Light

Isamu Noguchi viewed light itself as a sculptural medium, and his development of light sculpture is part of his belief in the environment as essentially sculptural. Noguchi initially proposed illuminated sculpture in a c.1928 model for a neon work, and then in his 1933 design for a Musical Weathervane. But he made his first light sculptures during the 1940s, calling them Lunars. These were biomorphic sculptures of magnesite covering hidden light bulbs. Noguchi expanded this idea beyond the isolated sculptural object with three Lunar interiors built in 1947-48. But Noguchi's most well-known light sculptures are his Akari lamps, a modern update of the traditional Japanese paper lantern. Noguchi created his first Akari in 1951, and continued designing new models for the next four decades. There currently are over one hundred Akari models, still fabricated in Gifu, Japan by the same firm with which Noguchi began production. Because of his view of light as sculptural, Noguchi saw each Akari lamp as two different sculptures, one when illuminated and another when seen in reflected light.

Noguchi on Akari  |  Noguchi on Musical Weathervane  |  Essay on the history of Akari