Japanese artist Isamu Noguchi rock garden on display for public
MURE, Japan -- Inside a sprawling ring built of rough hewn rocks, American sculptor Isamu Noguchi once said he "conversed with stones." Called the "Circle," the dirt yard in the southern Japanese village of Mure served as one of Noguchi's main workshops from the late 1960s. It's now part of the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum that was opened to the public in 1999. From the towering, granite trapezoid "Energy Void" to dozens of unfinished works, the museum's 150 sculptures offer a snapshot of Noguchi's art during a period from the late 1960s until his death in 1988 when he made many of his masterpieces. Although its collection can't compare to the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, N.Y., the Mure site attracts Noguchi fans, modern-art buffs and adventurous tourists alike. It's also fascinating for anyone who wants to see Noguchi's works-in-progress, which bear the stamp if not the signature of the artist.
