Untitled 1971

This sculpture is by Nobuo Sekine, and shows two rocks, split down the middle. What do we have here? These two rocks are so unassuming, but Sekine is kind of messing with us; he’s using something so natural, so geological, to challenge our perceptions. Maybe Sekine was thinking about what is real, and what is fake, and what is natural, and what is constructed when he found these rocks. I imagine him carefully considering their weight, texture, and how they might fit back together. The inside of the rocks are the surprise, right? This act of revealing creates such a lovely moment of tension, between what is expected and what is actually there. When I look at the work I think how art can defamiliarize the ordinary. Artists are constantly building on each other's ideas, playing with forms and materials to create something new. So much art is in this conversation across time, which keeps things lively, you know? With this piece, Sekine encourages us to question our assumptions and find new perspectives in the world around us.