The Friday Rorschach: Battle Royale

Battle Royale, 2014, Legos

This is one of my son's Lego creations (he actually refers to them as "creations"). It is similar to many of his drawings in that there is a storyline with a lot of aggressive action. It is essentially the battle of good versus evil.

What it is: This is a castle battle scene. The building with the red and gray roof is the castle. there is a drawbridge in the back, and castle guns are sticking out of the front. The orange Legos on the right side of the picture are "the good guys." The two gray Legos and the one tan one are "peasants" who are running into the castle. On either side of the castle are catapults. One has just launched a black ball onto the head of a "bad guy." The other one is about to launch a "hot pot."

Facing off against the good guys are a series of three catapults. One is loaded with fire (the orange Lego). One is loaded with a rock (the brown one), and one is loaded with "something green."

What you thought it was: Many people picked up on the idea of a battlefield in this sculpture.

@mwachtel Lego Steampunk battlefield.
— Michael Cumpton (@mccumpton) February 14, 2014

“@mwachtel: #FridayRorschach 3D: What might this be? pic.twitter.com/TVKszIisYB” A feeding and self-medic station in a future survival game.
— Ian Hemmings (@hembo1) February 14, 2014

@mwachtel a firing range
— NoJudge (@amafera) February 14, 2014

One person mentioned a real-life political conflict:

@mwachtel Venezuela's military shooting at our students while they were protesting
— Luisanna González (@_luisanna) February 14, 2014

Other people who didn't mention a battlefield certainly noticed the aggression in the piece:

@mwachtel missile alert system and the cover is off the button -- 30 seconds until armageddon
— Justin Shinohara (@JustinShinohara) February 14, 2014

@mwachtel a command centre, looks like it was from star wars logo originally?
— katrina grayson (@trinabobbles) February 14, 2014

Bravo to the one person who mentioned actual peasants:

@mwachtel The madness and raving of throwing lesser, east European non denomination coins at peasants.
— Bret Higgins (@DeadBeatBert) February 14, 2014

One person's head nearly short-circuited:

@mwachtel I struggle to find anything to say this week.Where's the paint or ink...?Does...not... compute...*short-circuits* #FridayRorschach
— Facenna (@Facenna) February 14, 2014

And, several people came up with responses that, as hard as I try, I just can't see:

@mwachtel Saw, The Lego Saga: Jigsaw's Child Begins #FridayRorschach
— Dustin P. (@DPumpWORD) February 14, 2014

@mwachtel a Chinese man with a fu Manchu mustache smoking a red cigar.
— Sola Dei Gratia (@Sola_Dei_Gratia) February 14, 2014

I wouldn't have believed an idea like this already existed without the included picture:

@mwachtel It looks like Peter Thiel's Libertarian Island. pic.twitter.com/REoUl4gg8Y
— AnarchoPlasma (@RonSommers) February 14, 2014

There was a head-nod to sporting events:

@mwachtel The three square pieces on the left remind me of either archery targets or solar panels...
— Destinee Siebe (@DestBassoonist) February 14, 2014

@mwachtel A new Olympic event. #fridayrorschach
— Leanne Milliman (@librarian5280) February 14, 2014

And, my personal favorite for the week (I really wish this device existed):

@mwachtel pretty sure that's a federal deficit eraser thingy
— Jay Vogel (@JayLewisVogel) February 14, 2014

What you might have missed: No one mentioned the pieces that were hanging over the edge of the base. That might be psychologically significant (possibly representing a need to keep information neatly ordered and to ignore the extraneous). Also, no one mentioned the blue, white, and black pieces that are between the castle and the catapults. According to my son, that is the castle's patio.

One last point: I don't like the fact that many of my son's drawings and Lego creations involve aggression and war. That is certainly not something that is emphasized in our house. But, I feel better when I remember that many of my drawings as a child had the same themes, and I turned out to be a reasonably peace-loving, war-hating adult.

What do you think it is about boys that attracts them to aggression?

Thanks for reading-- Max Wachtel, Ph.D.
www.maxwachtel.com
www.twitter.com/mwachtel
www.Facebook.com/drmaxwachtel
www.youtube.com/drmaxwachtel

Friday Rorschach is a fun project designed to engage readers' creativity. To participate, follow Max on twitter. He posts the drawing every Friday morning around 10am ET/8am MT. There are no wrong answers to the Friday Rorschach.

Posted in: #kiddrawing,Friday Rorschach