Shingu: Message from Nature - Tapa dura

Although originally trained as a painter, Shingu became interested in sculpture when he saw one of his shaped canvases turning softly in the wind. The work that followed relied on natural forces to make it move or make sound, and he began using more sophisticated materials for outdoor works. By the time of Expo '70 in Osaka, Shingu had been commissioned to create a piece for the plaza. It contained many of the elements he would use later: parts of it were moved by both wind and water, in some ways harnessing their power but also buffeted by it. His work walks the fine line between complementing nature and being an integral part of it. The pieces, though large, colorful, and usually made of modern materials, adopt nature's rhythms in their movement. Shingu's sculpture is found around the world, from Japan to France, Italy, and the United States. In addition to creating sculptures, he has written and illustrated several children's books and designed several theater pieces that integrate his sculptures and installations with dramatic stories. All of these endeavors are collected here - along with the artist's comments on many of the sculptures, essays by Pierre Restany and Renzo Piano, and an interview with Joseph Giovannini - in a monograph that provides a complete portrait of Shingu's diverse career.

Susumu Shingu's graceful, wind- and water-powered kinetic sculpture is presented here in more than two hundred spectacular color photographs, along with commentary and the artist's sketches, in this comprehensive monograph of his thirty-year career. Shingu's sculpture is found around the world, from all over Japan to France, Italy, and the United States. His infinite curiosity about the wonders of nature has driven him to write and illustrate several books and to create theater pieces in which he integrates the world of his sculpture and human movements. All of these endeavors are collected here, and combined with the artist's comments, essays by Pierre Restany and Renzo Piano, and an interview with Joseph Giovannini, this monograph is a complete portrait of Shingu's diverse career.