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September 13, 2005
Sunny Day at Noguchi Museum
Knowing the fact that the actual museum was designed and created by Isamu Noguchi, a seriously deepened expectation was nonetheless present before my scheduled experience to it. Indeed, I had skimmed through the floor map of this museum, and its triangular shape with the presence of a garden somehow appeared unusual, and kept me to imagine how it would look like. However, upon passing the sculptures in the first floor towards the garden, my imagination got totally enlightened with the theme of lights. It was not only the well-lighted pieces became attractive. Rather even all the pieces that seemed so gloomy became vivid and attractive. At this observation, I remarked that some sculptures actually appeared to further deliver their mass, form, and volume that their creator intended. If the materials were little sandy, the intended light color was more yellowish like more bright white-ish color was attached to the metal material. Whether it was intended or not or whether I was there at a very normal shiny day, the notion of different lights created by the layout of the building certainly created an interaction between the light and the objects it is supposed to light up.
Then, when it comes to the second floor, I just wished that was my room. It was that much comfort and softness the light, the sunshine from the ceiling window, created in me. Just being present in that area really made me smile, and it obviously led me to carefully examine the pieces much longer than the ones on the first floor. If someone asks me to describe them, my answer would be “antique future.” It may sound very non-sense, but the presence of very antique-looking pieces made in wood, like furniture, next to the picture of his large-scaled architectural pieces, like the Expo 70 fountain and the fountain at Detroit Civic Center, certainly gave me that kind of impression. Or, did I get this feeling from the fact Isamu Noguchi was someone who had embraced two very different cultures, West and East. It was like the East’s aesthetic theme combined with the innovation and scale of the West. Definitively, I could felt the cultural aspects of his vision, his vision of the world. In this sense, I feel that his approach to all these different cultural aspects seemed very humanistic and natural.
Finally, this building itself is an amazing art piece and a perfect example of spatial design. The building’s inner design along with the layout of window to control the incoming sunshine as the lighting source was marvelous. The place seemed to be totally rejuvenated with the notion of light such as its interactivity with certain materials and even with itself depending on its position. With a limited knowledge on sculptures, I really can’t explain whether they are great or not besides my own understanding of it; however, I felt serenity and tranquility from them.
I hope the museum is closed on a rainy day or at night.
Posted by Tae Ho Yoon at September 13, 2005 09:27 AM