--- title: Lego Worm Creation Goes Viral and Inspires Internet Memes description: One kid's hilarious Lego creation of a worm has gone viral. canonical: https://time.com/4880482/viral-lego-worm-internet-reactions/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-31T14:36:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:46:01.499Z og:title: The Internet Says This LEGO Art Is a Work of Simple Genius og:description: A 12-year-old kid pulled off a masterpiece og:url: https://time.com/4880482/viral-lego-worm-internet-reactions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0be1e640ba8cae6/698857e50a4a2206e59c4d61/lego.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: lego bricks og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Internet Says This LEGO Art Is a Work of Simple Genius twitter:description: A 12-year-old kid pulled off a masterpiece twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0be1e640ba8cae6/698857e50a4a2206e59c4d61/lego.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Internet Has Decided This Kid's LEGO Art Is a Work of Simple Genius > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=74b7adca-edaa-4aea-9b59-f72284fc4a2b&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Daily | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Richard Hall, Editor | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The informed consumer. A scaled audience of readers who turn to TIME to stay informed and make sense of the world, with meaningful reach across education and research, nonprofits and civic life, media and communications, government and public institutions, and business and professional services. ### TIME The Brief: key statements * The Brief is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * The Brief is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=74b7adca-edaa-4aea-9b59-f72284fc4a2b&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/subscribe?i=74b7adca-edaa-4aea-9b59-f72284fc4a2b&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's daily news newsletter? The Brief is TIME's daily newsletter, edited by Richard Hall. It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=74b7adca-edaa-4aea-9b59-f72284fc4a2b&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jul 31, 2017 2:36 PM UTC  Lego bricks sit on a table in the cafeteria at the Naver Corp. headquarters in Seongnam, South Korea, on April 28, 2015. Lego bricks sit on a table in the cafeteria at the Naver Corp. headquarters in Seongnam, South Korea, on April 28, 2015. Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jul 31, 2017 2:36 PM UTC One kid’s hilariously honest [LEGO](http://time.com/4576157/lego-store-london-photos/) art labeled “worm” has gone viral. Joel Willans, a Finland-based author, tweeted out a [photo](http://time.com/4879077/super-mario-bros-ebay/) over the weekend showing the masterpiece among some other promising LEGO “kid creations” entries. > [](https://twitter.com/Joelwillans/status/891586226444275713) It wasn’t an extraordinary work of art because it was elaborate or creative — there were plenty of multi-level LEGO “creations” like that in the mix. But it went viral because it was accurate and simple, penetrating in its accurate outlook on all the world’s living things. It just grabs you as it sits there making its hilarious statement in some complex art surroundings. This is likely the reason why the photo’s been liked 190,000 times. It’s not all that shocking to see how popular the budding minimalist artist with something to say is. It’s got the telltale signs to get social media feeds buzzing. Minimum effort, a strong point of view about the events of life, and an adorable 12-year-old kid, even if the architect was off-camera. You just can’t make up this kind of a hard truth about worms. Everyone thought too much about it except one kid. He — the kid who only needs one block to go viral — is the perfect foil to overachievers who overthink everything. Gold star. The internet’s art critics are already calling him a true generational talent. Here’s what they said about young Riley, the next big thing in modern art. > [](https://twitter.com/RenJett/status/891731738975666177) > [](https://twitter.com/TomLemmens/status/891715205889224705) > [](https://twitter.com/mgtilford/status/891679856278335490) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4880482/viral-lego-worm-internet-reactions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4880482/viral-lego-worm-internet-reactions/"},"headline":"The Internet Has Decided This Kid's LEGO Art Is a Work of Simple Genius","datePublished":"2017-07-31T14:36:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:46:01.499Z","description":"A 12-year-old kid pulled off a masterpiece","url":"https://time.com/4880482/viral-lego-worm-internet-reactions/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Social Media","viral","Bizarre","Art","Lego","Toys","memes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0be1e640ba8cae6/698857e50a4a2206e59c4d61/lego.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0be1e640ba8cae6/698857e50a4a2206e59c4d61/lego.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"lego bricks","caption":"lego bricks","creditText":"Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4880482/viral-lego-worm-internet-reactions/","name":"The Internet Has Decided This Kid's LEGO Art Is a Work of Simple Genius"}}]}] ```