Building LEGO sets can be a fanatic experience for any person above the hazardous choking age range. A new YouTube video series “LEGO Build & Destroy” by the Untrained Slackers production team brings a whole new level of enthusiasm to unboxing and constructing new toys.
It all started when videographer Sarah Woodward began to feel stagnate within her everyday life. Her passion for filming became more of a chore for work rather than playful self-expression. To allow the creativity to seep from her pores again, she began cutting out experiences that no longer satisfied her lust for creative cinematography. “I decided that I would start saying ‘no’ to projects that don’t make my heart sing.”
Woodward’s intention is to capture the essence of maintaining a playful spirit through the art of building LEGO… and then annihilating them. Yes, it seems peculiar. However, according to Woodward, it represents the philosophy of non-attachment and the ability to move through life without things weighing her down.
There are quite a few build and destroy videos on YouTube (including destroying LEGO). Some are low-effort productions just for pranks and shock effect, while others are educational and even artistic in their own way. Sarah is clearly a skilled videographer, with a unique ability to blend the playfulness of LEGO, the beauty of nature, and the catharsis of destruction. In the playlist below, I have included several of the “LEGO Build & Destroy” episodes, and Sarah is planning to make some more.
Looks like Sarah is particularly fond of LEGO Technic sets, as she used (so far) the #42066 LEGO Technic Air Race Jet, the #42058 LEGO Technic Stunt Bike, the #42074 LEGO Technic Racing Yacht, and the #42077 LEGO Technic Rally Car. LEGO Technic models are known for their intricate mechanical details and their structural strength, so it’s particularly interesting to see how they stand up to powerful destructive forces. The filming and editing of the building process is also well done. I especially like the video with the otters!
Building and destroying LEGO creations is something most LEGO fans are familiar with; we build something, then we take it apart to build something else. And children often play out dramatic battles with crumbling LEGO forts and exploding LEGO spaceships. Still, completely destroying LEGO models to the point of actually damaging the pieces is not something LEGO fans are usually comfortable with. However, artists may push these boundaries to show us what’s beyond. For some, this may spark new ideas and possibilities, and for others it reinforces their commitment to their own set of values (which may include not destroying their LEGO).
It’s amazing to see the great variety of ways people use LEGO sets and pieces! While many LEGO fans (including our contributors) mostly focus on official LEGO sets and custom creations, it’s interesting to see some outside-of-the-box use of LEGO once in a while. What do you think? How do you like the videos by Untrained Slackers? Have you used LEGO in any unconventional ways? Feel free to share in the comment section below! 😉
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This non-attachment idea is being thrown around a lot, lately…
But for me, cleaning attempts have a tendency to take over my life… What you get rid of, owns you…
I always heard “What you own, owns you”, which makes sense to me. How does getting rid of stuff owns you? Not criticizing, just genuinely curious. I always feel good after cleaning. It’s refreshing. Even liberating.
It almost never feels like it’s worth the effort, it looks just as bad after I’ve made the effort to sort it out. I don’t think I have ever felt liberated yet, I mostly feel drained.
While I appreciate that she is a good cinematographer, if she wants to practice non-attachment, why not just donate the sets to kids? It breaks my heart to see such senseless destruction.
One word; millennials. Need to say any more?
Buddhist monks do something similar with their mandalas. They spend weeks building them from colored sand, then they sweep them up. They represent the nonpermanent and transitory nature of this world.
I am impressed with Ms. Woodwards creativity. Also, she’s cute
Sarah DOES NOT destroy the LEGOs, they are still reusable and she and her family play with them after the demo of the LEGO set. She is not wasting or trashing them.
Yeah, I was just wondering… I haven’t seen any films yet, but if you trash a build, in most cases the parts would still be usable afterwards. (There’s a risk you’d lose small parts in various nooks and crannies, though.)
I like the editing at the beginning when the sets are built, and when they are tested out in natural environments. However, I agree with David; why destroy them? Just donate them to Toys for Tots or other organizations. Make a kid happy and protect the environment.
She got good eyes for filming. Keep the reviews and the natural settings, and drop the destruction. It’s not edgy anymore, and it’s so much waste.
First of all, she DOES NOT destroy the LEGOs, they are still reusable and she and her family play with them after the demo of the LEGO set. Not to be confused with TRASHING them. She is not wasting them, just thought I’d inform you.
Yeah, she is totally not breaking the pieces here /S
https://youtu.be/kvSfPe8qg2A?t=53s
Actually I was very surprised how many pieces survived from the car smash. Most were intact except for a couple wheels.
Are these people really rich to do this with their legos???? If they don’t want them just send them to me!!!!
Sith015 email me your mailing address and I will send you some LEGO.
That’s cool, man. I was just joking. Thanks!!!!
That’s cool if it’d be true.
It’s sorta risky to make promises like that online, though, since it could lead to a lot of unwanted requests…
Or, I interpreted it as possible sarcasm, although I’m not familiar with how she communicates, and I might be wrong in my impression.
I was being serious…
Sorry for that, then.
I agree with others. Stick to building, reviewing, and the mix with natural settings. All of that is done very well. She is obviously talented. No need to alienate people by destructing expensive Lego sets. Just donate them to a school or charity. She can even make a video about that and she would get more views and likes.
First of all, she DOES NOT destroy the LEGOs, they are still reusable and she and her family play with them after the demo of the LEGO set. Not to be confused with TRASHING them. She is not wasting them, just thought I’d inform you.
If they want to destroy Lego, they could maybe make it more scientific. How much force, how many pounds of pressure, at what speed, etc. That would make the end of the videos more interesting and less upsetting to some viewers. If she paid for the Lego, she can do whatever she wants with it, even if most of us don’t agree.
I agree with you Master!!
First of all, she DOES NOT destroy the LEGOs, they are still reusable and she and her family play with them after the demo of the LEGO set. Not to be confused with TRASHING them. I just thought everyone here is getting way too worked up over it. She is not trashing them or destroying them beyond usability.
Ugh. Driving a car over lego, and smashing legos into the wall will surely damage at least some of the pieces. Just sayin’….
Driving a car, sure, but smashing it into the wall, I don’t think there’d be that much external damage…
To be fair to LegoSirRio i watched four of the videos. The filming is great, really nice camera work. One set is set on fire and another is run over with a car. Pretty sure damage would occur with some pieces. Saying the pieces weren’t damaged is a bit of a stretch to me. I would say the majority of the pieces would still be usable. While i wouldn’t treat much of anything this way, i do agree that it is their dime. Oh well. I always wanted that fighter jet too. Sorry i missed it.
I knew this topic is going to be somewhat controversial. I was out most of the day, and just read the comments. Thank you guys for keeping the discussion civilized, even if not always agreeing. Once thing for sure; there are so many unique ways to use LEGO bricks! 😀
These videos remind me of how I treated my Lego models when I was a kiddo. We had these open stairs where I would push the models through and down to the cement basement floor to become smashed up! Oh, I loved it as a kiddo… but now that I pay for these models myself I wince at the thought! >.< 😉
Thanks for letting me abuse my Lego models, mom and dad! 😀
Ha-ha! Your parents are awesome! My siblings and I would have probably done that also, but we didn’t have a basement, so the best we could do is to stand up on a chair and launch our LEGO airplanes from there. 😀
Well… now that I think about it I have a feeling there never really knew. >.> But only a few pieces actually broke, but hey, they were still really cool for buying the Lego sets for me in the first place. 😀
Kids, please don’t do this with your lego. Even as a child who was into building military stuff and playing out battles I would never do something like this. I knew how hard my parents worked just to afford the few small lego sets we got.