Nanoblock art by Christopher Tan

By Dejiki on November 21, 2015 in Art+Culture, Geekery

See an amazing collection of brick artwork designed by Christopher Tan, world-renowned nanoblock artist.

Showing at Liang Court for just two days, this is the largest nanoblock exhibition in Singapore, with over 100 creations on display. There is a great variety of ‘nanoblock-ed’ characters from famous films and cartoons, along with a Star Wars collection that would probably gather the most interest.

Nanoblock Art Exhibition – Works by Christopher Tan
Liang Court, Level 1 Atrium
21 – 22 November 2015
11:00am – 9:00pm

Made by toy company Kawada, nanoblocks are like LEGO, except that the pieces are much smaller in scale. This means that builds can be more intricate and detailed. The best part is they don’t take up as much space as LEGO, and because of the style of the common bricks, the finished objects often look like pixel art. Similar to LEGO, there are original kits with instructions and ‘DIY’ kits – and you’re not limited to following instructions (though that can be fun as well). Many people buy sets just for the bricks.

Chris Tan is probably the most well-known nanoblock artist, having earned international recognition for his designs and even the status of 達人 (tatsujin), or Master (of nanoblock). His original designs are often bootlegged by nanoblock clone manufacturers (those ‘LOZ’ kits) without his knowledge.

While I do have some sets of my own, I’ve not ventured into building original designs yet. Maybe nano-USS? Like LEGO, you can buy nanoblock sets and just follow the clear, though sometimes eyesight-killing, instructions. It’s a tedious task requiring precision and patience.

I was speedbuilding quite aggressively for some months last year – to the extent of 3-4 kits over a weekend or completing a deluxe set (some 1000-2000+ bricks) in a day. Then some things happened at work and I didn’t have the time for all my hobbies – You see, I chose write.

And because I don’t have space to display them, I had to disassemble everything after admiring them on my desk for a few weeks. Even tearing things down takes hours. The good news (if it even counts) is that I did plan to write about the nanoblock experience. Photos were taken during ‘construction’ and the entries were meant to be reviews of the different kits. Perhaps I’ll post them up someday.