Terry Allen's brilliant statue, Modern Communication, stands heroically between police headquarters and the municipal court building downtown, a monument to the plight of the common man. It's head and shoulders above all those forgettable bronze odes to war heroes and so-called civic leaders littered all across our town, because it speaks the truth. It represents the struggle of we the beleaguered majority. Standing there at ground zero for the city's stifling bureaucracy, atop his briefcase with a shoe in his mouth, a tie over his eyes, and his fingers in his ears, Allen's idol embodies (heralds!) the burden of anyone who's ever tried to coax humanity from a government lackey.
