This is Karl Horst H\u00f6dicke’s first public sculpture.
\nThe bronze sculpture is partly architectural and partly anthropomorphic. The two separate stylistic elements are combined vertically on top of and inside each other. While the figurative part is actually integrated into the construction of the overall sculpture, it violently bursts out of the work just above the middle. A thick round stomach is perched atop a structure made of three unevenly stacked cube-like shapes. The figure’s baby sausage legs cling to the edges of the top cube.
\nThe upper body is an open two-part box resting on top of the rounded stomach. Its vertical sides are extended in three directions like sign posts, while two sides function as arms leading up to the large flat hands. The ugly splayed fingers reinforce the image of a body being torn apart. A fourth cube at the top is the support and container for a head with three faces, while also serving as a conclusion to the overall sculpture. The \u201cmain face\u201d rests above the open upper body: a bas-relief mask with a lowered gaze and circular open mouth.<\/p>\n