Beside Stephan Balkenhol's sculpture "Big Head with Three Part Relief" a note reads, "Nothing here is as it should be." This figureless "head" set against a black void represents "Mr. Everyman," that common figure, detached from his surround and considering his place in the world.
Balkenhol, having experienced the reunification of Germany, perhaps found himself questioning his own identity against the backdrop of his country's past, with the wooden head of his work unconsciously representing the way we view the urban landscape around us.
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo's current show, "Unconsciousness of the City," is a tale of familiar places and sometimes faces set in the context of urban construction. It introduces us to the fate of the individual in urban extremes and the kinds of imagery that inspires photographers, painters, activists and filmmakers alike.
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