giant balloon head floats over tokyo

tokyo is getting ready to inaugurate the 2020 olympic games, but prior to its opening, strange things are appearing in the japanese capital. such is the case of a giant floating balloon head that surfaced last week at the city’s yoyogi park, where the national stadium and other important venues are located.

image by takeo tsushima

dubbed masayume (prophetic dream), the project was developed by a team of contemporary artists called mé, whose core members are haruka kojin, kenji minamikawa, and hirofumi masui. the faces belong to people from all over the world, regardless of age, gender or nationality. the ballon, which measures the equivalent to a six-story building (about 20 meters), has been rendered in black and white and its face aims to serve as an observer of the pandemic.

image by kozo kaneda

‘this face, which is that of an actual person that exists, will be seen from many perspectives through social and mass media,’ the mé art collective said. ‘and this face will be looking back at us from the sky of the pandemic, as if to say we must support ourselves in the current situation. it will continue to face these trying times. looking ahead towards the time when we discover something, we want to continue sharing imagination, no matter what else may be going on.’

project info:

name: masayume

artists: mé artist collective