Zbigniew Libera
Encyclopedia
Zbigniew Libera is a Polish
artist. Born in Pabianice
, Poland
, he has become well known for the controversial LEGO
Concentration Camp
Set that he designed in 1996. The LEGO Corporation gave Libera the bricks for free without a clear vision of Libera's project and not knowing he would use them for this purpose. This act, however, led Libera to include a controversial notice on his boxes saying "sponsored by LEGO Systems". LEGO insists that they did not endorse his artwork.
The Jewish Museum
in New York City
exhibited these sets in 2002 as part of a show entitled Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/Recent Art. Critics charged that Libera's sets trivialize the Holocaust. Defenders argue, however, that the LEGO sets mirror the evil-minded ingenuity required to construct the concentration camps as instruments of terror. Art historical criticism, like that proposed by Ernst van Alphen, has argued that these toys seek to represent and refigure the Holocaust in a more familiar register that recovers its meaning from overbearing Holocaust education programs. Art historian Norman Kleeblatt proposes a similar reading, understanding the works as a study into the Foucauldian
biopower
of concentration camps.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
artist. Born in Pabianice
Pabianice
Pabianice is a town in central Poland with 69 648 inhabitants . Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the capital of Pabianice County...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, he has become well known for the controversial LEGO
Lego
Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
Concentration Camp
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...
Set that he designed in 1996. The LEGO Corporation gave Libera the bricks for free without a clear vision of Libera's project and not knowing he would use them for this purpose. This act, however, led Libera to include a controversial notice on his boxes saying "sponsored by LEGO Systems". LEGO insists that they did not endorse his artwork.
The Jewish Museum
Jewish Museum (New York)
The Jewish Museum of New York, an art museum and repository of cultural artifacts, is the leading Jewish museum in the United States. With over 26,000 objects, it contains the largest collection of art and Jewish culture outside of museums in Israel. The museum is housed at 1109 Fifth Avenue, in...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
exhibited these sets in 2002 as part of a show entitled Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/Recent Art. Critics charged that Libera's sets trivialize the Holocaust. Defenders argue, however, that the LEGO sets mirror the evil-minded ingenuity required to construct the concentration camps as instruments of terror. Art historical criticism, like that proposed by Ernst van Alphen, has argued that these toys seek to represent and refigure the Holocaust in a more familiar register that recovers its meaning from overbearing Holocaust education programs. Art historian Norman Kleeblatt proposes a similar reading, understanding the works as a study into the Foucauldian
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
biopower
Biopower
Biopower was a term coined by French Social theorist and philosopher Michel Foucault it refers to the practice of modern states and their regulation of their subjects through "an explosion of numerous and diverse techniques for achieving the subjugations of bodies and the control of populations." ...
of concentration camps.
External links
- Zbigniew Libera
- Konzentrationslager, on Libera's controversial LEGO concentration camp sets, with pictures.
- Zbigniew Libera's Lego Concentration Camp: Iconoclasm in Conceptual Art About the Shoah published in Other Voices, v.2 n.1, 2000.
- Residency and exhibition 2006, University of Michigan