kids are swingin' from the power lines

Rubik's Cubes will always hold a very special place in my heart, somewhere between the spots reserved for Pogs and Mr. Bucket ("The first to get their balls in Mr. Bucket wins!").

I remember the first time I solved my own cube. I was 12 years old, not very coordinated, and believed that the toy truly measured my own intelligence. After three months of hard work, I sleighed the beast that is Rubik's. This started me off down a slippery slope of obsessive puzzle solving. The regular 3x3 Rubik's Cube was not enough; I needed more; a real challenge. (I was, like, so intelligent.) Hello, 4x4, gordian knot, snake cube, Gameboy tetris.

This went on for a while. Needless to say, I gained a strong appreciation for bright colors and pixelated patterns. That's probably why I'm so drawn to the giant images made by Cube Works Studio.

The artists at Cube Works make giant pixelated representations of famous images using nothing but Rubik's Cubes. These famous pictures include Da Vinci's The Last Supper, Michelangelo's Creation of Man, and portraits of superstars like Marilyn Monroe and George Harrison. The pieces are large in scale and weight, and you can imagine why: The Creation of Man required an astonishing 250,798 cubes. The Cube Works Studio is certainly not the first group to use Rubik's Cubes for art (it's been noted as its own sub-genre of folk art), but this team of assemblers takes the method to a new extreme via scale.

The idea is to reinvent works that are easily recognized and relevant to the public. The combination of such imagery with the once-beloved toy acts as both a source of nostalgia and comic relief. Let us make light of Jesus's last meal, shall we?
I admire the way that the guys at Cube Works combine consumerism into their art. Rubik's Cubes are a perfect object to use to comment on the relationship between materialism and pop culture. They are utterly useless and worthless in any physical or practical sense, but they are still the cat's meow. According to Wikipedia, within 7 years of the toy's worldwide release, sales surpassed thirty million units, becoming "the world's most asked-for plaything." Using such hyper-iconic images with hyper-monumental toys yields hyper-awesome results, more appealing, applicable, and, dare I say, smile inducing than ever before.

And it's always nice to see something nice come out of our recycled toys. Sure beats this guy:


Photo Credit:
top: Ryan Kinnen
Right: making The Creation of Man, Cube Works Studio, taken from Loyal K.N.G.
Left: Cube Works Studio, Barcroft Media, taken from zimbio
Bottom: Rubik's Cube in popular culture