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WHEN EAST MEETS
WEST: Isamu noguchi
#designer
By Wessel Stoltz
“YOU CAN FIND
OUT HOW TO
DO SOMETHING
AND THEN DO IT
OR DO SOMETHING AND
THEN FIND OUT
WHAT YOU DID.”
ISAMU NOGUCHI
Illegitimate children have a long history of sticking it to the world: Leonardo
Da Vinci painted, sculpted and invented his way into the history books, Evita
Peron pretty much ran Argentina (you
know the saying of “behind every powerful man...”) and has a musical waxing lyrical about her. And then there’s
Ted Bundy who was, well he was just a
very, very angry man...
And sticking it to the world was exactly
what Isamu Noguchi did. Despite his illegitimate (we find the B-word a bit harsh
for someone as influential as Mr. Noguchi) status and his father’s dubious parenting skills, Isamu Noguchi triumphed
over adversity and became a world-renowned artist.
Born in 1904 to the celebrated Japanese poet, Yone Noguchi and the
American writer Leonie Gilmour,
one could be forgiven for thinking
that Isamu Noguchi would forge his
future from behind the typewriter.
As history would have it, he instead
invested his creative flair and artistic talents in becoming one of the
20th century’s most important and
critically acclaimed sculptors.
Noguchi showed an early interest
in sculpting and was lucky enough
to become an apprentice to Gutzon
Borglum – the man behind the four
faces on Mount Rushmore. Borglum, however, wasn’t too interested in his pupil’s sculpting skills and
preferred to use him as a model.