Sketchbook Thoughts on sculpture

Following the line of thought that art/sculpture could be added to Briggate as a way of slowing pedestrians/shoppers who are using Briggate. i.e. giving them a reason to stop and assess the space which is Briggate.

Art/sculpture could be added to Briggate in many ways, including a random placing of sculpture into Briggate BUT surely the sculpture which could develop on Briggate should actually have some CONNECTION or TIE to Briggate?

So often in design the underlying reasons behind the choices during the design process go unnoticed in the final product.

Sculpture for example can be classed as a personal and emotional response expressed in a material form.

It can be appreciated and enjoyed by anyone, but usually it takes a certain level of understanding of the sculptor and why he made the choices he did to fully appreciate the work.

The Well (Variation on a Tsukubai), 1982, basalt. Installed at the Noguchi Museum, Long Island City, New York. Photo: © Sarah Wells, 1993.

Take the above sculpture by Isamu Noguchi. I can appreciate the smooth clean form and the highly tactile rough sections but I don't understand why they are there.

I feel that to fully appreciate the work involved in crafting this sculpture I need to know more about the creative process undertaken by the sculptor.

Simply looking at a sculpture is like looking directly into the sculptor's soul but without the translation book.

It wasn't until I researched into the sculptor that I fully appreciated the piece of work.

Isamu Noguchi travels all over the globe finding the appropriate type of rock for his sculpture, one with the right texture, grain, colour. Once found, he will carefully remove the rock from the earth and sculpt his piece following a private and personal inspiration. He will always leave a section of the rock unfinished and un-polished to represent the influence that mother nature has had on his sculpture.

In essence, in all his work, he is acknowledging another author and thanking them for their input.

This additional knowledge and understanding enhances my appreciation and enjoyment of the sculpture.

How can people easily appreciate the understanding behind the sculpture without a deep research into the sculptor?

i.e. How can a piece of sculpture come with a translation book and if it did, would this spoil the experience or enhance it?