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Artist creates models of famous buildings using Lego blocks


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ots of people use the expres- sion “think outside the box” to mean “be creative.” When Ad- am Reed Tucker uses it — and


he uses it often — he’s talking literally about a cardboard box. A cardboard box of Lego blocks. The 38-year-old artist and architect was in Washington recently to help set up an exhibition of his work at the National Building Museum. Called “Lego Architecture: Towering Ambi- tion,” the show features 15 miniature models of some of the world’s most fa- mous buildings, built entirely out of Lego pieces. Did I say miniature? One of the works in the show is almost 18 feet tall and made from 450,300 Lego pieces. It’s a copy of the Burj Khalifa, a brand-new skyscraper in Dubai that, at 2,717 feet, holds the record as the tallest building in the world. How tall is that? Tucker puts it this


way: Chicago’s Willis Tower (it used to be called the Sears Tower) — still the tallest building in the United States — would fit inside it . . . nearly twice. (You’ll also find a model of the Willis Tower at the museum, along with the Empire State Building, St. Louis’s Gateway Arch, the White House and


KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST


This model of New York’s Empire State Building uses 12,200 Lego pieces!


If you go


“Lego Architecture: Towering Ambition” Through Sept. 5, 2011, at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. 202-272-2448. www.nbm.org. Hours: Open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: $5; free for children 3 and younger. The first Tuesday of the month is free for all.


KLMNO FRAZZ


TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2010 JEF MALLETT


TODAY: Sunny and very hot!


HIGH LOW 98 77


ILLUSTRATION BY BRITTANY HEAD, 10, BURKE


When Adam Reed Tucker first decided to build Lego models full time, he went out and bought $8,000 worth of Legos — filling 14 shopping carts!


Imagine that: Small bricks, big possibilities


one of the World Trade Center’s twin towers.) Tucker’s model of the Burj took 340 hours to build, plus 280 more to de- sign. He doesn’t use glue. Or com- puters. The models, he says, are “100 percent Lego.” His design process? It’s a combination of imagination and trial-and-error. “I have the ability to ‘pixelize,’ I guess. I just see what looks good.” That’s pretty cool. But Tucker isn’t


trying to blow anyone away with his skills. He wants to inspire people to believe, as he does, that “anything is possible.”


Sure, he says, whenever you buy a box of Lego pieces, you get an in- struction booklet telling you the right way to put them together. Nothing wrong with that. There’s even a gift shop next to the exhibition where you can take home tabletop-size versions of some of Tucker’s models. That’s how he makes his living these days: by designing Lego kits based on famous buildings. But Tucker would be even happier if you put down the manual for a min- ute or two and, you know, used your head. There’s a play area next to the exhibition where kids and grown-ups are encouraged to build a city — with- out any directions. “When I look at a box of Legos,” he


says, “I don’t see a box of blocks. I see a box of ideas.”


— Michael O’Sullivan MARVIN JOSEPH/THE WASHINGTON POST


You can see 15 models of famous buildings around the world in the “Lego Architecture: Towering Ambition” exhibit at the National Building Museum.


6


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From ceramics to the King, a melange of summer fun


August always brings the realization of how little you’ve checked off your summer to-do list. But for those of us who have been meaning to check out the art scene, there’s still time before local galleries and museums begin clearing their walls for fall lineups. Here are a few exhibits to catch before it’s too late.


‘SOARING VOICES: RECENT CERAMICS BY WOMEN OF JAPAN’ “Soaring Voices,” an exhibition from


Tokyo, features 87 ceramic works by 25 female artists. The exhibit displays the technique and culture of Japanese ceramic-making. Also closing soon and worth checking out is “Good Things Come in Small Packages: The Collection of Elisabeth French.” Through Sunday. American


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University, Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW. 202-885-2787. www.american.edu/katzen.


‘ART SCOUTS’ For “Art Scouts,” seven artists were


asked to curate a gallery space at the Arlington Arts Center. Each selected artists who use the same materials or methods in their work. Also closing are “The Unhappy Life of a Plastic Bag” and “The Us and the They.” Through Aug. 21. Arlington Arts


Center, 3550 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. 703-248-6800. www.arlingtonartscenter. org.


‘TRANSITIONS: PAUL EMMANUEL’ As a young white man in South Africa,


Paul Emmanuel explored a post-apartheid community. His work


MARK STUTZMAN/U.S. POSTAL SERVICE


STAMP OF APPROVAL: This 1993 image will be at the Portrait Gallery.


documents the transition of the country and its citizens through drawings on photographic paper and a video installation. Through Aug. 22. African Art


Museum, 950 Independence Ave. SW. 202-633-4600. TDD: 202-633-5285. africa.si.edu.


‘ONE LIFE: ECHOES OF ELVIS’ Images of Elvis Presley take over the


first floor of the National Portrait Gallery. “One Life” features work by Andy Warhol and Ralph Wolfe Cowan, as well as multimedia displays about Presley’s impact on music. Through Aug. 22. National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F streets NW. 202-633-1000. TDD: 202-633-5285. www.npg.si.edu.


‘AIN’T NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING: HOW THE APOLLO THEATER SHAPED AMERICAN ENTERTAINMENT’ Harlem’s Apollo Theater has a history of turning out superstars, from Ella Fitzgerald to the Jackson 5. This exhibit brings that history to life with videos and photographs alongside clothing from James Brown, Michael Jackson and Celia Cruz, as well as Miles Davis’s flugelhorn and a score by Duke Ellington. Through Aug. 29. National Museum of American History, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. 202-633-1000. TDD: 202-633-5285. www. americanhistory.si.edu. — Kristen Boghosian


PLANNING AN EVENT WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ? TELL U S . SEND LISTINGS INFORMA TION TO EVENTS@WASHINGTONP OST.COM


MUSIC REVIEW


Here We Go Magic casts an earthy spell


Frankly, Here We Go Magic could


have lost the smoke machine. The quin- tet, which headlined Sunday night at the Black Cat, is roughly the 50th Brooklyn band to visit Washington this year to showcase a “hazy” sound. So the vapor wafting from stage left was re- dundant. Besides, the most engaging thing about the group’s set was the mus- cular propulsion beneath the misty mel- odies.


Begun as a solo studio project by sing- er-songwriter Luke Temple,Here We Go Magic hasn’t merely become a real band. It’s become a groove band, play- ing steadfast vamps that draw from the Feelies’ hyper-strum guitars and Neu! and Can’s “motorik” beat. At the Cat, such already-pulsing songs as “Hiberna- tion” and “Casual” were extended with hammering intros, droning keyboards


and churning rave-ups. Some of this was to be expected from


Magic’s new album, “Pigeons,” which underpins its bleary tunes with lock- step drum patterns and double-time bass lines. But the band’s high end tends to go very high, with two female voices complementing Temple’s tenor and fal- setto. All five band members sing, and they didn’t neglect the harmonies Sun- day night. Yet the overall effect was sur- prisingly earthy, with nods to the blues and passages set to Bo Diddley’s trade- mark thump. For its encore, Magic reached back to its first album for “Ev- erything’s Big,” a waltz-time number that started delicately but soon began to growl. The effect was so dramatic that it altogether dispersed the musical haze, if not the machine-generated fog. —Mark Jenkins


Dear Heloise: A nurse friend gave me this hint for an


Do-it-yourself ice pack conforms to any shape HINTS FROM HELOISE


excellent ice pack that conforms to any part of your body. Put 1 cup of rubbing alcohol in a zippered freezer bag along with 3 cups of water. Seal the bag, put it into a second freezer bag and freeze. This concoction will freeze into a slushy mixture. If you want a more solid mixture, use


more water and less alcohol. Caution: Do not put directly on skin.


Lucy J. in Maine


Lucy, this is a good hint that bears reprinting. Be sure to label the bag and add a few drops of food coloring to identify the ice bag.


Good morning, Heloise: I am a great lover of iced coffee, all


year long. When I buy one, I save the cup and lid. It is amazing how long you can wash and reuse those items. I even use the small size to give my 5-year-old grandson juice, and he loves it. When they


wear out, I put them with the recyclables. Mary Ellen Harmon, Goshen, Conn.


Dear Heloise: I have a pop-up hamper that I flatten and put in my suitcase. When we get to a hotel or Grandma’s house, I unpop it, and we use it for all of our dirty laundry. It sure helps avoid piles of dirty laundry everywhere.


Nicole in Washington


Dear Heloise: We have two outdoor dogs that were


constantly spilling their water bowl. I’ve found that an angel food cake pan (with a spout and hole in the middle) makes a perfect water dish. I put a wooden stake


Dear Heloise: I like to make gelatin for my kids’ lunches. An easy and portable container? Yogurt cups. I wash them out, fill them with the gelatin and seal with a bit of aluminum foil or plastic wrap.


Sarah in Virginia Dear Readers:


Moistened towels are a must-have when traveling, but the packaged ones can be expensive. You can make them by simply moistening cotton pads or paper towels with a mixture of half rubbing alcohol and half water. Stow in a small pill bottle or plastic sandwich bag. However, if you are going through security at a travel point, they may be a no-no.


Send a hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Tex. 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com. Please include your city and state. © 2010, King Features Syndicate


in the yard and slip the bowl onto the stake. The dogs can’t upset the bowl and go without water, which can be


dangerous, especially in the summertime. Kay in Austin, Tex.


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