Noguchi's quote

"I am excited by the idea that sculpture creates space, that shapes intended for this purpose, properly scaled in a space, actually create a greater space. There is a difference between actual cubic feet of space and the additional space that the imagination supplies. One is measure, the other an awareness of the void-our existence in this passing world."
(Quoted in Isamu Noguchi, A Sculptor's World, 1968)
How amazing is that. And then in another interview with Sam Hunter in 1980, he talked about "tables as suggest landscape," and "every garden is a landscape, and every garden can be considered a table, too, especially Zen gardens."
I am holding in my hand a book called Isamu Noguchi Space of Akari & Stone. The images are from his exhibition of Akari lamps and stone sculptures... They are just plain wonderful... so wonderful that I have been looking at them for more than 5 years and they still deliver. I am always surprised, amazed... every single time.
I love this quote so much, it says a lot about him and his work "I am always looking for a new way of saying the same thing." (quoted in Sam Hunter, Isamu Noguchi-75th Birthday Exhibition, 1980). Look at the traditional Japanese paper lanterns and his Akari lamps, then you will understand what I am writing about... He reinvented the known materials, gave them new lives, promoted them further... That is what truly modern about his work... He totally understood the tectonic of bamboo, paper and light... the same goes for stone as well. I wish I got to see any of his stone sculptures now...