Wow! Do we have a treat for our blog/newsletter readers! This week is all about RELICS! You may have seen us post in reference to the absolutely mind blowing LEGO exhibition produced by the dynamic duo, LEGO Master Season 2 winners Jackson Harvey and Alex Towler.
Set in a distant, post-human future, RELICS explores an imagined world where humans have left the planet. Scattered populations of LEGO minifigures have risen up to build new civilisations within the everyday household objects left behind. The Jackson and Alex combined elements of robotics, engineering and Light My Bricks lighting to create an interactive, immersive storytelling experience!
RELICS officially launched on the 18th of February and was open to the public until the 30th of May, it was presented as part of Scribblers Fest and held at The Goods Shed in Western Australia. A whopping 50,000 people came through and experienced the immersive exhibition created by the creative pair.
Jackson and Alex were already familiar with the Light My Bricks DIY range of products and effects from previous LEGO lighting projects they had worked on.
They knew exactly what bit-lights, expansion boards and connecting cables and power supplies they wanted to utilize, in order to produce the dazzling light component of RELICS! Light My Bricks was fortunate enough to be able to support the boys, by supplying them with everything needed to light up their brilliant builds - and there was a lot of lighting to be done! The pair built not one or two, but NINE complete standalone installations. Each installation represented a different part of their post-apocalyptic world, let’s take a closer look at some of them.
Beetlesville
The biggest installation of RELICS and possibly our favourite! Jackson and Alex salvaged an actual 1969 VW Beetle from a sandpit in Dunsborough, WA and dragged it all the way back to Perth! The minifigs of Beetlesville have commandeered the engine of this iconic tiny car to generate power for their small township.
As you walk around it, motion sensors at the rear of the vehicle initiate a sequence of pistons, flywheels and gears. Jackson and Alex ingeniously interfaced the moving parts of the engine directly with the LEGO bricks to create a whole new machine!
88th Street
A beautiful old piano which the boys built into a home for an eclectic bunch of circus performers and magicians, vaudeville cabaret artists and musicians!
Jackson and Alex painstakingly gutted the piano, removing hammers and strings and creating ornate theatre interiors along a cobblestone street. This was one of the more interactive pieces of the exhibition. While playing a tune you would find that hitting certain keys lit up the many sections of the installation via switches hidden beneath the keys.
Storyteller’s Nook
If you look a little closer at this bookcase, you’ll see each build is paired with a book of the same genre on each shelf! From Science & Technology to Medieval History, this installation caused exhibition goers to take a second… and third look.
SpaceBase ButtonMash
This retro arcade game cabinet is now home to an intergalactic spaceport! Jackson and Alex gutted the electronic components and CRT screen to make way for a rocket launch silo, hangar bay, astronaut training centre and even an intergalactic customs and immigration checkpoint. With a name like SpaceBase ButtonMash, you know hitting those buttons is going to have an effect!
Wow! What absolutely amazing work! That’s all we can say at this point. Again, it’s absolutely incredible what Jackson and Alex were able to create out of some discarded household objects and a lot of LEGO bricks (as well as some LMB lights!) We’re delighted to have been able to play a role in bringing their vision to life and of course most importantly, to promote creativity, big ideas and thinking outside of the box. We’re passionate not just about lighting up LEGO here at LMB, but about creating something new, unique and personal within the LEGO hobby - that’s exactly why we do what we do!
Once again a massive congratulations to the boys, it’s safe to say we’ve never seen our lights implemented on a stage and scale such as RELICS before! A monumental achievement, be sure to follow along with their creative pursuits and to see what amazing exhibition they create next! We will be!