One of the
uses to which I put the Bionicle collection is a sort of Zen practice. I’ve become so accustomed to the ways the
pieces fit together, the models that they are designed to make, that I can find
some peaceful moments amidst the constant stress of graduate school. I have my collection broken up into two
subsets: the first is the models proper, each as complete as I can manage
(after 14 years of them being moved around, built and rebuilt, and played with
both by myself and an occasionally sticky-fingered son!), and separated into
their own ziplock bags. The other subset
is all of the duplicate pieces, those I haven’t co-opted to try to make
promotional models or models I don’t own yet.
The building subset. However,
when I sit down to build, I am often overwhelmed by the variety with which I’m
beset. Further to this, I also find I’m
often limited in my building by thinking about how the pieces fit into the models
proper. These are two difficult
restrictions from which to break.
My topic
today, then, is an exercise in limitation, though I had thought about calling
it “(l)imitation,” actually. Taking my
cue from some Japanese Bionicle instructions I found online (http://www.bzpower.com/story.php?ID=2184),
I built a number of mech-like models from a very specific subset of
pieces. These alternate Japanese models were included with bundled packs of the Rahkshi, and use pieces from four of the Rahkshi (green and white, red and brown)
to build a couple of cool models.
Aside from their overall aesthetic being quite different
from the combiner models one sees in the North American Lego magazine, the ways
that the pieces are either utilized or joined together is somewhat different as
well. Hence, in my own buildings, the
idea of imitation. I decided that I
would build ostensibly with the differing aesthetic in mind, and also with the
differing ways of joining the pieces. To
add to this, I also limited myself to parts from two models, and two models
only (with a bit of a cheat later on!).
For my
first experiment, I procured from my spare parts all the pieces of the two
Rahkshi that were not included in the Japanese instruction, the black and blue
models. I started in with the idea of
building something mech-like (I’ve been reading a lot of the old Robotech comics lately, so that may have
had something to do with it too), and also attempted to break from my set
notions of how pieces can go together.
The model is a bit shaky in places, allowing for the ways that the
pieces are joined, but I think it turned out pretty good.
My next
attempt took some of the oldest pieces, and ones that I’ve traditionally had a
fair bit of difficulty creating anything new from. This model was made from the Nuva versions of
Lewa and Pohatu (green and brown). The
parts are very specific to the models they are designed for, which has always
been my trouble in making new models.
However, with the notion of a mech in mind once again, and also of
thinking outside of my constructive comfort zone, I managed to put together
something that I think looks pretty good.
I haven’t yet tried this experiment with one of the newer models, and I
wonder how it would go. One of the
criticisms I had with the newer lines (after about 2006 or so) was that they
were little more than action figures that needed to be put together, as opposed
to construction toys. It’s a subtle
difference, but a vital one, I think.
The next
model came from the first of the Metru Nui storyline releases, circa 2004. Taking the parts from Toas Nuju and Matau, I
went in with the same mind set. These
pieces are quite different, as the model attests. I’ve constructed the combiner models that are
included in the instructions for these Toa, which may have had some influence
on my creative process, but the model came out more like a creature than a
mech, though really everything one builds with Bionicle has that mechanical
feel. I’m still happy with it, and it
still fulfills my desire to break with traditional aesthetic and construction
modes, but it’s not quite the same as the other models.
Having done
this, I went back to the Toa Nuva mech I had made and attempted the same build
with the pieces from the other Toa Nuva.
I was short some pieces, so I had to substitute some bits. These builds also break slightly from my
experiment’s parameters in that rather than only using parts from the two sets
involved, I used parts that were included instead in my original model. I’m not sure if it was simply the lack of
novelty, but I’m not as happy with these models as with the original.
It has been
a good process to put myself through.
The build-times for each model were quite a bit longer than I usually
take, as I would attempt something and it would either not work or look too
traditional. I think this is maybe the
lesson, as a collector, that I can take from my exercise. The limitations, or the demarcations, of a
collection are not necessarily the limitations or demarcations one must adhere
to in interacting with a collection. I’m
not sure how this can translate to another format of collection. How, for example, can I apply this sort of
exercise to my comic collection? Perhaps
in deciding that, for the space of a few weeks, I will only read Westerns, or Heavy Metal magazines? That doesn’t sound so back (though I’m really
not a fan of the Western comics genre).
My next
project for Bionicle, I think, will be to build a menagerie of creatures and
take photos of them in natural settings.
I’m interested in the effect of the juxtaposition of bio-technical
animals in an organic setting. What
kinds of questions or confluences will this ask of the creature or the setting,
and what kind of (potentially) artistic statement will it make?
Hopefully that little experiment will be up in a much
shorter stretch of time.
