The life-sized figure of a man made of Lego pieces was found washed up on a Florida beach, and people are scratching their heads as they try to figure out where it came from and what it could possibly mean. Jeff Hindman reportedly found the bright red, yellow and green “man” as he walked on the Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota County around 7 a.m. Tuesday, according to a report in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The fiberglass figure measures about 8 feet tall, and weighs about 100 pounds, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. In a light-hearted press release, the department said it had taken the giant Lego man “into protective custody.” The front of the figure’s bright green “torso” bore the cryptic message: “NO REAL THAN YOU ARE.” On the back appear the numeral “8? and the words “Ego Leonard.” Just who is Ego Leonard, you ask? It’s apparently the alter ego of a Dutch artist. A visit to the website, “Prescription Art,” shows a gallery of paintings for sale that all feature the Lego figure alongside pithy messages such as “I Love You,” “Play by the Rules” and, coincidentally, “No Real Than You Are.”
Converting the currency from the prices listed in British pounds, the paintings range in price from $3,407.19 to $4,238.90. There’s also an Ego Leonard book — “No Real Than You Are” — that you can snag for just $11.18. A message on the site, purportedly from the mysterious Ego, reads: “My name is Ego Leonard and according to you I come from the virtual world. A world that for me represents happiness, solidarity, all green and blossoming, with no rules or limitations. Lately however, my world has been flooded with fortune-hunters and people drunk with power. And many new encounters in the virtual world have triggered my curiosity about your way of life. I am here to discover and learn about your world and thoughts …” Other large Lego figures have previously washed up on beaches in England and Holland. The Siesta Key Beach figure drew many stares before authorities removed it. “Mr. Leonard is being kept in a secure environment until his owner comes forward,” the police statement added.
The makers of LEGO, the popular plastic toy bricks and plastic figures, have disavowed any knowledge of, or involvement with, the figure. Legoland Florida, a theme park, opened earlier this month in Winter Haven, Fla. In a statement to the Sheriff’s office, the LEGO Group said: “This activity is in no way sponsored or endorsed by The LEGO Group or Merlin Entertainments, who run LEGOLAND attractions.” Not to be confused with Elmore Leonard. Ego Leonard is a Dutch painter and sculptor, and possibly an anonymous guerrilla artist, whose works prominently feature outsized Lego figures. Sometimes the name also is applied to sculpture, apparently made by Leonard, which have been found on beaches at various locations in the world since the late 2000s. The sculptures are in the form of "minifigures", but constructed from fibreglass enlarged to two and a half metres in height, and have the message, "No Real Than You Are" in capital letters written on their torsos. The appearance of an "Ego Leonard" giant figure on Siesta Beach, Florida became number two on the Time list of the "Top 10 Oddball-News Stories of 2011."
[1] It is unclear whether Ego Leonard is the name of a person or merely is a fictional character as the figure, but it is most likely a fictional name, as Ego Leonard can be reworked to read L, Ego or LEGO. The first over-sized minifigure attributed to Leonard was retrieved from the sea off Zandvoort, Netherlands, on August 7, 2007.[2] It had a yellow head and a blue torso.[3] It was suggested at the time that "No Real Than You Are" might become a meme similar to "All your base are belong to us",[4] or that a word is missing and it should read, "no more real than you are". Children attempt to move the "Ego Leonard" appearing in 2008 at Brighton Beach near the Brighton Pier (visible in the background) A second giant Lego figure was found off Brighton Beach, United Kingdom on October 29, 2008.[5] The green, yellow, and red sculpture again bore the words "No Real Than You Are" on its torso. A spokeswoman for the Lego company stated that it was a surprise to the company, and may have been related to an exhibition in the next few weeks that "Ego Leonard" would have in London.
Another similar Lego figure appeared in the sea off Siesta Key Beach, Florida, United States on October 25, 2011.[6] The sculpture is about 2 metres (6 feet) in height and weighs about 50 kilograms (110 lb). Its head and arms were yellow, with a red torso and green legs, and it had the message "No real than you are" in capital letters on its front and "Ego Leonard" and the number 8 on its back.[7] It was suggested that this may have been a viral marketing publicity stunt to advertize the newly opened Legoland Florida.[8] A spokesperson for the Legoland and its parent company denied that there was any connection to the giant minifigure. Time rated the story as the second of the "Top 10 Oddball-News Stories of 2011". Sarasota authorities referred to the object as Mr. Leonard.[6] Reporters from the local newspaper, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, sent an e-mail to Leonard and received a reply. It purported to be from the sculpture and stated that it had been "a hell of a swimm" [sic], but that it was enjoying the weather and friendly people, and was "gonna stay here for a while."
[9] The Sararsota County Sheriffs Office took the sculpture into custody, awaiting its release to Jeff Hindman, who first found it in October 2011.[11] On January 26, 2012, however, the giant Lego figure was given to Denise Kowal, the founder of the Sarasota Chalk Festival. It appears that Ego Leonard's painting in the Sarasota Chalk Festival featured outsized Lego figures with messages that were similar to, and included, "No real than you are".[, were valued at a range from US$3,500 to $4,500. In reference to the 2011 appearance, the Spanish newspaper, El Mundo, noted that "Ego Leonard" could mean "I, Leonardo".[13] It also could be read as, "I am Leonard". the paper noted that it has been reported that Ego Leonard may be associated with Dutch artist Leon Keer, who won second place in the 2010 Sarasota Chalk Festival and is due to compete again at the 2011 festival.[14] Other newspapers wrote that Keer has admitted to being a long-time friend of Ego Leonard's and to have designed his website and that he also expressed concern that the publicity may have an adverse effect on "a person like Ego, who just wants to bring some kindness in the everyday life."
A Lego figure similar to the Sarasota sculpture appeared on the beach at Topanga, Los Angeles County, California on 18 July 2012.[15] After one day on the Topanga beach, the "Lego Man" was moved to "LAB ART", a Los Angeles City art gallery specializing in street art. Ego Leonard returned to Europe via plane. Area filmmaker Vincent Dale responded directly to the Lego man's message in a short film. An Ego Leonard minifigure washed up on Yugaihama beach in Kamakura, Japan, on December 5, 2014. An Ego Leonard minifigure was found floating on the river Danube in the City of Linz, on June 2, 2015. It has been placed on the lawn in front of the concert hall Brucknerhaus.[18] According to the Oberösterreichische Nachrichten, this giant Lego minifigure "schwamm auf der Donau" to participate in an Arts Festival in Linz. ^ Gray, Madison, The Top 10 Everything of 2011, Lego Man Emerges from the Ocean, Time, December 7, 2011 ^ a b c d ^ Cashill, Margaret (16 July 2013). "Lego man departs Sarasota area following cultural contribution".