LEGO has always been an inherently creative medium, but it’s less often that LEGO creations are used to explore the human condition. Seeing Casey McCoy’s Moments of Melancholy builds, it’s hard not to be moved – both by the skill of the builder and by the emotions evoked by the abstract cube people that represent stages of life.
Casey completed the first three Moments in 2023. The first, “Die in your arms,” won the Best Vignette and contributed to Casey earning the Brickworld Master accolade at Brickworld Chicago while a second, “Growing on You,” was selected to be displayed at LEGO House. (Casey was interviewed about this incredible year of accomplishments over on BrickNerd). Casey’s work on the remaining three continued through 2023-2024, but it wasn’t until last month that shared photographs of the full sequence. The builds are shared below along with insights from Casey about their creation.
This project draws on three major sources of inspiration:
(1) while Nannan Zhang’s abstract work didn’t immediately influence my building style as a TFOL, encountering it in the early 2010s left a lasting impression -especially Metamorphosis of the Mind (Echo of Silence, Cry of Dreams, and Legacy of Vision). Something about that series, and his broader body of work, became a well of inspiration later in life as a future-forward approach to the LEGO medium. As I reflected on how to challenge myself as a builder in my late 20s, moving in that direction felt particularly compelling.
(2) In the late 2010s, I became deeply interested in “miniland-plus” figurines, especially through pop culture builds from The Force Awakens, Stranger Things, and Back to the Future. While I loved creating them, the figures lacked dynamism, emotion, and drama – they needed an extra “umph” to be truly compelling. Even so, many of my AFOL friends encouraged me to stick with this style as one of my strengths.
After developing a posable, mixel-joint-based figurine, several monochromatic figures followed naturally – they were simply too fun not to build.
(3) Music has always been a significant part of my life. While listening to “Just Right” by Grayscale, I had the idea to abstractly portray the chorus in miniland-plus form. Die In Your Arms came first and was the most personal. Four of the six models in the final project were musically inspired.
The second build, Growing on You, is inspired in part by lyrics from the song of the same name by The Story So Far.
I am a blade in a lawn that’s new
Covered in dew
Waiting on you
I need no shade
I’m tried and true
But I’m lonely like you
I’m growing on you
The final project, dubbed Moments of Melancholy, was never intended to be a series; it emerged organically as the builds evolved.
True Contrite takes its name and lyrical inspiration from a song by Knuckle Puck:
Disguise your memory with pictures on the walls
Replace my every flaw, the ones you never even saw
We dream in color, but see in black and white
Between the covers, we sleep on beds of lies
Someday your true contrite will find you
The fifth build, Rivers of Mercy, which might be my favorite, is inspired by the Tears For Fears song. I was privileged enough to see this song performed live by Nick Jensen and Simon Liu just before Brickworld 2022.
Drop me in rivers of mercy, yeah
Dare I imagine some faith and understanding?
Drop me in rivers of mercy, yeah
Bring out the dead tonight
And bathe them in your sacred light to
Wash away the pain
Save me from the shadows, yeah
Cry like a siren, the light on my horizon
Drop me in rivers of mercy, yeah
When arranged in ROYGBIV order, the six MOCs tell a loose narrative of: (RED) Birth, (YELLOW) Struggle, (GREEN) Serenity, (BLUE) Death, (PURPLE) Transcendence, and (BLACK) Aftermath (but at the risk of sounding pretentious, I prefer that viewers draw their own interpretations of each build – it’s more fun that way!). On the other hand, the actual build order was: BLUE, YELLOW, GREEN, RED, PURPLE, BLACK.
With every new entry, I aimed to radically change the composition, format, framing device, story, shapes, and height – while incorporating new techniques. I really tried to push myself technically with each model and still love how they all turned out.
Despite their distinct visual differences, they share a consistent throughline: the use of the mixel-joint figurine, a (mostly) monochromatic palette, and abundant foliage.
After building in this style half a dozen times, I’m ready to step away from it for a while. I’m still figuring out what comes next!
The post Casey McCoy’s Moments of Melancholy sequence is a celebration of life, color, and music in LEGO appeared first on The Brothers Brick.
