The Crumbling Homes of Daniel Danger & Mike Doyle

Speaking of Daniel Danger, over the last couple weeks I noticed Danger-esque crumbling Victorian houses popping on some of my favorite blogs. These detailed and decrepit mansions, however, were built with Lego bricks by the incredibly talented Lego artist, Mike Doyle. I suspect Danger and Doyle could have some great conversations. Separated at birth?

Here’s a snip from Danger:

Amidst old houses dead from the fallout of urban sprawl, railway bridges asleep from neglect, and trees that engulf everything; his work attempts to remind you of something you may have said to someone, or something someone may have said to you; back in that time period thats just too far away to remember clearly, but not so long ago you forgot about it completely. His memories and many of his friends are simply ghosts now, shaking him awake with mistimed alarm clocks and the sounds of a television from across the house.

And a snip from Doyle:

Of particular interest to me in this work is the notion of broken trust and faith. Foundations give way. Permanence transmutes into fragility. Our safe havens betray us. Like a little dollhouse, a seemingly secure home is plucked up and set on a new path. This charming home, lovingly embellished with ornamental fancy was no match for nature. The fancy embellishments serve as a reminder of our earlier focus on the material world, while the aftermath removes us from that focus. The piece offers no answers or necessarily any hope, but rather points to life’s fragility.

Strong foundations are the essence of safe havens. Amidst the chaos of environments we cannot control – whether physical, financial, social or mental – the house is one of the ultimate icons representing a safe haven.  However, this and other safe havens betray. All the planning, effort and unbreakable trust we put in our foundations – whatever form they take – can falter without warning. Such it is. Life events that kick at our door or we witness through others temporarily blasts the scrim open, revealing – like the hole in this model’s wall – the fragility of our own foundations and, perhaps for a moment, a sense of gratitude for those foundations left standing and greater clarity as to which safe havens are truly important to our well-being.

In 2010, Pretty in Plastic created a sculpture based on one of Danger’s houses. It was made out of resin and sold through Gallery1988 for $500. I guess the reality of the housing crash applies to art multiples as well because I Don’t Want to Keep Running (above) seems to still be available.

If you don’t have $500 these days, you’re not alone. You can purchase art prints of Mike Doyle’s Lego Victorians (some come with pieces of the actual Lego houses!) through Bumble & Bramble. Daniel Danger’s work is available through the Tiny Media Empire. His latest solo show, There is a Wanderlust Growing in Your Bones, opens at Chicago’s Rotofugi, tomorrow, October 14th.