8 ms·
I’m struck by the post-modern, non-working reflection that costs significantly more than the functional object that’s still readily available. LEGO has truly cr
by robg 5y ago
I’m struck by the post-modern, non-working reflection that costs significantly more than the functional object that’s still readily available. LEGO has truly crossed into the art world. Like a painting of a soup can.
- nindalf 5y agoWhen wasn’t Lego art? I display my Lego dinosaurs next to my TV. I think they look cool. They weren’t meant to be functional dinosaurs.
- robg 5y agoSeems different in kind, not degree. A 3 year old plays with Duplo to make planes and rockets. Yes, art in the sense that drawing on paper is a form of art. But a close to realistic rendering of a soup can that now sells for $millions is / was reflecting back a reductive sense of nostalgia for a premium. Kudos to LEGO for capitalizing for a premium, just a different product for a different consumer that could buy and appreciate an actual typewriter. This consumer centric version of art forms is perhaps the same reflection by which Warhol was dismissed by some early critics. Just not the version of LEGO that reflects the endless design iterations in any one box.
- bluetomcat 5y agoThe "conventional" Lego builds are meant to be a non-functional miniature of a real-world or a fictional object, with some playing features. This creation crosses this boundary because it tries to replicate a real-world object in its original scale, with its inner mechanisms, and yet it doesn't achieve the purpose of the original object. Seems somewhat wasteful, cynical and purposeless.
- nindalf 5y agoOnly as wasteful, cynical and purposeless as my dinosaurs. I look at them and feel happy. That’s pretty much it. If I assembled this typewriter, I’d look at it and feel happy.
- walugipnts 5y agopeople have been making models for centuries, the only cynical thing here is your opinion
- cephalization 5y agoYeah but I get to build this typewriter... I derive value from the act of building and replicating the inner mechanisms of a typewriter that I could not build before. Isn't all entertainment somewhat 'wasteful' or 'purposeless' beyond enjoyment?
- bluetomcat 5y agoI'm 35 and am a keen collector of 1:18 scale diecast model cars. The sense of enjoyment for me comes from seeing their intricate details exactly replicated, from putting models from a similar age/brand/model next to one another and comparing them, from knowing that they can endure a long time without degrading and I can pass them to my son. I fail to understand the appeal of "adult non-toy" Lego sets like these, however. It's impossible to replicate real-world stuff at any serious level of detail (the smallest brick is far too large), as mechanical devices they are flimsy (no greasing, no bearings, clumsily-weighed movements), separate sets do not stand well next to one another due to different scales and wildly varying subject matters. I do know that it is fun to build a Technic race car with steering, suspension, differentials and pistons, but such model-like stuff doesn't bring much value, IMO.
- allturtles 5y agoNo, Legos don't and can't exactly replicate all the real world details of the things they model. It's no surprise that different hobbies have different pleasures. But surely you see that you have a niche hobby that to many (most?) people would superficially appear to not "bring much value"? The joy of Lego is taking generic bricks and figuring out how to represent the thing you want to build out of them. With pre-designed kits like this, many people find pleasure in seeing how the designer figured out how to use piece X to represent object Y, or used a particular building technique to create a particular effect. e.g. the Lego Empire State Building uses the generic grille to great effect to render the windows of the building, and generic yellow tiles to make convincing little taxis, and some neat building tricks to create the setbacks in the tower without making it look 'lego-like' (with abrupt, brick-size shifts).
- antiterra 5y ago
- jmrm 5y agoA pastel green Olivetti Lettera 32 cost about 100€ used, so that's totally true
- riffraff 5y agoAh I'm not the only one who sees that as a Lettera 32! (which I own, and is still awesome)
- shoto_io 5y agoThey are definitely not “solving a problem”. That’s for sure. Instead, Legos is obviously fulfilling/creating a need.
- TchoBeer 5y agoI don't know, they're fun. Why is there so much hate for such a simple enjoyment in the comments?
- shoto_io 5y agoI don't hate them! I love LEGO, played a lot as kid.
- usrusr 5y agoWhat they are creating is a market for a third party innards substitute that replaces the mechanism for driving the page carrier with something that speaks BLE HID. A toy collectible that you can nondestructively convert into something you can actually use on your job and back? They can run a victory lap before even starting!
- golergka 5y agoIt's a different object with different functionality. You can't use it to actually type, but you can use it to easily and conveniently create something unique to your liking, mixing and matching pieces from any LEGO set in the company's history.
- twic 5y agoWe have reached Baudrillard Condition 3.
- em-bee 5y agoif you think the typewriter is bad, have you seen the new lego adidas shoe?
- snypher 5y agoAre you saying I can buy a $200 typewriter somewhere?
- thih9 5y agoYes, there are a lot of used typewriters for sale. I just did a search for "typewriter working" on ebay.com, narrowed it down to offers below $70 and got multiple pages of results.