Essay #3

       The Noguchi Museum was founded and designed by a Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988). The museum display Noguchi life’s works and few Tom Sachs. Unlike other two Museums we visited in Manhattan, the Noguchi Museum has less visitors and it is very peaceful, that is very helpful when I concentrate and appreciation on their artworks.

       The class was divided into two groups, and I was in second groups. At the beginning,  the guide brought us to the second floor, and show us one of the Noguchi’s works which represent Noguchi himself. The exhibit has two parts. The first part is a stone with smooth surface, on the top of the stone has a fluting like a water channel all the way to the back. Under the stone is a triangle metal support. It's direct cut-in the bottom of the stone. This exhibit is very abstract, I don’t really understand it, but based on discussions between classmate and the Noguchi’s life that narrate by our guide. I guess the metal support represents the industrial age, and the entire exhibit represents Noguchi lived in two different worlds, Japan and America where, and suffering by straddle on two different cultures. After the discussions of this exhibit, we had a small activity. The guide took two baskets out, there are some wood bricks, stones, branches, shells, tin foil, etc. The activity is each of us pick up something from baskets, and put them together. The interest is when we just simply placed them together, they become something different, something like arts, or something pretty. I remember someone place a branch next to shell. That makes me to have an image of a ship dock on the beach.

       In the next, the guide brought us to see is Tom Sachs artwork which is about Japanese tea ceremony. The first of his work we saw is a unique tree which is made by bathroom supplies such as cotton swabs, toothbrush, center of toilet paper. Then we visited his tiny tea house. In Tom Sachs’ exhibit area, I felt a strong sense of the tea ceremony that being represented. Not just because exhibits make me feel that, and also layout in this area. The tea house, pool, tree, pavilion, and stone, all these exhibits in an area create illusion that here is   a garden where we can enjoy tea. Last part, the guide brought us to visit is Noguchi’s stone sculpture. 

      Addition, there is a stone sculpture, I had been looking at it for ten minutes. Its name is To Intrude on Nature’s Way, and it is basalt. When I saw it without read its name and note, I was wondering why Noguchi cut a nature stone into three piece, then put it back. After reading Noguchi’s note. I was kind of understanding his motive. As a Japanese-American, Noguchi is artistic style is between Eastern and Western. In Japanese culture, art of stone in a garden should not deviate from nature, but he also an American artist so he doesn’t want to hide his marks. I think the contradiction of this sculpture may also represent himself as a Japanese-American.

       The experience in the Noguchi museum was great. Although there are too many abstract works, Noguchi’s sculptures are show different style between Eastern and Western, Nature and manmade.