Reach Out #3

Yuriko Yamaguchi, Reach Out #3, 1989, natural, stained and painted wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Anthony T. Podesta, 1998.152A-C
Copied Yuriko Yamaguchi, Reach Out #3, 1989, natural, stained and painted wood, overall: 3472 123 in. (86.4184.27.6 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Anthony T. Podesta, 1998.152A-C

Artwork Details

Title
Reach Out #3
Date
1989
Dimensions
overall: 3472 123 in. (86.4184.27.6 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Anthony T. Podesta
Mediums
Mediums Description
natural, stained and painted wood
Classifications
Object Number
1998.152A-C

Artwork Description

Reach Out #3 is both an abstract sculpture and a portrayal of two people talking. In the 1980s, Washington, D.C., artist Yuriko Yamaguchi created a number of hanging wall structures that attempted to "bridge [a] distance or void" by "unifying two things" with wood. She was inspired to create this series by AT&T's advertising slogan urging customers to "reach out and touch someone." Here, she chose to link the two figures with a fragile twig that emphasizes the fleeting nature of their conversation. Yamaguchi also wanted to explore connections between the man-made and the natural, so she linked two milled and treated pieces of lumber with a stick that she found on a long walk in the woods. (Yuriko Yamaguchi, interview, December 20, 2005)

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