created from simple Lego pieces. As CCTV's correspondent Mat Morrison reports, the man behind the exhibit says he just wanted a creative outlet after he got home from his nine-to-five job.

Entering London's 'Art of the Brick' exhibit is to enter a world where a child's imagination soars to new heights. Eighty artworks fill the rooms of London's Old Truman Brewery. They're made from more than a million Lego blocks -- held together by simple glue.

Turn a corner and a you'll come face-to-face with a six-meter long dinosaur.

There are familiar faces, and nods to classical art.

Turn a corner and a you'll come face-to-face with a six-meter long dinosaur.

New York-based artist, Nathan Sawaya is the creative force behind the sculptures. While he may have ended up in Toyland, he started out in the business world.

"So when I got out of college, university, I decided 'what am I going to do with my life ' and I ended up going to law school and I eventually practiced corporate law in New York City for several years. But I would come home from the law firm and I would need some sort of outlet. Some people go to the gym at the end of the day, for me it was creative, creativity, I needed to create something. I would draw, I would paint, I would write. And one day I just started sculpting, and I'd sculpted out of more traditional media but I decided I could sculpt out of LEGO bricks, this toy from my childhood," Nathan Sawaya said.

The "Art of the Brick" has attracted millions of visitors worldwide since it began a world tour in 2007. And there is big business at the center of this visual play-time.

After all, Lego overtook Mattel as the world's largest toy company just this year.

Organizers say that while children are always welcome, this exhibit is not necessarily child's play.

"I've got a lot of people here who are what they call AFOL's - Adult Fans Of Lego - of which there are millions. And they've all been coming through - and the vast majority of them are massive fans of Nathan - to see his own work up close," Richard Brundle, exhibition promoter said.

But remember, you can look, but don't touch.

"It's the little ones, obviously - it's difficult, but they mustn't touch. We do keep an eye on it, and ninety-nine percent of people are absolutely fine, they get it," Richard Brundle said.

"The Art of the Brick" exhibit in London runs through early January -- for lego lovers young and old.

 

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