The Bricks Box

MEET THE MAKER: THE BUILDER BEHIND THE VISION

INTERVIEW BY GIORGIO D'ALBANO

57th episode:

DAVID LAMBERTUCCI David Lambertucci

Where are you from and what did you study?

I was born in Macerata in 1978 and after graduating from high school I graduated in Communication Sciences

What do you do for a living now?

I am a bank employee

What inspired you to become a LEGO builder?

I inherited my first bricks from my brother; then, over the course of the 1980s, I built my own small collection, convincing my mother to occasionally buy me a few boxes (always small, with prices then hovering between 5,000 and 10,000 lire) of City, Space, or Castle sets. Over time, I became increasingly interested in castles, trading bricks with my friends just like I did with stickers to get the pieces needed to build my first rudimentary MOCs, in the style I saw in the ads for Topolino (Mickey Mouse) magazine, which I was an avid reader of. After putting construction toys aside, like many others, during my adolescence, exactly 10 years ago I emerged from the "dark age" after almost accidentally seeing images of set 375, the legendary "yellow castle," which had been produced the same year as my birth but whose existence I had until then been unaware of. I therefore decided to buy one (used, of course), and while I was building it, playing with 1x2 bricks, I noticed how the walls constructed with those simple pieces could bend to close a circle. This was the first step in exploring the creation of shapes decidedly unusual by Lego standards...

Where do you find inspiration for your creations?

I've always built very diverse MOCS, in a way I'd describe as "extemporaneous." I usually start with a subject I see around and that particularly interests me because of its geometric lines. Sometimes it's a memory that springs to mind, like a comic book or a game I loved as a child. In other cases, simply rummaging through the loose pieces, I find an element that immediately makes me think of an unusual practical use for it

What is your favorite LEGO build among those you've made so far?

Honestly, I already struggle to call what I make "work," a term that brings me back to what I consider "real art" and therefore to artists of a much higher caliber, to the point that I habitually call my MOCs "nonsense." Aside from that, every object I make is intimately tied to the period I was living in when I conceived and created it and to the emotions I felt at that stage, so it's not easy to express preferences. Perhaps I can say that the tribute to Escher's "Ascent and Descending" gave me extra satisfaction because it was one of my first creations (dating back to May 2016) and apparently, based on the research I conducted subsequently the first MOC in the world built with that specific technique that allows the entire structure to "twist" along its vertical axis

What has been the most complex challenge you've faced as a LEGO builder?

As for the construction phase itself, and considering the methods we AFOLs call "illegal," the biggest challenges were the rendering of the "double twist" in the tribute to Escher's "Möbius Strip" and the creation of the curved walls of Scrooge McDuck's Money Bin, as they were based on the development of open curved lines. However, I must admit that the most difficult challenge was transporting the MOCs, which increases in difficulty in direct proportion to the distance to the location you have to reach, to avoid bringing out a pile of loose material instead of the work you had boxed up at the start!

Do you have a favorite technique or a special method you use when building?

I love exploiting the so-called "molding tolerance" that allows me to curve surfaces, all with the precise goal of achieving the cleanest lines possible. I will never be a dioramist because I don't have the patience to take care of all the details that make a work "faithful" in a modeling sense: even when I set up my exhibition space, I get annoyed by placing a handful of minifigures, even if they're all arranged the same way, of course... I've always been interested in making a concept concrete in the most visually "sparse" way possible: this has led me to focus my efforts more on what the viewer "can't see" as in the case of the walls of the aforementioned Depot, for which I had to design a system of opposing arches very similar to leaf spring suspension (the kind found in old Fiat Pandas, for example) and "embed" the connections between the arches within the very structure of the walls

What themes or subjects do you most enjoy exploring in your creations?

Upon closer inspection, I think I can say that the aforementioned heterogeneity of my MOCs actually has a common thread, something similar to the "stream of consciousness" found in late 19th-early 20th-century novels... Every time I explain to someone the creative process that led to the creation of one of my MOCs, I discover aspects that perhaps I hadn't previously considered, and which in some cases arise precisely from the reactions and reflections of the audience attending the exhibitions, almost as if it were Situationist art... Well, I promised myself not to bring up concepts of "real art," but instead I couldn't resist... I must always remember that "they're just bricks," to paraphrase Edoardo Bennato... (a famous Italian songwriter n.d.r.)

What is the biggest or most ambitious project you’ve ever completed?

The first two MOCs I exhibited were a castle, with towers and rounded walls, covering a surface area of approximately 130 x 80 centimeters, and a rose window with a diameter of 120 centimeters. Unfortunately, they were quite large and difficult to handle, due to my inexperience both in building structures with the "alternative" techniques mentioned above and in considering their transportability. So, after a couple of years of lugging them around at great expense, I had to dismantle them... That's just the bulk; as for ambitions, in addition to the two tributes to Escher, I can mention a MOC I exhibited only once, in 2018, which dealt with the theme of gambling. In addition to the constructed parts (essentially the suits of French playing cards), I presented some data on the prevalence of gambling addiction

What advice would you give to someone who wants to become an expert LEGO builder?

Be "omnivorous" without prejudice: from the seemingly unappealing official set to the MOC packed with complex automations and techniques, to the child's mini-build that perfectly rendered an idea with just 10 pieces, everything has a purpose! And speaking in person with the person who built it can open up unimaginable possibilities!

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