Spatial Design: Noguchi

September 12, 2005

Noguchi

In many of Noguchi's sculptures, the empty air inside of them seems almost more important the physical sculptures themselves. This empty space adds a feeling of weightlessness to each sculpture. Much of Noguch's work seems to work with the concept of physical weight. In some sculptures, he will place objects that are normally heavy, such as large pieces of stone, on top of small support structures, such as thin metal poles or a wooden bench.

Noguci also plays with this empty space and seems to ask with many of his pieces what is inside, and what is outside? One piece that illustrates this example is one that is a pyramid inside of another pyramid. The museum itself reflects this idea with a garden "inside" of the museum, but also exposed to natural elements. Another section of the museum again asks us what is inside? This room has concrete walls, floors, and a ceiling but a segment of open air between the walls and the ceiling. This exposes the room to some of the elements, but not all.

Another important aspect to Noguchi's work and his museum as a place is distance. Some of his sculptures are flat stone with a single or multiple bulges on them. Interestingly, these bulges never touch one another. By doing this, Noguchi is able to emphasize the distance around the bulge. Physical distance is also important in the layout of the museum. Each piece has distance between the next, or between each of its parts. This distance seems to help create much of the empty space I mentioned before.

Posted by Aaron Harmon at September 12, 2005 07:51 PM