Page 40 - Studio International - July August 1968

The sculptor and the architect

Isamu Noguchi

Architects have told me that when they go to see Mr Moore he are, they constantly look large. I think that in an island, in Britain,
shows them a shelf full of sculptures and says 'Alright. Which one, where space is also constricted, lessons may be learned from the
and how big?' I've had this attitude expressed by other sculptors; Japanese about the illusory creation of space.
they disdained the idea of compromising with sculpture. I remember, Of course, the Japanese use this entirely as an art form, that is to
for instance, David Smith—I've had many arguments with him say in the frame of reference of gardens and the like; I don't think
because he thought I was very foolish in considering architects at all. they're any better than anybody else in relation to cityscapes or land-
In fact, as far as I could make out, both Mr Smith and Mr Moore scapes other than the confines of a given garden. I don't think that
despised architects and thought that there should be no idea of they are very conscious; in fact, all their gardens are very private
compromise. affairs, they don't come out into the open, they don't necessarily
I have taken another attitude in that, as I think everything is want people walking in them; most Japanese gardens are for look-
relative in size and it's all a question of relative scale, I have come to ing at from a verandah, they're not for space enjoyment.
feel that sculpture can only be of significance to architecture and to I think there must be some way whereby the enjoyment of space
the space of human environment as something conclusive in relation may be acquired. Grass isn't all that sacred. Nature is not neces-
to that space. sarily just grass. Man might supply ways of controlling the barriers
This attitude of mine, I believe, comes a good deal from the work and so forth he acquires to protect whatever he wants of nature and
that I have done over the years in the theatre, especially with Martha yet still have it enjoyable.
Graham. Since 1935, I have done twenty sets with her and some I think the relationship of sculpture to buildings requires a con-
other things for ballet. In the theatre, given the space of the stage, sideration of all these factors. The spaces around buildings should be
everything of course is illusion : bigness as such is merely a matter of, treated in such a way as to dramatize and make the space meaningful
let's say, perspective and relationship. The only thing that tends to and the sculptures should not be just 'objects'. The sculpting of
question this matter of scale are the people who perform: they tend space—sculpture which defines space—may even be invisible as
to throw you back into the question of human scales, of how to show sculpture and still exist as sculptural space. The relationship of the
something gigantic, for instance, on a stage. It must be an illusory architect to the sculptor should be reconsidered on this basis. The
sort of thing. However, the illusion can be worked quite effectively. sculptor is not merely a decorator of buildings but a serious colla-
For instance, the first set I did for Martha Graham consisted of a borator with the architect in the creation of significant space and of
rope which went from the centre back of the stage to the upper ends significant shapes which define this space.
of the proscenium, thereby cutting the stage space in a perspective I think the public is becoming aware of this and will welcome a new
delineation so that the whole of the area in that void seemed to jump approach if architects would permit it. Architects have a rather
out at the audience. I realized then that the sense of vastness could ambivalent attitude towards sculptors : on the one hand, they feel a
be accomplished through such simple means, by the placement and little guilty and say 'Well, of course we want to use sculpture', and
proportion of things, by the lighting, by the use to which these are then, when they do, they don't know what to do; some of them say
put in the dance, how they are treated. A sense of infinite distance `Here's a niche' or 'Here's an angle' or 'There's a little spot here.
can be created even on as small an area as the stage. Why don't you give us something to put here?' which is entirely
You might say my awareness of this comes also from my experience opposite to what I would like to see happen. New York had a kind of
of Japan. The Japanese, being very restricted in their space, have `Sculpture in the City' Happening last year, in which large primary
over the centuries evolved ways of creating the illusion of space, objects were placed here and there. While it lasted it was very nice
especially in their gardens, of the distances of the sea or of mountain to suddenly come upon something of a large size, although none of
views and so forth, when they're using very small areas. Generally them really amounted to much in the matter of scale, not because
speaking, these illusions are created through an isometric triangula- they were not big enough—I don't think that's the real question,
tion so that the eye is constantly carried from one to the other and because nothing can be really big enough if you want to compare it
there is no end to the vastness that appears to exist. Like, for instance, to a sixty-storey building—but there are such things as scale which
the famous Stone Garden of Ryuanji: there are seven rocks. It could might be enhanced through a proper awareness of the space avail-
be any size. Actually it's not very big, it's no bigger than, let's say, able in relation to the height available; maybe there are such things
three times a very good-sized room; yet, sitting on the verandah as bulk, volume, which when contrasted to something of a lesser
there, and looking at it, it could be a vast sea with islands, it could be bulk or solidity is effective as something weighty. There are many
any infinity you wish. As a matter of fact, it's very difficult to really ways of supplying a counterpoint to a building. It's a question of a
know how small they are because you cannot get near them because mass. And with these new tall buildings, in New York at least, there
of the gravel being raked, and you cannot see how small those rocks are requirements of space. That is to say, there is a sacrifice of space
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