Concept

The objective of this project is to design a three-legged stool inspired by a chosen artist or designer. I chose Isamu Noguchi, an artist who integrated the West and the East. He was half Japanese, half American. However, he was not Japanese, he was not American. His art works were influenced by Japanese culture. He was viewed as an American artist in Japan, and in America he was viewed as a Japanese artist. He always felt homelessness.

This stool represent his life and his notion of homeless.

Watch a two-minute movie that visually explains the concept of this project.

The three legs represent Isamu Noguchi. A typical three-legged stool is stable. However, the three legs of this stool are aligned in one straight line and it does not stand by itself, representing his notion of homeless, his unstable identity. You may tilt like moving back and forth between two cultures. To maintain a stable position, you must firmly plant your feet, just as you need cultural roots to establish your identity.

The red and black pieces that interweave the legs represent the two different cultures. The pieces have a slight gap between them, they have different characters, and they are going different ways, but they also support the three legs that represent Noguchi. In return, the three legs hold two pieces together in a harmonized way.

In the seat, two cultures are represented by black and red, and meet through Noguchi represented by the solid wood that has the same characteristic as the three legs, and they integrate. The center part of the seat is connected with the three legs by joinery without glue. This is my respect for Noguchi's love for Japanese joinery.