Before it became the Video Room (and then reverted back to a changing gallery in 2013), Area 5 was a gallery featuring 1960s-era bronzes. This summer it will be installed as close as possible to its original state–before the elevator went in, when the space was longer, had two additional doorways and was more open to Area 3. The exhibition will open with nine objects installed. On a regular schedule throughout the summer (approximately every two weeks), one or two pieces will be removed, with the aim being to leave the gallery looking, at every stage, like it had always been installed in its current state. In the end, only Stone of Spiritual Understanding will be left in an otherwise empty space.

In our 30th anniversary year the idea of the exhibition is to highlight Noguchi’s original installation and the complex task of editing it–when necessary (as in the case of fundamental changes to the building or when pieces go out on loan), as well as when programmatically desirable. Additionally, the show will provide an opportunity to consider the importance, and the subjectivity and transience, of specific installation aesthetics. If it works, it should be legitimately possible to prefer it at different stages all the way along: from a quite densely-installed survey to a focused display of a single-object.