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"Radio Nurse"

1937
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 909
Noguchi worked in a variety of media and Radio Nurse was his first major industrial commission. Together with a separate enameled metal receiver called the Guardian Ear, this piece functions as a baby monitor, transmitting sounds from the baby’s room to the receiver. The highly sculptural form evokes an abstracted human head: the eponymous surrogate nurse. Made of Bakelite, a plasticlike, malleable material that could be dyed almost any color, Radio Nurse is an excellent example of the new, industrial material’s sculptural qualities.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "Radio Nurse"
  • Designer: Isamu Noguchi (American, Los Angeles, California 1904–1988 New York)
  • Manufacturer: Zenith Radio Corporation (Chicago, Illinois)
  • Manufacturer: Chicago Molded Products Corporation (Chicago, Illinois)
  • Manufacturer: Kurz-Kasch, Inc. (Dayton, Ohio)
  • Date: 1937
  • Medium: Bakelite, cellulose acetate
  • Dimensions: 8 × 6 1/2 × 6 in., 5.2 lb. (20.3 × 16.5 × 15.2 cm, 2.4 kg)
  • Classification: Machines & Appliances
  • Credit Line: John C. Waddell Collection, Gift of John C. Waddell, 2000
  • Object Number: 2000.600.14
  • Rights and Reproduction: © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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