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Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘Sculpture to Be Seen from Mars' sets the tone in a deeply stirring exhibit about time and our place in it
That image covers a whole wall of 'Isamu Noguchi: Landscapes of Time,' the brand-new, deeply stirring exhibition of the artist's work, just opened at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown. I would say it sets the tone here, but given the thrumming sense of low-level dread cloaking the space, sunshine be damned, no tone needs setting. Along with nearly three-dozen works, each somber, spare, and disarmingly gorgeous, 'Landscapes of Time' affirms the resonant depth of Noguchi's thinking, and profoundly resituates him in the culture. "Isamu Noguchi: Landscapes of Time," at the Clark Art Institute, as seen from across the museum's reflecting pool. Courtesy Clark Art Institute You're most likely to know him from his still readily-available consumer product design: his delicately gorgeous Akari light sculptures, fragile rice paper stretched around twiggy armatures in an array of shapes and sizes (though most famously, spheres); a dozen or more hang here in a cluster, casting the room in their warm glow. They both reassure the casual viewer with familiarity, and confirm that, for Noguchi himself, it was all of a piece. 1947, the same year he conceived 'Sculpture to Be Seen from Mars,' he signed on with the Advertisement It's not here, but the table's aesthetic — contoured, spare, elemental — is pervasive. Noguchi's work, varied across media like stone, steel, wood, bronze, and in one delightful surprise here, Bakelite has a particular cast, like DNA, and the show confirms it, with a notable exception: 'Measured Time,' 1932, the aforementioned Bakelite, a clock/timer made for Fisher Scientific. Squat and shiny-smooth, it helps clarify the parallel lines of his art/product practice from the very beginning. ('Everything is sculpture,' Noguchi, who died in 1988, once said. 'Any material, any idea without hindrance born into space.') Isamu Noguchi, "Measured Time," 1934. Courtesy Clark Art Institute Here, its job is symbolic. This is a show about time, and the static objects in Noguchi's world that mark its passage — through the workaday, through trauma, and everything in between. Coolly, obliquely, 'Landscapes of Time' is about mortality, imagined remnants of an expired civilization left behind on an indifferent planet. 'This Earth, This Passage,' 1962, a rough, broad disc of bronze, hollow at the center, lies splayed on the floor. To make it, Noguchi paced barefoot on a mound of clay, slowly marching it flat before casting it in bronze. It's a record of hours and days spent. 'Time Thinking,' 1968, a bulky fragment of basalt, perches on a rustic wooden plinth; Noguchi gave it the barest of form, chipping into rocky hide, but largely let it be. Its rust-colored skin, a natural oxidation process, is intact. It's an expression of the light imprint any of us makes in our brief moments on earth. Advertisement Within Noguchi's notions of mortality is an inevitable fatalism, I think, and it's hard to blame him. Born in Los Angeles in 1904, his early childhood was marked by strident anti-Japanese sentiment that bled over into public policy. His father left for Japan while his mother, Leonie Gilmour, an Irish-American teacher, was pregnant with him. In 1906, San Francisco, where they lived, mandated segregated schools for Japanese children, and Gilmour took her son to live with his father in Japan. Foreground: Isamu Noguchi, "Time Thinking," 1968. On view in "Isamu Noguchi: Landscapes of Time," at the Clark Art Institute. Courtesy Clark Art Institute Celebrity portraits were a means to an end, a funding stream for more challenging work before his commercial design work took off. Advertisement Isamu Noguchi's signature scored into "This Earth, This Passage," 1962 (detail). Murray Whyte/Boston Globe Then living in New York, he was exempt from the federal government's Japanese internment program, enacted in 1942; even so, amid rising anti-Japanese animus, he made the extraordinary decision vast fenced-in tent city in the Arizona desert where 18,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned for years. It was an act of inexhaustible optimism amid the trauma of mass displacement that would see 100,000 people interned in 10 locations nationwide. A well-known artist by that time, with a network of connections in Hollywood and New York, Noguchi meant to use his status to establish arts and recreation programs in the camp to buoy the internees' spirits. By fostering creativity in the Japanese-American community from within the camps, he argued in an unpublished essay for Reader's Digest, he was serving 'the cause of democracy in the best way that seemed open to me.' In an echo with clear resonance to our own moment of upheaval, he was both an artist of uncommon courage then, and of uncommon relevance right now . Advertisement From left, Isamu Noguchi, "Remembrance (Mortality)," 1944; "The Seed," 1946. On view at "Isamu Noguchi: Landscapes of Time," at the Clark Art Institute. Murray Whyte/Boston Globe But the misery of the camps left a mark. He was largely unsuccessful in his pursuit, and even though he was there voluntarily, he was not allowed to leave; extracting himself took months. Many of the works in 'Landscapes of Time' are shot through with specific wartime anxieties. 'Remembrance (Mortality),' 1944, disheveled and forlorn, groups together an interlocking amalgam of sculpted fragments in dark American mahogany; it feels like mourning in physical form. The atomic bombs would drop a year later, and 'Sculpture to Be Seen from Mars' shortly after. Its aftershocks would resound in his work for years. 'Bell Tower for Hiroshima,' 1950, a spindly tower of pale wood with dangling clay bells, feels as much like skeletal remains as a memorial. 'Skin and Bones,' from he same year and hung nearby, seems to confirm it: an oblong ceramic loop in bone-gray, it's pierced at odd intervals by spears of dark wood. Another, in gray stoneware, has the softened contours of a human heart; he called it 'Ghost,' 1952. Clockwise, from left: "Bell Tower for Hiroshima," 1950; "Skin and Bones," 1950; "Ghost," 1952; "My Mu," 1950. All on view in "Isamu Noguchi: Landscapes of Time," at the Clark Art Institute. Murray Whyte/Boston Globe While his work grew increasingly abstract, it remained tethered to the real world. In the 1960s, as space-age optimism ran parallel to growing Cold War dread, Noguchi embraced the long view: In heavy granite, he seemed to celebrate the advancements: 'Lunar Table,' 1961-65, with its undulating regularity, seemed to imagine a landscape of wonder in the years before American astronauts would see the moon's surface for the first time. But the resonant piece here, for me, is 'Origin,' 1968. a dome of black basalt flecked and chipped along its flanks as it rises to the smooth curve of its apex. It is, to me, in a permanent state of becoming — an emergence never over, or complete. Noguchi may have liked to imagine himself in the same way. Advertisement 'Sometimes I think I'm part of this world of today,' he told an interviewer in 1972. 'Sometimes I feel that maybe I belong in history or in prehistory, or that there's no such thing as time.' But as he reached back and gazed forth, he knew the truth. 'Origin' sits at the foot of that photograph, a primal face scored into the earth's skin after all human life has departed. We are temporary, it says, in Noguchi's own voice; time is forever, and always wins. ISAMU NOGUCHI: LANDSCAPES OF TIME Through Oct. 13. Clark Art Institute, 225 South St., Williamstown. 413-458-2303, Murray Whyte can be reached at
GMA Network
05-08-2025
- Sport
- GMA Network
PVL: Chen Tagaod delivers clutch aces as Akari sweeps Petro Gazz for QF berth
Chen Tagaod torched Petro Gazz from the service line as Akari completed a hard-fought 32-30, 25-22, 25-19 win in the 2025 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) On Tour knockout round on Tuesday at the PhilSports Arena. The rookie outside spiker out of Far Eastern University delivered four of the Chargers' last five points, highlighted by three huge aces in a row, as they advanced to the quarterfinals where they will go up against Cignal. Tagaod's heroics sealed Akari's gritty straight-sets victory. Both teams figured in an extended Set 1 with the Angels, the reigning All-Filipino Conference champions, forcing a 30-all deadlock on a power kill from Myla Pablo. But Ivy Lacsina came up with two straight attacks from the left wing to close out the opening frame, 32-30. Akari once again raced to an early lead in Set 2 with Ezra Madrigal returning an overpass from Petro Gazz for a 23-18 cushion before Petro Gazz answered with a 4-1 rampage to trim the gap to two, 22-24. Grethcel Soltones then unleashed one from the left side and used the hands of Joy Dacoron to secure a check-out point, sending Akari to a commanding 2-0 set lead. Akari clinched an early 10-5 lead in the third frame before Petro Gazz responded with a 9-2 blast that swung the lead into their favor, 14-12. But Soltones, Tagaod, and Eli Soyud fueled the finishing touches with Soyud unloading a hammer from the opposite side before a Pablo attack error made it a 20-17 lead for Akari. Petro Gazz retaliated with two points in a row but Tagaod came alive, attacking from the left wing before serving up three straight aces to deliver the match point at 24-19. Soltones punctated the sweep, completing a cross court attack and eliminating the Angels from contention. —JMB, GMA Integrated News
Leaders
04-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Leaders
Licensing Agreement: Manga Arabia to Publish 'Grendizer U' in Arabic
Manga Arabia has signed a licensing agreement with pioneering Japanese manga publisher HERO'S Inc to license, translate, and publish various prominent Japanese manga titles in Arabic, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The agreement is an integral part of Manga Arabia's mission to provide manga enthusiasts across Arab world with compelling content. Interestingly, the agreement includes the rights to Akari, Gin no Kun, as well as the renowned Grendizer U, a remake of the iconic series created by renowned Japanese artist Go Nagai. The classic Grendizer series was serialized from October 1975 to May 1976, gaining widespread popularity across the Arab world with the official Arabic release of Grendizer U marking a pivotal step for long-time fans of this title. Crucially, the current collaboration reflects Manga Arabia's dedication to establishing strategic partnerships with prestigious international entities in the manga industry. That is why the company is currently expanding its reach both regionally and globally through its publications Manga Arabia Youth and Manga Arabia Kids, both are available in digital and print formats. So far, Manga Arabia's applications have exceeded 12 million downloads in more than 195 countries, and its monthly print distribution surpasses 250,000 copies across the Arab world. Meanwhile, the company has been intensifying its efforts to strengthen its international presence through the launch of Manga International, headquartered in Tokyo – a strategic step aiming at fostering its presence in key global markets. Related Topics: Manga Productions Signs Deal to Launch 'Sonic' Game in Middle East Saudi Museums Commission to Host Manga Hokusai Manga Exhibition on Jan 15 Manga Productions Boosts Japanese Collaboration for Riyadh Season Short link : Post Views: 13
GMA Network
15-07-2025
- Sport
- GMA Network
PVL: Akari mounts huge Set 3 comeback to complete sweep win vs. Capital1
The Akari Chargers crawled back from eight points down in the third set en route to a 25-23, 25-18, 25-23 win against Capital1 in the 2025 PVL On Tour on Tuesday at the FIlOil EcoOil Centre. The Chargers erased a 21-13 deficit in the final frame thanks to timely substitutions and endgame composure, improving to a 2-3 win-loss card while also denying the Solar Spikers (0-5) their breakthrough win. Eli Soyud paced Akari with 12 points while middle blocker Ezra Madrigal and Grethcel Soltones chipped in 11 and nine markers apiece with the latter collecting 15 digs as well. A regrouped Capital1 unleashed a hot 4-0 start in Set 3 before Rachel Austero unloaded a strong ace to make it a 21-12 cushion for the wards of Alas Women head coach Jorge de Brito. But that didn't take the fight out of Akari with Soltones powering through from the left wing before Capital1's opposite spiker Syd Niegos went wide on her back row kill, pulling the Chargers to within three at 21-18. Shola Alvarez would complete a combination play to bring life back to Capital1, 22-18. But Akari stayed composed with newly-subbed Steph Bustrillo providing the unlikely spark, knocking down the hammer from the opposite side before Soltones broke down the wall to tie things up at 22-all. Kacey Galdones brought Capital to a 23-22 cushion, but Akari answered with three straight points capped by an ace from Kamille Cal and an error from Capital 1 to complete the comeback. In the first game, Nxled had its franchise-best start after a hard-fought sweep victory over Galeries, 26-24, 25-23, 25-23. EJ Cariño was at the forefront of offense with 16 points laced with nine receptions while Jovelyn Fernandez and Chiara Permentilla chipped in 14 and 13 markers apiece as they cruised to an impressive 3-0 card. The Highrisers, meanwhile, fell to a winless 0-3 record. —JMB, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
Mars Alba joins Akari Chargers
Mars Alba has signed with the Akari Chargers. The Chargers confirmed the development on Wednesday, days after Choco Mucho announced Alba's departure from the team. "Chargers fam, can't wait to see you and sana suportahan n'yo ako with the Akari Chargers," Alba said in a video. Alba is expected to replace fellow Lasallian Michelle Cobb who has retired from competitive volleyball and is now Akari's assistant team manager. —JKC, GMA Integrated News
