the sky in our hands, our hands in the sky (2023)
single-channel video
47 minutes
directed by Leilehua Lanzilotti
music by Leilehua Lanzilotti
cinematography by Gahlord Dewald
Commissioned by The Noguchi Museum
Leilehua Lanzilotti, still from the sky in our hands, our hands in the sky, 2023. Single-channel video, 46 minutes. Directed by Leilehua Lanzilotti;
music by Leilehua Lanzilotti; cinematography by Gahlord Dewald. Courtesy of the artist.
The hidden soundscapes of Toshiko Takaezu’s closed ceramic forms have long captivated Leilehua Lanzilotti, Kanaka Maoli sound artist, composer, and co-curator of the Takaezu retrospective upstairs.
Over the course of several years, Lanzilotti collected recordings of Takaezu’s closed forms, gently tapping their surfaces and revolving them so the small ceramic rattles within them resound.
Like Takaezu, Lanzilotti finds echoes of the brilliant landscapes of Hawai‘i in the combination of vibrant glazes and quiet interior aural environments. Lanzilotti has combined the recorded sounds of Takaezu’s closed forms with footage shot on Hawaiʻi island, at the base of Kīlauea, the slopes of Mauna Loa, and the top of Mauna Kea. In the overlay of sound, texture, color, and light, we get the feeling of being inside Takaezu’s multisensory landscapes.
the sky in our hands, our hands in the sky honors the wahi pana (translated literally as, “places with a heartbeat”) featured throughout. Kū kiaʻi mauna.
Leilehua Lanzilotti, still from the sky in our hands, our hands in the sky, 2023. Single-channel video, 46 minutes. Directed by Leilehua Lanzilotti;
music by Leilehua Lanzilotti; cinematography by Gahlord Dewald. Courtesy of the artist.
Takaezu’s works featured sonically in the installation:
Alchemy #1, c. 1995
Stoneware
61 × 29 1/2 in. (154.9 × 74.9 cm)
Honolulu Museum of Art, Gift of Toshiko Takaezu, 2005, 13529.1
Closed Form, n.d.
Porcelain
8 x 10 x 10 in. (20.3 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm)
Honolulu Museum of Art, Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and gift of anonymous donor, TCM.1993.18.2
Closed Form, n.d.
Stoneware
8 3/4 x 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (22.2 x 21.6 x 21.6 cm)
Honolulu Museum of Art, Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and gift of the Artist, TCM.2007.5.3
Closed Form, 1988
Porcelain
6 1/4 x 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 in. (15.9 x 13.3 x 13.3 cm)
Honolulu Museum of Art, Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and anonymous gift, TCM.2000.31.17
Closed Form, 1980
Porcelain
8 3/8 x 5 3/4 x 5 3/4 in. (21.3 x 14.6 x 14.6 cm)
Honolulu Museum of Art, Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and anonymous gift, TCM.2000.31.15
Garden Seat, c. 1967
Stoneware
11 1/2 x 11 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (29.2 x 29.2 x 29.2 cm)
Honolulu Museum of Art, Gift of The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, 2011, and gift of Ken Kingrey, TCM.1981.10.975
Closed Form, n.d.
Stoneware
22 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (57.2 x 26.7 x 26.7 cm)
Private Collection
Closed Form, 2009
Stoneware
20 x 12 1/2 x 12 1/2 in. (50.8 x 31.8 x 31.8 cm)
Private Collection
Form (River Stone), n.d.
Porcelain
4 x 11 x 11 1/2 in. (10.2 x 27.9 x 29.2 cm)
Private Collection
All works © Family of Toshiko Takaezu
Photo by Gahlord Dewald, within still from the sky in our hands, our hands in the sky, 2023. Single-channel video, 46 minutes. Directed by Leilehua Lanzilotti;
music by Leilehua Lanzilotti; cinematography by Gahlord Dewald. Courtesy of the artist.
Currently on View
The Noguchi Museum, March 20 to July 28, 2024
Cranbrook Art Museum, September 11, 2024–January 12, 2025
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 2–May 18, 2025
Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, September 8–December 23, 2025
Honolulu Museum of Art, February 13–July 26, 2026