''Black Sun'' is a 1969 sculpture by
Isamu Noguchi
was an American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several ...
located in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Washington's
Volunteer Park. The statue is situated on the eastern edge of the park's man-made reservoir, across from the
Seattle Asian Art Museum
The Seattle Asian Art Museum (often abbreviated to SAAM) is a museum of History of Asian art, Asian art at Volunteer Park, Seattle, Volunteer Park in the Capitol Hill, Seattle, Washington, Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state) ...
. The view from the sculpture includes the
Space Needle
The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States. Considered to be an icon of the city, it has been designated a Seattle landmark. Located in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood, it was built in the Seattle Center f ...
,
Olympic Mountains
The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus is the highest at ; however, the easter ...
, and
Elliott Bay
Elliott Bay is a part of the Central Basin region of Puget Sound. It is in the U.S. state of Washington, extending southeastward between West Point in the north and Alki Point in the south. Seattle was founded on this body of water in the 1850s an ...
.
Many mistakenly believe
Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...
's hit single
Black Hole Sun
"Black Hole Sun" is a song by American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, the song was released in 1994 as the third single from the band's fourth studio album, '' Superunknown'' (1994). Considered to be the band's signat ...
was inspired by Noguchi's sculpture, as the band took their name from another outdoor public art work in Seattle,
A Sound Garden
''A Sound Garden'' is an outdoor public art work in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is one of six such works on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) campus, which lies adjacent to Warren G. Magnuson Park on the nort ...
, and the resemblance of the song's title to Noguchi's work. However, singer-songwriter
Chris Cornell
Christopher John Cornell (né Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American singer and musician best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary lyricist and songwriter for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave. H ...
attributes the song's inspiration to a misheard news broadcast.
See also
*
Black Sun (alchemy)
In alchemic and Hermetic traditions, suns () are used to symbolize a variety of concepts, much like the sun in astrology. Suns can correspond to gold, citrinitas, generative masculine principles, imagery of "the king", or Apollo, the fiery spiri ...
References
External links
Official Noguchi siteSeattle - Arts - Public Art - Parks''Black Sun'', (sculpture)at the Smithsonian Institution
1969 establishments in Washington (state)
1969 sculptures
Capitol Hill, Seattle
Granite sculptures in Washington (state)
Outdoor sculptures in Seattle
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