Keeping Flowers Alive. Acoustic Ikebana
Isamu Noguchi’s Heaven stone garden Sogetsu Plaza, Tokyo | 8–18 November 2024
Between 8 and 18 November 2024, Tokyo’s Sogetsu Plaza hosted Katarzyna Krakowiak-Bałka’s installation Keeping Flowers Alive. Acoustic Ikebana. Situated in Isamu Noguchi’s Heaven stone garden, the project merged architecture, sound, nature, and textiles, drawing inspiration from ikebana and the experimental legacy of the Sogetsu Art Center.
The installation featured “acoustic ikebana,” amplified through strategically placed speakers and submerged microphones, transforming architectural voids into vibrant, living spaces. Hand-pleated fabrics interacted with the garden’s acoustics, creating a dynamic soundscape in which flowers resonated and reflected the balance and emptiness of traditional ikebana.
At the heart of the work was Lycoris radiata, a red spider lily symbolizing both beauty and danger. Contact microphones and speakers amplified the subtle sounds of the plants, highlighting strategies of survival and resilience in nature.
The project also paid tribute to the women of Sogetsu, who shaped the school’s physical and acoustic spaces through the contemplative practice of flower arranging. By blending the silence of ikebana with experimental soundscapes, Krakowiak-Bałka bridged tradition and contemporary creativity.
Visitors experienced an immersive environment, where vibrations simulated the flowers’ responses to environmental stress, inviting reflection on the interplay between human intervention and nature’s autonomy.
The project built on Krakowiak-Bałka’s earlier exploration of Noguchi’s garden in When a stem breaks the water perpendicularly… (2013, Post MoMA New York) and was developed in collaboration with the Sogetsu Foundation, Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art in Warsaw, Plissé Lognon (Maison Lemarié), SORA BOTANICAL GARDEN Project, and Eidotech.
Concerts:
Opening: 8 Nov | Morning & Afternoon: 9–10 Nov | Performers: Isabelle Duthoit, Michał Sławecki, Asthma, Hikaru Kawasaki, KAi MiWA
Press: