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Zusatztext As Nicholas Taylor and Chris Ingraham's LEGOfied eloquently situates! the social and cultural dimensions of the LEGO phenomenon take on particular characteristics in a playful digital media world. This book will fascinate readers interested in understanding not just LEGO but how it is situated within the logic of playful media more generally. A must for media studies! digital media and game studies researchers. Informationen zum Autor Dr. Nicholas Taylor applies critical, feminist and posthumanist perspectives to experimental and mixed methods research with digital gaming communities. In particular, he is interested in the intersections of subjectivity, communicative practice, technologies and games, as enacted through both game production and play across a variety of contexts. Vorwort Draws from a number of distinct theoretical backgrounds and disciplines in media studies to examine the practices and identities that constitute LEGO fandom and how LEGO functions as material media. Zusammenfassung LEGOfied: Building Blocks as Media provides a multi-faceted exploration of LEGO fandom, addressing a blindspot in current accounts of LEGO and an emerging area of interest to media scholars: namely, the role of hobbyist enthusiasts and content producers in LEGO’s emergence as a ubiquitous transmedia franchise. This book examines a range of LEGO hobbyism and their attendant forms of mediated self-expression and identity (their “technicities”): artists, aspiring Master Builders, collectors, and entrepreneurs who refashion LEGO bricks into new commodities (sets, tchotchkes, and minifigures). The practices and perspectives that constitute this diverse scene lie at the intersection of multiple transformations in contemporary culture, including the shifting relationships between culture industries and the audiences that form their most ardent consumer base, but also the emerging forms of entrepreneurialism, professionalization, and globalization that characterize the burgeoning DIY movement. What makes this a compelling project for media scholars is its mutli-dimensional articulation of how LEGO functions not just as a toy, cultural icon, or as transmedia franchise, but as a media platform. LEGOfied is centered around their shared experiences, qualitative observations, and semi-structured interviews at a number of LEGO hobbyist conventions. Working outwards from these conventions, each chapter engages additional modes of inquiry—media archaeology, aesthetics, posthumanist philosophy, feminist media studies, and science and technology studies—to explore the origins, permutations and implications of different aspects of the contemporary LEGO fandom scene. Inhaltsverzeichnis ForewordAcknowledgmentsGlossaryIntroduction: Clickable Media in a Plastic World Nick Taylor, North Carolina State University, USA, and Chris Ingraham, University of Utah, USA Chapter One: Palpable Pixels Kate Maddalena, William Peace University, USA Chapter Two: The Aesthetic Work of LEGO Eddie Lohmeyer, University of Central Florida, USA Chapter Three: Band of Builders Jessica Elam, Berklee College of Music, USA Chapter Four: Re-assembling Gender Sarah Evans, Molloy College, USA Chapter Five: Fake Plastic Trees Chris Ingraham, University of Utah, USA Chapter Six: Purity and the Boundaries of Belonging Nick Taylor, North Carolina State University, USA List of ContributorsIndex...
