Skyviewing Sculpture; Isamu Noguchi; 1969

Post by: Caleb Albright and Emma Eide

Mini Biography:

Isamu Noguchi was born in in Los Angeles in 1904 to an Irish-American teacher and editor mother and a Japanese poet father.  The pull of the two vastly different cultures is what pushed him towards art and it was this very “cultural divide between his parents, between East and West, between two distinct histories of art and thought, that would engage him his entire life.” (PBS)  Noguchi became a “major American and Japanese sculptor and designer” (theartstory.org) and spent over six decades creating abstract works based on both organic and geometric forms.

Throughout his life Noguchi was constantly relocating and was inspired-and collaborated with- many of the “inventive American architects, choreographers, and painters of his time”. (PBS)  He was well respected by many artists, but he never belonged to any specific movement or school.

In his western galleries his works infuse a sense of light and shadow, of life and death and delicacy.

In his eastern(Japanese) galleries his works infuse a sense of beauty, spirit, and include “a dynamic testament to the ties between the East and West.” (PBS)

“Innumerable examples of his inventive designs, sculptures and architecture can be found worldwide in museum collections and public spaces, as well as inside everyday homes.”(theartstory.org)

Noguchi died in New York in 1988.

About Skyviewing:

One of Noguchi’s “innumerable examples of inventive sculptures” found in a public space is right here in Bellingham, Washington.  Smack-dab in the center of campus you will find Red Square, and in Red Square is Isamu Noguchi’s Skyviewing sculpture.

Described as a “tilted cube with cutouts on three sides”(WesterGalleryBooklet), Noguchi’s Skyviewing sculpture invites the viewer into its interior with its weightlessness and continuing sense of space as they look towards the moving sky.  The viewer becomes a part of the sculpture by stepping under it and therefore creates a subtle union between man and nature; just like Noguchi wanted to.  As for his influence? We like to think that even though he is obviously showing the union of man and nature here by drawing the viewer’s attention to the sky; he is also showing the cultural union of the East and West by using Japanese influences (in Japan the circular disk represents the sun and is a symbol of creation)(WesternGalleryBooklet).

Isamu Noguchi’s Skyviewing is a flawless example of the connection between man and nature, infused with hints and aspects of the cultural divide between America and Japan.

Bibliography

“Isamu Noguchi.” PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, 23 July 2015. Web. 25 Jan. 2017.

“Isamu Noguchi Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2017.

University Public Art Collection Booklet.