If you think of Japanese aesthetics, you may think of forms and signs sublimated by age-old tradition. If you think of Japanese architecture, you may think of Zen-like harmony in space and light. But also the exuberant colourfulness of illuminated commercials and the violent fantasies of the Manga comics are perhaps images that may come to your mind. In Nico Bick's imagination however, places like Tokyo and Osaka are ideal cities, where the perfect modern city is built without a trace of false nostalgia. The infrastructure of housing, walking, commuting and driving appears to merge seamlessly and for the chronic lack of space, uncomplicated and effective solutions are found. The fact that modern urban development attracts Nico Bick rather than repels is evident in his earlier work. His photographs do not contain any romanticism that try to cache all traces of modern life. On the contrary, he enjoys petrol stations and motorways, new residential areas and metro stations on high stands. When he visited Japan, Nico Bick did not go to the old districts of Kyoto, but to the highly industrialised area between Tokyo and Osaka. He was not searching for something specifically Japanese, instead he sought what is common and can be compared to our cities.
With his presentation at Galerie Fotomania, Nico Bick provides every opportunity to make this comparison. Seven projectors show a multitude of images describing the city. At first glance, everything looks a lot like any modern European city. The unattractive concrete constructions that are supposed to guide pedestrian flows, but also the layering of roads and public transport remind me of German cities that got a new city centre after the Second World War. The harbour transhipment areas could have been anywhere and a construction site with a large bridge behind it leads to confusion because it resembles the Erasmus bridge in Rotterdam. But because the projected images in the gallery space constantly form new combinations with each other, the emphasis for the viewer slowly turns to the details. In these details, differences with the European cities become visible: the Japanese custom of renewing entire blocks of houses every ten years or so means that almost no image shows a 'dated' building. And nowhere is there any sign of adornment, decoration or public works of art. The photos of Nico Bick can thus lead to reflection on our own surroundings and provide an opportunity to revalue them.
Miriam Bestebreurtje – Galerie Fotomania, Rotterdam
With his presentation at Galerie Fotomania, Nico Bick provides every opportunity to make this comparison. Seven projectors show a multitude of images describing the city. At first glance, everything looks a lot like any modern European city. The unattractive concrete constructions that are supposed to guide pedestrian flows, but also the layering of roads and public transport remind me of German cities that got a new city centre after the Second World War. The harbour transhipment areas could have been anywhere and a construction site with a large bridge behind it leads to confusion because it resembles the Erasmus bridge in Rotterdam. But because the projected images in the gallery space constantly form new combinations with each other, the emphasis for the viewer slowly turns to the details. In these details, differences with the European cities become visible: the Japanese custom of renewing entire blocks of houses every ten years or so means that almost no image shows a 'dated' building. And nowhere is there any sign of adornment, decoration or public works of art. The photos of Nico Bick can thus lead to reflection on our own surroundings and provide an opportunity to revalue them.
Miriam Bestebreurtje – Galerie Fotomania, Rotterdam