Black Sun (sculpture)

{{Short description|Sculpture by Isamu Noguchi in Seattle, Washington, U.S.}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox artwork

| title = Black Sun

| image_file = Black Sun by Isamu Noguchi.jpg

| caption =

| painting_alignment =

| image_size = 300px

| alt =

| other_language_1 =

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|mapframe=yes

| other_title_2 =

| artist = Isamu Noguchi

| year = {{start date|1969}}

| type = Sculpture

| material = Granite

| subject =

| height_metric =

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| height_imperial =

| width_imperial =

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| diameter_metric = 2.7

| diameter_imperial = 9

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| metric_unit = m

| imperial_unit = ft

| city = Seattle

| museum =

| coordinates = {{Coord|47.629943|N|122.315195|W}}

| owner = City of Seattle

}}

Black Sun is a 1969 sculpture by Isamu Noguchi located in Seattle, 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 view from the sculpture includes the Space Needle, Olympic Mountains, and Elliott Bay.{{cite news |last=Farr |first=Sheila |date=May 13, 2005 |title=Is public art disappearing?

|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20050508&slug=pubart208 |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=Mar 10, 2021}}{{cite news |last=Tannesen Burnham |first=Liona |date=May 27, 2006 |title=Liveliness, diversity are valued hallmarks of Capitol Hill area |url=http://old.seattletimes.com/html/realestate/2003021470_realneighborhood28.html |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=January 14, 2016}}{{cite news |last=Farr |first=Sheila |date=June 5, 2005 |title=Noguchi: Artist without a country has a place in Seattle |url=http://old.seattletimes.com/html/entertainment/2002297759_noguchi05.html |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=January 14, 2016}}

Many mistakenly believe Soundgarden's hit single "Black Hole Sun" was inspired by Noguchi's sculpture, as the band took their name from another outdoor public art work in Seattle, A Sound Garden, and the resemblance of the song's title to Noguchi's work. However, singer-songwriter Chris Cornell attributes the song's inspiration to a misheard news broadcast.{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/2014/06/03/soundgarden-superunknown-spoonman-black-hole-sun-stories/ |title=Chris Cornell tells stories behind classic 'Superunknown' songs |last=Anderson |first=Kyle |date=June 3, 2014 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=December 30, 2021 |quote="I had misheard a news anchor, and I thought he said ‘black hole sun,’ but he said something else. So I was corrected, but after that I thought, ‘Well, he didn’t say it, but I heard it,’ and it created this image in my brain and I thought it would be an amazing song title. It was a thought-provoking phrase, and it became that song. That was a title that came before music, so the music was the inspiration that came from the images created by those words."}}