Noguchi Museum and Seiko
22.879
At 22.879, I took myself to the Noguchi Museum.
Broadly the museum is split into three different parts:
the main indoor first-floor with Noguchi’s stone/basalt sculptures
the outdoor portion that has the garden + more sculptures
the floating/second floor that contains some chosen works from the museum collection
Right now they are also hosting an exhibition for Toshiko Takaezu, an artist who works with ceramic sculptures.
For some reason I was expecting to see more installations related to the Noguchi table or the Akari lamps (because this is how I personally came to know about Noguchi), but nevertheless the exhibitions were still well curated.
One of the reasons I visit museums is to try and think about how the curators choose to place objects in the museum space. Ultimately I’m trying to learn how to set up and organize the objects in my own home.
“If the student is a candle, I could put this candle in an all-white gallery space and make it look like a piece of art. I could also put this candle in a garage and make it look like a piece of trash. I often think of that analogy in design. I could design the candle, or I could design the room that surrounds it. — Virgil Abloh
The materials used for the museum building do a large part in helping Noguchi’s stone sculptures exist “well” in the space. The indoor first-floor and part of the second floor are contained within concrete walls enhanced with exposed steel and wood beams, a reference to the industrial history of the museum location. Specifically, Noguchi found Long Island City a desirable location to relocate to (from Manhattan) as a result of the stone suppliers and artisans that lived in the area. The garden was peaceful and had some nice seating benches, with sculptures sprinkled around.
Takaezu’s works were also very intriguing. Some notable items here: ceramics with multiple small spouts (as opposed to one opening), the Gaea moon pots (hanging spheres supported by large hammocks), and in general the paint glaze on all the ceramics.
I was surprisingly drawn to the paintings and the weaves that were on display. The colors here remind me of something you’d find with Japanese Americana knitwear.
I also briefly stopped by the museum book store on the second floor. There were many different variants of Akari lamps; otherwise there were Akari-inspired prints, miscellaneous pots, cups, books, postcards, art supplies, and my favorite: double-sided coasters. They were selling Kuretake watercolor sets and water brush pens, so I bought one of each as a birthday gift for a friend.
For myself, I picked up a copy of ‘Listening to Stone, The Art and Life of Isamu Noguchi” by Hayden Herrera. They had a lot of other books available, mostly books of nicely cropped pictures of the Noguchi stones, but I chose the biography because I like learning about artists from their beginnings.
Some day I would love to get a biography for Jun Takahashi (Undercover founder), Justin Saunders (JJJJound founder), or Tiger Woods (I played golf back in high school— I’ve seen his entire documentary already though so that would probably suffice). For my playstyle, Fred Couples might actually be more fitting (the mayor of tempo town, I used to play gloveless because of Fred).
Seiko
On Wednesday I was working out at my apartment gym and a random guy stopped me to ask about my watch. I always wear my Seiko to the gym (or all the time unless I’m asleep), so its not something I’ve thought about until he pointed it out. Seemingly it is uncommon to see someone wear a metal watch while working out. He had just come back from Japan and had bought a Grand Seiko there, which is why he had asked me about it in the first place (he figured my watch was also a Grand Seiko).
Frankly, the “Grand Seiko Snowflake” or SBGA211 and my watch look very similar (even though there is a pretty big price gap).
Here are some differences between the two models:
placement of the crown (directly on the side vs angled on the side)
texture of the dial (textured vs smooth surface)
size (41mm vs 37mm) (grand seiko is larger)
The Grand Seiko is clean and simple, but I would personally consider the Rolex Datejust 16014 if I wanted a nicer watch. The numbers indicate the following:
160: Rolex model - datejust
1: Bezel type - fluted
4: Metal type - stainless steel and white gold
Some newer modern models I might also consider include the 116234 or 126234.
Back to the gym story, I got to know the guy a bit even though our conversation was short.
He was a 33-year-old actuary turned data scientist, born and raised in New York. I had taken a financial math class in college, so I tried to pull out some terms I had learned from the course, but unfortunately not much has stayed with me since graduating. His ex-girlfriend used to live 20 minutes out from where I grew up, so we talked a little bit about that as well. His actuary friends from college were just now finishing up their actuarial exams, and while he has since moved on from being an actuary, it seems that he’s still not fully satisfied with his career change.
He looked quite young for being a 33-year-old which surprised me, and he was surprised about my age as well (which he phrased as “jealous of my youth”).
I usually don’t go to the gym on Wednesdays, but I’m sure I’ll see him again.
If our interests align, send me a message! You can also find me on instagram @ktaetaetaetae. I share drawings and occasionally other things like pickups, music, or photos I’ve taken.