Intro To Art

 young Noguchi

 Tour guide Holly

 The Well

Fudo

Essay # 3 Blog Post

On May 18, 2016 the class visited The Noguchi Museum. It was also Art museum day on that date to the admission fee was free. The museum is located in Long Island City, Astoria which gives it a magical touch for some of Noguchi’s sculptures at display. The Noguchi museum was founded and designed by himself Japanese- American artist Isamu Noguchi born on 1904 and died 1988. The museum was opened in 1985 and was the first to be established in America by a living artist. Noguchi was different and led a unique lifestyle than most he was one of a kind and I believe it’s what made him such a great artist. The most amazing thing about the museum was that Noguchi was the curator of his own museum and it gives us a better idea and understanding of his works. Our tour guide Holly shared with our group some interesting facts about Noguchi and his parents. The museum opened in 1985 and Noguchi died in 1988, he was 84 yrs old but at least he got to see his museum available to the public. While visiting the museum 2 sculptures I decided to observe and use in my essay which were “The Well” and “Fudo.” In “The Well” we can clearly see 2 sides of the sculpture. One side is smooth and the other rough. On the top there’s a circle right in the middle with different color sides. Theirs is also water equally flowing which might represent peaceful movement. This I would consider it a subtractive carving because he had to shape the well but also additive because he added the movement of the water and completed the sculpture by placing it in an area where it could be understood by all people. I would also consider the sculpture as a nonrepresentational art because he created this new work and it’s not very common to see it in our surroundings because it’s unique. He also used different ideas behind the work and maybe he created 2 different sides by which represented him and left some American culture and some Japanese in his art. He felt he needed to express himself and leave a mark of the creator in the piece of art. The other piece of work was also his “Fudo” which also has two different part created in different regions of the world but united as one piece of art. One part which is the top is like a round figure made of granite. The base is made of metal which is shiny, smooth and completes the sculpture. The word “Fudo” means guardian of Pluto. I would consider the sculpture a carved and subtractive work of art and a nonrepresentational art. Holly our tour guide mentioned the top part of art was created in Japan and the other was created in the U.S. now as we compare the two works of art they are very similar because both have 2 sides I could easily say from my experience at the museum and learning about Noguchi himself I can safely say we poured some of his American and Japanese heart on to his works. That was who he was he belonged to both but wanted to share that with his viewers.  As we analyze them and contrast them we can clearly see that 2 pieces of art were converted into one piece in order to create something unique. Because when you analyze either art we can see an American perspective and on the other side we see the Japanese perspective. He used 2 different ideas to his advantage and created something Noguchi, just like him with two sides of his heart. He was an extraordinary artist for which not only an artist but also a designer/ engineer/ artist. He did it all and won the heart of the people. We are very lucky to have his museum nearby and being able to admire his works from a close angle is very special for all people even better for art lovers. It is a great privilege to be able to visit and see the museum he created for us. I admire his courage and creativity because it teaches us that different is okay and good will come out of it. I will end with one of his sayings “to be hybrid anticipates the future.” And proved his words to be correct at the end of the day.