Isamu Noguchi’s formula: Space, Form, People

Japanese American sculptor, Isamu Noguchi never felt truly part of either culture. The term “in between” has been used to describe how he saw himself. That term also describes how he created sculpture. While he considered sculpture “the art of space,” he was acutely aware of the viewer’s relationship with both space and form.

Noguchi believed sculpture was something to be completely experienced, not a remote observation. You become an integral part of it.

He so successfully integrates viewers into his concepts your participation is easily not fully appreciated. His reverence for active space may have led him to create public parks where people, form and space contributed and benefited from the relationship. He saw environment as sculpture whether creating a park, an installation, or set designs for dance performances with choreographers Martha Graham and George Balanchine.

I first encountered Noguchi’s work at MOMA San Francisco around 1980. A series of flat-bottomed rocks arranged across the floor created an illusion that they were breaking the surface of a pond. When you realized what he was doing with space, you also realized you must be standing on water. This shift you your perception is at the heart of many of his subscapes. 

Noguchi’s greatest work may be “Stone of Spiritual Understanding” which is another story. It was also part of this show. Several decades later, it inspired what I consider one of my strongest sculptures. Read my journey from observation through 50 sketches to a finished sculpture.