Why Lego Won't Sell Its Bricks to Artists
The Lego company is taking a stand against art. According to Ai Weiwei, the Chinese dissident artist, the Lego company has refused an order that he placed for bricks that he intends to use for an exhibition in Melbourne. This would be Ai’s second big show to involve Lego toys, after a 2014 exhibition at the former penitentiary on Alcatraz Island featuring portraits of famous dissidents from around the world made out of Legos.
The Lego company may not want to associate its brand with Ai Weiwei. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that his show won’t go on. Ai took to Instagram to appeal to his legion of followers to donate LEGO bricks at global drop-off spots to support “a new work to defend freedom of speech and ‘political art.’” He’s pitching this collection provocation in support of his Australia show as a performance of sorts in and of itself.