I S A M U N O G U C H I H O O P S

Designed by Fletcher Studio, “Noguchi Hoops is an interactive game to bring awareness to the works of artist Isamu Noguchi through play. The game brings to life a previously unrealized basketball hoop designed by Noguchi and utilizes them in a series of ball related games. In all games, players take turns laying down geometric shapes derived from Noguchi play forms to create a custom court ‘terrain’. Depending on the game selected, the terrains – with names such as Moonscape, Archipelago, Mountain Range and River – are used by the players to define a rule set for movement and shooting.”

As Fletcher describes it, the “Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi believed that playgrounds offered unique opportunities for physical and social interaction not typically seen in museums, and he designed a number of spaces where people could actively engage with his art and each other. Cityscape as Playscapebrought Noguchi’s playful-meets-political philosophy to SFMOMA’s public spaces and surrounding streets. This experimental workshop series and one day public event was presented in conjunction with the exhibition Noguchi’s Playscapes, and was produced by the games initiative PlaySFMOMA in collaboration with the museum’s Public Dialogue and Architecture + Design curators.”