Tom Sachs takes tea with Isamu Noguchi's legacy

Sculpture by Tom Saches of wooden block with handles, pen knife and Nasa mug

Tom Sachs’ new exhibition at the Noguchi Museum combines his signature madcap bricolage with Isamu Noguchi’s serene monolithic sculptures – an improbable intersection of space travel, tea ceremony, Americana and Noguchi

(Image credit: TBC)

By Olivia Martin

last updated 27 September 2022

in News

Artist Tom Sachs’ new exhibition at Long Island City's Noguchi Museum combines his signature madcap bricolage with Isamu Noguchi’s serene monolithic sculptures – an improbable intersection of space travel, tea ceremony, Americana and Noguchi.

‘Noguchi said, "To be hybrid is to be the future,"' says Sachs. ‘He was American and Japanese; he was of the ancient path as well as the future. My installation is built around his late-basalt sculptures, which in turn become the setting for it.’

‘Tea Ceremony’ is considered the sequel to ‘Space Program Mars’, an immersive show Sachs created at New York’s Park Avenue Armory in 2012, for which he subsequently created a film, A Space Program, on view at Manhattan’s Metrograph theatre. At the end of the film (spoiler alert), a pair of astronauts resolve their differences by engaging in a tea ceremony in a teahouse on the space ship. The teahouse, as well as other ephemera from ‘Space Program Mars’, became the basis for ‘Tea Ceremony’, which evolved over the course of about 18 months between Sachs’ studio and Noguchi Museum curator Dakin Hart. It is the first single outside artist show at the museum.

Sachs made each of the tea ceremony’s chanoyu or accoutrements, including over 300 tea bowls, whisks, a hand-washing station, gates, tea boxes, 'samurai' helmet, charcoal brazier and koi pond. A bronze bonsai sculpture made from over 3,500 cast q-tips, tampon cases, toothbrushes and enema nozzles is one of Sachs’s most elaborate constructs. ‘Tom is trying to transcend the verisimilitude that is popular in the art world right now,’ says Hart. ‘Tom doesn’t fake anything – he builds real things and everything here is fully-functioning.’ Periodically throughout the show, real tea ceremonies will be performed for visitors; but even those who don’t participate in a ceremony can imbibe a sense of zen and otherworldliness as they move through the human-scale exhibition, which winds across the museum’s first floor and garden.

‘The tea ceremony is about tranquility, harmony and respect,’ says Sachs. ‘I have elevated it or debased it to represent the values of my studio – part of respect is disrespect.’

Exhibition by Tom Sachs with space suit, pool and metal block on a wooden podium — ‘Noguchi said, "To be hybrid is to be the future." He was American and Japanese; he was of the ancient path as well as the future,' says Sachs.

Collection of sculptures on display at an exhibition by Tom Sachs — 'My installation is built around his late-basalt sculptures, which in turn become the setting for it,’ says Sachs.

Woman holding a small bowl of hot coals and Tom Sachs collecting water — Guests are offered a bowl with hot coals to warm their hands. Pictured right: Tom Sachs collecting water for use in the 'Tea Ceremony'.

Sculpture by Tom Sachs of a tea shop on a space ship — ‘Tea Ceremony’ is considered the sequel to ‘Space Program Mars’, an immersive show Sachs created at New York’s Park Avenue Armory in 2012, for which he subsequently created a film. At the end of the film (spoiler alert), a pair of astronauts resolve their differences by engaging in a tea ceremony in a teahouse on the space ship

Sculptures on display at an exhibition by Tom Sachs — The teahouse, as well as other ephemera from ‘Space Program Mars’, became the basis for ‘Tea Ceremony’.

Items from Tom Sachs exhibition 'Tea Ceremony' including a green tea tin and wooden rod with plastic Yoda head — Sachs made each of the tea ceremony’s accoutrements, including over 300 tea bowls, whisks, a hand-washing station, gates, tea boxes, 'samurai' helmet, charcoal brazier and koi pond

Display of sculptures by Tom Sachs in a white painted blick room with concrete floor and large paned windows — The exhibition evolved over the course of about 18 months between Sachs’ studio and Noguchi Museum curator Dakin Hart. It is the first single outside artist show at the museum.

INFORMATION

’Tea Ceremony’ is on view until 24 July. For more information visit the Noguchi Museum’s website

ADDRESS

Noguchi Museum
9-01 33rd Road
Long Island City,
New York, 11106

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