Whether it’s Damien Hirst suspending a dead shark in a vat of formaldehyde or Andress Serrano’s “Piss Christ” photograph, the art world is often challenged by artists to consider the primordial question: What is art? According to Pablo Picasso: “We all know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.” And painter Georgia O’Keeffe believes art is about “filling a space in a beautiful way.”
Recently, a 12-year old kid by the name of “Riley” challenged how people express themselves through Lego building blocks with his submission to a Kids Creations contest. Riley’s submission was a single yellow brick entitled “worm.” Was it a statement on how the rudimentary form of Lego blocks inhibit true self-expression? Was Riley challenging how we project our own internal thoughts onto Lego creations? Or was the “worm” simply all Riley could come up with?
Riley, you're a genius. pic.twitter.com/Lp3VAf7C2Q
— Joel Willans (@Joelwillans) July 30, 2017
Here’s how Twitter reacted to Riley’s mind-blowing art.
He clearly stole the idea: Rothko's "Lego Worm" '59. pic.twitter.com/uguXx2Ju4r
— T (@mgtilford) July 30, 2017
Riley's a bit of a Lego minimalist. https://t.co/lu3dG6VC8t
— Ryan Lynch (@RyanLynchwriter) July 31, 2017
Riley's Lego Worm is the modern day Gioconda...#MasterPiece! pic.twitter.com/O1kFjyQYUb
— sieяяa (@jorgesierrag) July 31, 2017
Life lesson owned by a 12 year old. Work smart, not hard. Be like Riley! #lego @LEGO_Group #BeLikeRiley pic.twitter.com/Kz7saEbFHZ
— Andrew Ross (@maddog_sa) July 31, 2017
Riley's creation is giving a tough competition to similar minimalistic single lego block creation named 'paperweight'!
— Saureen Adani (@saureen_) July 30, 2017
Kind of reminds me of Lego's own ads: pic.twitter.com/sxFVNYFKj9
— Tom Lemmens (@TomLemmens) July 30, 2017