Synopsis
Referring to the extraordinary array and breadth of the sculptor's work, Buckminster Fuller called Noguchi 'the comprehensive artist without peer in our times'. Using materials that ranged from stone, marble, wood and cast iron to wire, rope, burlap and space itself, Noguchi created carvings, constructions, gardens, architectural projects, playgrounds and, inevitably, theatre designs. It was especially the theatre of dance -- the movement of bodies in relation to forms and space -- that Noguchi saw as sculpture brought to life. This book celebrates Noguchi's contributions to dance with photographs of and commentary on 37 of his set designs, mainly for Martha Graham but also for such other choreographers as George Balanchine, Erick Hawkins, Merce Cunningham, Yuriko and Ruth page. The splendid photographs, mainly by Arnold Eagle, Philipe Halsman and Max Waldman, dramatically capture the movement and mood of the dances and their interaction with Noguchi's settings. The commentary, from original and revival program notes, author Robert Tracy and Noguchi himself, recalls the content of each of the danced and the vision behind each of the sculptor's creations.
For dance lovers and art lovers, this is a book to treasure.