closed form etudes — Leilehua Lanzilotti

closed form etudes (2023)

single-channel video
15 minutes
directed by Leilehua Lanzilotti
music by Leilehua Lanzilotti
cinematography by Gahlord Dewald

Commissioned by The Noguchi Museum for the exhibition Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within*

Takaezu maintained a practice of inserting small bits of clay into her closed ceramic forms so they would rattle when handled. They contain hidden soundscapes revealed only through touch. Takaezu described the practice of adding rattles to her closed forms as “sending messages.”

In these video studies, sound artist and exhibition co-curator Leilehua Lanzilotti activates selected closed forms. To locate these works throughout the exhibition, look for [ headphones icon ] on the exhibition maps and follow the QR codes to watch and listen on the Museum’s mobile guide in the Bloomberg Connects app.

Lanzilotti also created a separate video installation inspired by Takaezu’s soundscapes and the landscape of Hawaiʻi, which is on view in Area 5. Also on view downstairs, in the garden, is a bronze bell that Takaezu created in the 1980s—another example of her interest in sound.

Takaezu’s works in order of appearance:

Closed Form, late 1970s-early 1980s
Porcelain
5 5/8 x 4 1/4 in. (14.3 x 10.8 cm)
The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, C-V-26a

Closed Form, c. 1970s
Porcelain
2 x 4 1/8 in. (5.1 x 10.5 cm)
The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, Study Collection, C-S-83

Closed Form, c. 1960
Porcelain
8 × 6 in. (20.3 × 15.2 cm)
Private Collection

Closed Form, 1960s
Stoneware
8 1/2 x 10 in. (21.6 x 25.4 cm)
Private Collection

Closed Form (“Ocean Edge”), 1994
Porcelain
7 × 5 in. (17.8 × 12.7 cm)
Private Collection

Garden Seat, mid-to late 1960s
Salt-fired stoneware
17 × 11 in. (43.2 × 27.9 cm)
Private Collection

Closed Form, 1988
Stoneware
30 × 11 × 9 in. (76.2 × 27.9 × 22.9 cm)
Private Collection

Closed Form (Ocean Edge series), 1992
Porcelain
7 1/2 x 5 in. (19.1 x 12.7 cm)
Private Collection