Jaume Plensa - Yorkshire Sculpture Park

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Yorkshire Sculpture Park
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Jaume Plensa
Jaume Plensa biography Jaume Plensa is a leading international sculptor, born in Barcelona in 1955. Since 1980, the year
when he made himself known with his first exhibition in Barcelona, Plensa has worked across the
world and currently resides between Barcelona and Paris. He has taught at the École Nationale
des Beaux-Arts in Paris and in The School of the Art Institute of Chicago during 2009-2010.
Since 1992 Plensa has obtained various distinctions and awards, both national and international,
notably his investiture as a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture
(1993), the National Award for Plastic Arts – National Culture Awards of the Government of
Catalonia 1997, Barcelona, and an Honorary Doctorate from the School of the Art Institute of
Chicago, USA, 2005. His work has been exhibited in many of the world's leading contemporary
art institutions in Europe, the United States and Japan including Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona,
Spain; the Jeu de Paume, Paris, France; Henry Moore Sculpture Trust, Halifax, UK; BALTIC The
Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK; the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain;
IVAM Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain; The Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture
Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA and The Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, USA.
Plensa’s career has progressed throughout various stages, involving innovative use of many
different materials. In the early 1980s the central material of his work was wrought iron, making
anthropomorphic shapes, often with recovered materials iron, bronze, and copper. In 1986 Plensa
began a series of sculptures in cast iron, which he melted using the oldest technique of casting
metals. His pioneering use of cast iron brought him international acclaim. Virtually abandoning all
traces of figuration he began use incorporate light with iron to echo the intense colour of the
material when molten. In 1988 Plensa first used text in relief: the piece Sleep No More quotes a
line from Shakespear’s Matchbeth. This use of poetic text fixes and gives volume to intangible
fragile ideas. Plensa continues to work with light and casting, although he has varied his
materials, using aluminum, bronze, brass, glass, steel or resin according to the requirements of
the work itself or the space. In recent years his casting materials have been synthetic resin, and
glass with their mysterious translucency, in which he has developed a family of works thought of
as ‘houses’ or containers for the soul that act as meditative spaces. Light, sound and text endow
his current work a unique poetic sense of language. Plensa's work evokes emotion and stimulates
intellectual engagement by posing conceptual dualities in his work (interior/exterior,
volume/emptiness, light/dark), he seeks to connect with his viewers on an intuitive level and
often it is their participation, or the object/viewer relationship, that completes his work. In parallel
with his sculptural work and at the same level of importance, the artist has created an extensive
body of drawings, which relate closely to his sculpture. These Collages of photographs, texts,
superimpositions and image manipulation combine to give a sense that inevitably brings it close to
sculpture. Another aspect of Plensa’s practice is his work on opera projects. Since 1995 he has
collaborated on stage designs for theatre and opera productions including La Fura dels Baus:
Atlantida (by Manuel de Falla) for the Granada Festival in 1996, Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien
(by Claude Debussy) for the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma in 1997, La Damnation de Faust (by
Hector Berlioz) for the Salzburger Festspiele in 1999, Die Zauberflöte (by Mozart) for the Ruhr
Triennale Bochum in 2003.; Le Château de Barbe-Bleue by Bela Bartok and Le Journal d’un
Disparu by Leos Janacek, for the Opéra de Paris, co produced with the Gran Teatre del Liceu in
Barcelona in 2007.
A significant part of Plensa’s practice is producing work for the public realm and he has
permanent works installed in Spain, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Germany,
Canada, and USA.
The Crown Fountain (2004) is one of Plensa’s largest public art projects in Chicago’s Millennium
Park. Breathing (2005) for the new BBC building in London; Conversation à Nice (2007) for the
place Masséna in Nice, France; El Alma del Ebro for the Expo Zaragoza 2008, in Zaragoza,
Spain; Dream (2009) for St. Helens, Liverpool, UK; World Voices (2010) for the Burj Khalifa in
Dubai, UAE. 2011 will also see Plensa’s first public art project in New York City. Echo will be
presented from 5 May – 14 August 2011 by the Madison Square Park Conservancy. In the UK,
Chichester Cathedral recently announced Plensa’s winning proposal for the Hussey Memorial
Commission, Together, expected to be unveiled in the Cathedral in 2012.
1955
Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Studied art in Barcelona, in the Llotja School and in the Escola Superior de Belles
Arts de Sant Jordi.
1980
First solo show: Estructures at Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain.
1981
Produces his earliest work: Itinerari, a system of weights, lines, and pulleys strung
together in open metal frames creating a complex interrelated network.
1982
Constructs his first glasswork: Llibre de Vidre, a glass book containing sixteen
drawings and a poem by Toni Tapies.
Mid 1980’s
Leaves Spain to work and teach abroad in Berlin, Germany. The central feature of
his work is wrought iron, largely working with recovered materials – iron, bronze,
and copper.
1983
Exhibits at Ignacio de Lassaletta Gallery, Barcelona, Spain.
1984
Begins exhibiting internationally with his solo show: Skulturen at Galerie Folker
Skulima, Berlin, Germany.
1985
Foundry experience of working with molten iron
1986
Begins working on a series of sculpture in cast iron, using the oldest technique of
casting metals.
First public commission at Placa Francesc Layret, Barcelona, Spain: Personatges,
three anthropomorphic cast iron sculptures that sit on rocks.
1987
Exhibits extensively in Europe with solo and group exhibitions in Spain, Germany,
Switzerland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Austria.
1988
First exhibits in USA at the The Sharpe Gallery, New York.
1989
Produces Prière inspired by The Litanies of Satan by Baudelaire.
1990
Produces Dell’arte II, a public commission installed in Jardi d'Escultures at the
Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona, Spain.
1991
Begins using light with cast iron in the works Desir and La Neige Rouge.
Commissioned by the City of Auch and the Ministère de l'Education Nationale et
de la Culture to produce the public sculpture: Auch, a fortress-like architectonical
sculpture. First public sculpture to use light.
1992
Invited to participate in Olimpiada Cultural’92, outdoor sculptures exhibited around
Barcelona to mark the 25th Olympic Games. Exhibits Born at the Passeig del Born,
Barcelona, Spain.
First solo show in the UK, at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Firenze I and Firenze II, which take the question mark as their point of departure.
1993
Awarded the winner of Medaille des Chevaliers des Arts et Lettres from France's
Minister of Culture.
Invited to the UK by the Henry Moore Institute. Creates his first work using water:
The Personal Miraculous Fountain, exhibited at the Henry Moore Sculpture
Studio, Halifax, UK.
Micce-Prodigiosa Fontana Individuale: One-day performance selling bottle water
as a miracle cure in the village of Nocera Umbra, Italy.
1994
The Personal Miraculous Fountain exhibition The Henry Moore Studio at Dean
Clough, Halifax.
Explores translucent materials and begins to work with resin.
1995
Towers and cabinets began to make a frequent appearance in his work.
1996
First public commission in the UK: Blake in Gateshed at the Baltic Centre of
Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK.
Began working with stage and costume design for Alex Ollé and Carlos Padrissa for
La Fura dels Baus: Atlantida (by Manuel de Falla) for the Granada Festival, Spain.
Residency award by the Atelier Calder Foundation to live for six months in the
Alexander Calder's studio-house, UK.
1997
National Award for Plastic Arts – National Culture Awards of the Government of
Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain.
His complete works were presented at the Fundacio Joan Miro in Barcelona, at the
Jeu de Paume in Paris, in the Malmo Konsthall and in the Stadtischen Kunsthall in
Mannheim.
Creates his first piece with glass bricks: Wie ein Hauch
1998
The Personal Miraculous Fountain shown at Yorkshire Sculpture Park as part of
Artranspenine 98.
Love Sounds first shown at the Kestner Gesellschaft in Hannover. First uses
sound by recording a soundtrack of his own bloodstream played inside five intimate
alabaster cells. First uses cymbals in the installation Wispern, drops of water falls
slowly from the ceiling onto the cymbal, causing a sound.
1999
Started to create delicate faces with magazine collages exhibited at Galerie
Scheffel, Bad Homburg, Germany
2000
First public commission in the USA: El Corazón de las Palabras at the USA Today
Headquarters, Mclean, Virginia.
Public projects in Japan
2001
Exhibits his three-part floor work: Freud’s Children exhibited at Bethmannhof,
Germany. Three vessels are connected by the drip of a pump that supplies and fills
the different-sized vessels with water like a closed blood circulation.
2002
Public commission Bridge of Light opens in Mishkenot Sha’ananim, Jerusalem,
Israel
2003
Public commission Talking Continents opens at the Jacksonville Arena Plaza,
Jacksonville, Florida, USA
First addresses the idea of the tattoo on the body. Creates Tattoo, a sculpture
coated in words and addressed the theme of being physically marked by personal
events and experiences corresponding to the notion that everything we
experience is directly engraved onto our bodies.
Creates his first ceiling-hung curtain of cast metal letter: Silent Rain shown in the
first USA traveling exhibition Silent Noise.
2004
The Crown Fountain opens at Millennium Park in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
2005
Receives Honorary Doctorate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA
Public commission Breathing installed in the BBC building in London, UK.
2006
Wins the Bombay Sapphire Prize in London for the Crown Fountain, Chicago’s
Millennium Park. USA
2007
Commission Conversation à Nice for the place Masséna opens in Nice, France.
Begins working with a group of local ex-miners and was commissioned to create a
new work on the landmark site of the former Sutton Manor Colliery in St
Helens, Merseyside, Northwest England as part of the Big Art Project, a major
national public art initiative linked to Channel 4.
Heitland Foundation Award, Celle, Germany.
2008
Solo exhibition: Save our Souls at the Albion Gallery, London
Breathing is dedicated by the incumbent Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Ban Ki-moon, as a memorial to journalists killed whilst undertaking their work.
2009
Dream opens for St. Helens, Liverpool, UK.
Collaborates as professor invited at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago,
USA
2009
Marsh Award for Public Sculpture, London, UK and the Precast Concrete Society
Special creativity Award, London.
2010
Creates public commission World Voices for the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE and
Ogijima's Soul for the Ogijima Island in Japan.
Awilda opens for The Ninth Salzburg Art Project, Salzburg, Austria.
Civic Trust Award, Liverpool, UK.
2011
Jaume Plensa at Yorkshire Sculpture Park opens
Jaume Plensa at YSP
Internationally renowned Spanish artist Jaume Plensa describes his exhibition at Yorkshire
Sculpture Park as the most complete he has ever staged. The artist’s work falls into clearly
defined yet related groups that he describes as ‘families’; here many of these families are
represented in a complex series of dialogues that unfold and resonate through the exhibition. This
ongoing conversation begins with La Llarga Nit (blind) near the Park entrance which, though its
eyes are covered, is turned to face the two part sculpture Spiegel. Then, moving through the
Centre, the work Silhouettes (Blake – Canetti – Valente) is suspended in the space above our
heads, encouraging us to read the excerpts of poetry it presents. Once in the Bothy Garden the
towering presence of House of Knowledge faces out towards Longside and defines the axis
around which the rest of the exhibition falls. This central line denotes the middle of the space
between the heads of Irma and Nuria on the gallery roof and the central figure of the Heart of
Trees, as well as being the centre of the gallery itself. Also acting as a literal and conceptual spine
is Twenty-nine Palms, a curtain of text running almost fifty metres along the gallery concourse,
through which both the indoor and outdoor works are visible. Whilst he is known for several high
profile, critically acclaimed projects in the public realm across the world, including the Crown
Fountain in Chicago, Dream in St Helens and Ogijima’s Soul in Japan, Plensa has never held an
exhibition that brings together his work for indoors and the open air in such an integrated way.
Plensa’s work always deals with humanity, with body and soul, and is largely figurative. Even
when the body is physically absent it is implied: gongs need to be struck by a mallet held in a hand
to create sound; empty houses or cells require the presence of a person to make them compete;
and text needs to be read and absorbed by the human mind. Whether fashioned in steel, glass,
bronze or alabaster or with light, vibration or sound, the ideas and associations are the central
concern. Plensa believes that sculpture is an extraordinary vehicle through which to access our
emotions and thoughts; his work poses questions and sets up situations where we are
encouraged to think again, to
talk with one another, to be silent and meditative, to touch, to be together. The artist’s work is
particularly concerned with the fact
that people are losing the ability to converse, both with others and with themselves, and his work
actively sets out to make us reconnect with our own souls. To Plensa, life is the key concern and
he describes art as merely a consequence of life, but one which possesses an enormous capacity
to touch people deeply, to introduce beauty into any situation, to celebrate our potential.
Plensa is very widely read and often refers to how his family home was filled with books as a
child. Throughout his life he has discovered poems and texts that have moved him profoundly
and it is these rather than the visual arts that have provided the broadest source
of inspiration, often being directly referenced in his own work. Yet it
is not just works of literature that fascinate him, but language itself.
An abundance of letters and words, often forming the outline or
shell of the human body, has come to characterise his sculpture and drawing. Plensa’s use of
both language and the figure makes his work particularly accessible and poignant as it exists
directly in the world we inhabit; it is universal. Yet through these material elements it reaches out
to the immaterial, to the mind and the soul; even when alluding to life’s adversity it is hopeful and
unashamedly beautiful.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
Estructures, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain
Tres noms nous, Galería 13, Barcelona, Spain
Llibre de vidre, Galería Eude, Barcelona, Spain
Plensa, Galería Ignacio de Lassaletta, Barcelona, Spain
Jaume Plensa, Galerie Axe Actuel, Toulouse, France
Jaume Plensa , Skulpturen, Galerie Folker Skulima, Berlin, Germany
Jaume Plensa, Galería Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid, Spain
Jaume Plensa, Galerie Lola Gassin, Nice, France
Jaume Plensa, Escultures, Galería Maeght, Barcelona, Spain
Jaume Plensa, Galerie Philippe Guimiot, Bruxelles, Belgium
Jaume Plensa, Halle Sud, Geneva, Switzerland
Jaume Plensa, The Sharpe Gallery, New York, USA
Jaume Plensa, Galerie Folker Skulima, Berlin, Germany
Jaume Plensa, Musée d'Art Contemporain, Lyon, France
Jaume Plensa, Galería Rita García, Valencia, Spain
Jaume Plensa, The Sharpe Gallery, New York, USA
Jaume Plensa, sculptures et dessins, Galerie Philippe Guimiot, Bruxelles, Belgium
Jaume Plensa, Galería Carles Taché, Barcelona, Spain
Dibuixos, Galería Carles Taché, Barcelona, Spain
Jaume Plensa, Eglise de Courmerlois - Silo Art Contemporain, Reims-Val-de-Vesle,
France
Jaume Plensa, Galerie de France, Paris, France
Jaume Plensa, P.S. Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Monocroms, Galería B.A.T., Madrid, Spain
Jaume Plensa, Galerie Eric Franck, Geneva, Switzerland
Jaume Plensa, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK
Jaume Plensa, Galería Carles Taché, Barcelona, Spain
Jaume Plensa, Galleria Gentili, Firenze, Italy
Jaume Plensa, Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin, Germany
Mémoires Jumelles, Galerie Alice Pauli, Lausanne, Switzerland
Mémoires Jumelles, Galerie de France, Paris, France
Cal.ligrafies, Edicions T Galería d'Art, Barcelona, Spain
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
Jaume Plensa. Un Sculpteur, une Ville, Valence, France
Jaume Plensa, Galleria Civica Modena, Modena, Italy
The Personal Miraculous Fountain, The Henry Moore Studio at Dean Clough, Halifax, UK
Wonderland, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
One Thought fills Immensity, Städtische Galerie, Göppingen, Germany
Jaume Plensa, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain
Blake in Gateshead, Baltic Flour Mills, Gateshead, UK
Close up, Office in Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel
Islands, Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, USA
Jaume Plensa, Centre de Cultura Sa Nostra, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Wie ein Hauch, Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin, Germany
Rumore, Fattoria di Celle, Santomato di Pistoia, Italy
Jaume Plensa, Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris. F / Malmö Konsthall, Malmö,
SW /Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
Jaume Plensa, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea - Palazzo Forti, Verona, Italy
Dallas?...Caracas?, The MAC-The Mckiney Avenue Contemporarain Art, Dallas. USA /
Fundación Museo Jacobo Borges, Caracas, Venezuela
Golden Sigh, Galerie Alice Pauli, Lausanne, Switzerland
Jaume Plensa, Galerie Pièce Unique, Paris, France
Water, Fonds Régional d'Art Contemporain de Picardie, Amiens, France
Etwas von mir, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
Jaume Plensa, Tamada Projects Corporation, Tokyo, Japan
Bruit, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
Komm mit, komm mit!, Rupertinum Museum, Salzburg, Austria
Whisper, Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, USA
Wanderers Nachtlied, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung, Ludwig, Palais Liechtenstein,
Wien, Austria
Love Sounds, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany
Twin Shadows, Richard Gray Gallery, New York / Galerie Lelong, New York, USA
Jaume Plensa, Proverbs of Hell, Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Salzburg, Austria
Jaume Plensa. 360 º, Museo Municipal de Málaga, Málaga, Spain
Chaos–Saliva, Palacio de Velázquez, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid,
Spain
Close up, Mestna Galerija, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Logbook, Galerie Diehl-Vorderwuelbecke, Berlin, Germany
Europa, Galería Toni Tàpies, Barcelona, Spain
Rumor, Centro Cultural de España, Mexico D.F, Mexico
Wispern, Església de Sant Domingo, Pollença, Mallorca, Spain
B.OPEN, Jaume Plensa, The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK
Jaume Plensa, Fondation Européenne pour la Sculpture, Parc Tournay-Solvay, Bruxelles,
Belgium
Primary Thoughts, Galería Helga de Alvear, Madrid, Spain
Crystal Rain, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
Jaume Plensa, Galerie Academia, Salzburg, Austria
Who? Why?, Galerie Lelong, New York, USA
Hot? Sex?, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
Anònim, Galeria Toni Tàpies, Barcelona, Spain
Jaume Plensa. Livres, estampes et multiples sur papier 1978-2003, Musée des Beaux
Arts, Caen. F / Fundación César Manrique, Lanzarote, Spain
Il suono del sangue parla la stessa lingua, VOLUME!, Rome, Italy
Fiumi e cenere, Palazzo delle Papesse, Siena, Italy
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Silent Noise, The Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago / Contemporary Arts Center, New
Orleans /University Gallery - Fine Arts Center UMASS, Amherst, USA
Jaume Plensa, CAC, Centro de Arte Contemporaneo de Málaga, Málaga, Spain
Is art something in between?, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
Song of Songs, Albion Gallery, London, UK
Glückauf?, Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany
Jaume Plensa. Opera, Theatre and Friends, Museo Colecciones ICO, Madrid, Spain
I in his eyes as one that found peace, Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago / New York, USA
Une âme, deux corps… trois ombres, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
Jerusalem, Museu d’Art Modern i Contemporani Es Baluard, L’Aljub, Palma de Mallorca,
Spain
Canetti’s Dream, Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Vienna, Austria
Songs and Shadows, Galerie Lelong, New York, USA
Jaume Plensa, Livres, estampes et multiples sur papier 1978-2006, Centre de la
Gravure La Louvière, La Louvière. B / Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Jaume Plensa, IVAM-Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain
Jaume Plensa, MAMAC, Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nice, France
Nomade, Bastion Saint-Jaume Quaid Rambaud, exhibition organised by Musée Picasso.
Antibes, France
Silent Voices, Museum at Tamada Projects, Tokyo, Japan
Jaume Plensa, Preis der Heitland Foundation, Gotische Halle, Schloss, Celle, Germany
Jaume Plensa / Shakespeare, Centro Cultural Fundación Círculo de Lectores, Barcelona,
Spain
Sinónimos, Círculo de Bellas Artes. Madrid, Spain
Jaume Plensa, Mimmo Scognamiglio Artecontemporanea, Milano, Italy
Jaume Plensa, Centro de Arte Caja de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
Jaume Plensa, Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Jaume Plensa, La Riva de Acheronte, Im Dialog IX, Stadtkirche, Darmstadt, Germany
Jaume Plensa, Save our Souls, Albion Gallery, London, UK
Jerusalem, Espacio Cultural El Tanque, Tenerife, Canary Islands
Triptych, Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Vienna, Austria
In the Midst of Dreams, Galerie Lelong, New York, USA
Jaume Plensa, Galeria Toni Tàpies, Barcelona, Spain
Slumberland, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
Silent Music, Diehl + Gallery One, Moscow, Russia
Cantique des Cantiques, Galerie Alice Pauli, Lausanne, Switzerland
Arround Shadows, Galerie Scheffel, Bad Homburg, Germany
Les alphabets de l'âme, Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
L'Ame des Mots, Musée Picasso, Antibes, France
Jaume Plensa, Obra sobre papel Galería Estiarte, Madrid, Spain
Genus and Species, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, USA
Selected works
Auch, 1990-1991
Escalier Monumentale and Place Barbés, Auch, France
Commissioned by the City of Auch and the Ministère de
l'Education Nationale et de la Culture. Délégation aux Arts
Plastiques, 1990
Born, 1992
Passeig del Born, Barcelona, Spain
Commissioned by Cultural Olympiad,s.a. The Olympic Games of Barcelona and the City of
Barcelona, 1992.
Project: Configuracions Urbanes, Barcelona
Faret Tachikawa, 1993-1994
Tachikawa City, Japan
Commissioned by The Housing and Urban Development
Corporation and Tachikawa City, 1993
Islas, 1994-1995
Avenida General Franco, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
Commissioned by the Colegio de Arquitectos de Canarias, 1994
Blake in Gateshead, 1996
Baltic Centre of Contemporary Art, Gateshead, U.K
Commissioned by the Metropolitan Borough Council Libraries and Arts, Gateshead, 1996
Twins II, 1998
Kimpo Sculpture Park, Kimpo, Seoul, Korea
Commissioned by KBS CPE Office and Kimpo City, 1998
Capsa de Llum, 1998
Gran Via de Jaume I and Avenida Ramon Folch, Girona, Spain
Commissioned by the City of Girona, 1997
The House of Birds, 1999
Mion Nakasato, Japan
Commissioned by the "Echigo-Tsumari Art Festival 2000”, 1998
Project: Tsumari-go Art Necklace Project.
Transparent Doubts, 2000
University of Shizuoka for Culture and Art. Hamamatsu, Japan
Commissioned by the University of Shizuoka for Culture and Art, Hamamatsu, 1999
Seven Deities of Good Fortune, 2000
Daikanyama, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Commissioned by Daikanyama Project, 1999
Gläserner Seele or Mr.Net in Brandenburg, 2000
Land Brandenburg, Germany
Commissioned by Ministerium für Wirtschaft des Landes Brandenburg, 1999
Project: Europa, EXPO 2000 Hannover
L’âme de la Vallée, 1999-2000
Vallorbe, Switzerland
Commissioned by Pierre Magnenat and Jaquet SA, 1999
Casa Dorada Para Pajaros, 1998-2001
Plaza Félix Sáenz, Málaga, Spain
Acquired by the City of Málaga, 2001
El Corazón de las Palabras, 2000
USA Today Headquarters, Mclean, Virginia, USA
Commissioned by Gannett / USA Today, 2000
Magritte’s Dream, 2001
Public Art: Japan + Practice Project, Aino Station, Fukuroi City, Japan
Commissioned by Fukuroi City, 2000
Mi Casa en Torrelavega, 2001
Paseo de Julio Hauzeur, Torrelavega, Spain
Commission for public spaces.
Seele?, 2002
Neardenthal Park, Düsseldorf, Germany
Commissioned by Neanderthal Museum
Bridge of light, 2002
Mishkenot Sha'ananim, Jerusalem, Israel
Commissioned by The Jerusalem Foundation, 1998
Talking Continents, 2003
Jacksonville Arena Plaza, Florida, USA
Commissioned by Art in Public Places Commission, City of Jacksonville
As One, 2003
Toronto Pearson International Airport (Location in Airport Ð International Baggage Claim),
Canada.
Commissioned by Greater Toronto Airports Authority
Crown Fountain, 2004
Millennium Park, Chicago, USA
Commissioned by Public Art Program, Department Of Cultural Affairs, City of Chicago with
support of Henry Crown And Company, 2000
Breathing, 2005
BBC Broadcasting House, London, UK,
Commissioned by BBC Broadcasting House, 2003
Nomade, 2007
Displayed during Art Basel, Miami Beach, December 6–9, 2007
The Musée Picasso in Antibes, France. 2007
Pappajohn Sculpture Park, Des Moines, USA
Conversations à Nice, 2007
Place Masséna, Côte d’Azur, Nice, France
Commissioned by la Communauté d’Agglomération Nice
Sho, 2007
Exhibited at Art Chicago, Chicago, USA
Sleep No More, 2008
Durham USA
Commissioned by Capital Broadcasting Company for the Durham Performing Arts Centre
Dialogue, 2009
Permanent Installation, Copperhill Mountain Lodge, Åre, Sweden
Dream, 2009
St Helens, Liverpool, U.K
Commission by St Helens Council/Liverpool Biennial for
Contemporary Art U.K, 2007
World Voices, 2010
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Commission in the lobby of the tallest tower of the world.
Nomade, 2010
Bastión Saint-Jaume. Port Vauban, Antibes
Commissioned by Mairie d'Antibes - Musée Picasso, Antibes, France
Ogijima’s Soul, 2010
Ogijima Community Hall, Ogijima, Seto Inland Sea, Kagawa
Prefecture, Japan
Commissioned by The City of Takamatsu, Japan
Awilda in Salzburg, 2010
Dietrichsrush, Salzburg University, Sigmund Haffner-Gasser, Salzburg, Austria
Commisioned by MKM / Sitiftung für Kunst und Kulture.V / Salzburg Foundation. Austria 2010
Project: Salzburg Art Project 2010
Body of Knowledge, 2010
Goethe Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main
Comissioned by: Goethe Universität Frankfurt, Germany 2009
Works in museums and public collections
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA
Baltic, The Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK
Banco de España, Madrid, Spain
Banque Européenne d’Investissement, Luxembourg
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, France
Caja de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
Centre de Cultura Sa Nostra, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Colección AENA, Madrid, Spain
Colección de Escultura Contemporanea RENFE, Madrid, Spain
Colección Instituto de Crédito Oficial, Madrid, Spain
Collecció Testimoni La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain
Collecció Testimoni La Caixa, Madrid, Spain
Colección Fundación Coca‐Cola, Spain
The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, USA
Deutsche Bank, Barcelona, Spain
Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa
Fundació d’Art Contemporari La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain
Fondation d'Art Contemporain Daniel and Florence Guerlain, Les Mesnuls, France
Fondation pour l’Art Contemporain Claudine et Jean‐Marc Salomon, Alex, France
Fonds Municipal d’Art Contemporain, Paris, France
Fonds National d'Art Contemporain, Paris, France
Fonds Régional d'Art Contemporain, Castres, France
Fonds Régional d'Art Contemporain Picardie, Amiens, France
Fons d'Art de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Foundation Paribas, Paris, France
Fundación Caja de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
Fundación Codespa, Barcelona, Spain
Fundación Jorge Castillo, Madrid, Spain
Fundación Juan March, Madrid, Spain
Fundació Fran Daurel, Barcelona, Spain
Fundació Vila Casas, Barcelona, Spain
Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Galeria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Palazzo Forti, Verona, Italy
Guerlain Foundation, Paris, France
Junta de Comunidades de Castilla la Mancha, Toledo, Spain
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, USA
Kirishima Open Air Museum, Kyushu, Japan
Manufactures Nationales de Sèvres, Sèvres, France
Meadows Museum of Art at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
Mie Prefectural Art Museum, Japan
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, USA
Mobilier National & Manufactures Nationales des Tapis et Tapisseries, France
Musée d'Art Contemporain, Ceret, France
Musée d'Art Contemporain, Lyon, France
Musée du Fonds Regional d'Art Contemporain Midi‐Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Español Patio Herreriano, Valladolid, Spain
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Sofía Imber, Caracas, Venezuela
Museo de Bellas Artes de Alava, Vitoria, Spain
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain
Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Museum Marugame Hirai, Marugame, Japan
Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna, Austria
Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, Durham, USA
Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, USA
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, USA
Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, USA
Skissernas Museum, Lund, Sweden
Städtische Galerie Göppingen, Göppingen, Germany
Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
University of Shizuoka for Culture and Art, Hamamatsu, Japan
Significant public projects
Ogijima’s Soul 2010
Ogijima’s Soul is a large structure with letters of
various alphabets all over the roof of the Ogijima
Exchange Center, in Ogijima, Japan. Plensa designed
the glass building, which is surrounded by water, in
2009. The concept of the project was to create an
interchange building and a gathering place for its
community to welcomes visitors and guests. The
translucent space of the house allows people to see
the landscape of the island, the beauty of the little
town on the hill and the inland sea that opens in front of the harbor. The house is covered and
protected by a roof made out of different alphabets. Like a poetic cloud, the roof will project
shadows of these alphabets to the ground during the day and to the sky in the night. The letters
composing the roof are random. They are simple letters, no words, and they aim to represent the
different cultures of the world, using the following alphabets: Japanese, Hebrew, Arabic, Latin,
Chinese, Greek, Russian and Hindi. An alphabet is probably that most precise expression of one
culture. It is the product that results after centuries of traditions, developing and transforming. The
project plays homage to Ogijima’s people. The shape of the building is inspired by the shape of a
shellfish that is always building it’s own house around its body. This project recalls the big effort
that island communities have been doing during the ages to create and protect their culture and
pays homage to the sea as a bridge connecting cultures.
World Voices 2010
Jaume Plensa’s World Voices is composed of 196 cymbals
that represent the 196 countries of the world - symbolic to
Burj Dubai being a collaboration of people from across the
globe and befitting its global iconic status. Cast in bronze
and brass alloy and plated with 18-carat gold, the cymbals
are horizontally suspended onto titanium rods anchored at
the bottom of two pools, symbolizing reeds in a lake.
Finished by hand, the cymbals create a distinct timbre as
they are struck by dripping water, which the artist compared
to the sound of water falling on leaves. Burj Dubai’s
architects and interior designers Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
LLP (SOM) approached international and Middle East-based
artists to submit concepts for the centerpiece of Dubai’s the
Burj Dubai, the tallest tower in the world. Plensa was
awarded the commission, which was chosen from a shortlist
of five. World Voices claims pride of place in the tower’s
lobby and is part of 1000 artworks selected for other
locations in the building. In response to the artist's specifications, World Voices was developed
custom technology that creates the right size, volume, and control of the droplets that fall
approximately 60 feet (18.2m) from the atrium's gold-leaf ceiling onto 18 of the gold cymbals. The
droplets fall through 1in / 25 mm diameter openings in
the lobby's atrium ceiling, and create a natural rhythm
as they make contact with the cymbals below. Crystal
developed the gravity-fed water controls designed to
create bigger, natural droplets. The residential lobby
area of Burj Dubai is described as the meeting place for
diverse cultures and nationalities - a metaphor of the
diversity of global society. World Voices becomes a
homage to societies diversity and is a celebration of
life.
Dream 2009
In 2008 St Helens took part in Channel 4's The Big Art Project along with several other sites. The
project culminated in the unveiling of Dream, a 20m sculpture located on the old Sutton Manor
Colliery Site. St Helens retains strong cultural ties to the Coal Industry and has several monuments
including the wrought iron gates of Sutton Manor Colliery, and the 1995 town centre installation by
Thompson Dagnall known as The Landings, which depicts individuals working a coal seam and
Arthur Fleischmann's Anderton Shearer monument, a piece of machinery first used at the
Ravenhead Mine. The Council and local residents, including former miners from the Colliery, where
involved in the consultation and commission process through which the Dream was selected. The
plans involved a full landscaping of the surrounding area on land previously allowed to go wild after
the closure of the pit.
The sculpture
The work consists of an elongated white structure that stands
20 metres (66 ft) tall, weighing 500 tons. It has been cast to
resemble the head and neck of a young woman with her eyes
closed in meditation. The structure is coated in sparkling white
Spanish dolomite, as a contrast to the coal, which used to be
mined on the site. Sutton Manor Colliery closed in 1991 and it
overlooks the M62 motorway. It cost nearly £1.9 million and it
is hoped it will become as powerful a symbol in North West
England as Antony Gormley's Angel of the North is in North
East England. In 2011 Dream received funding by art and
culture companies to have Dream lit up and to have a spotlight
shining out the top of the head.
Construction
Dream is built out of moulded and cast unique concrete
shapes - 90 pieces in all contribute to over 14 tiers (54
individual elements for the head, each weighing 9 tonnes).
Dolomite was utilised as a concrete aggregate in order to
provide the brilliant white finish. Additionally titanium dioxide
was added to the mix in order to provide a self-cleaning mechanism. The construction required the
construction of individual moulds for each piece and took a total of 60 days to cast. The
foundations of the sculpture extend 38m into the ground with 8 piles driven in to secure it.
Location.
(Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_(sculpture))
Dialogue 2009
Dialogue is a permanent installation at
the Copperhill Mountain Lodge, Åre,
Sweden. The sculpture features two
glowing cast fibreglass heads. They are
fitted with six lamps in each head that
can be dimmed according to day and
season. Words are visible in the women's
faces –Irma and Nuria. There is a
‘conversation’ between the two women,
eyes closed, as in an internal dialogue.
Irma, the elderly, is from the Dominican
Republic. She works as a maid in
Barcelona. Nuria, the young woman, is
the daughter of the family who runs Barcelona's best Chinese restaurant. The sculptures are
custom made for Copperhill, cast in Barcelona, sandblasted. The surrounding stone is marble from
southern Spain. The Spanish words that are ‘tattooed’ in the women's faces describe turmoil and
stress - the opposite of what their serene faces are showing. The words on Irma’s face say
Enfermedad (Disease), Hambre (Hunger) and Insomnia (Insomnia) – all of which plagues those
forced to live in a prison. Nuria says Ansiedad (Worry), Panico (Panic) and Histeria (Hysteria) –
which affect many in the modern world's stressed existence. In winter, the sculptures will shine
like snow lamps, in the summer nights like lanterns – visible far out across the valley. With their
light and image of intimate meetings, the sculptures can become symbols for Copperhill.
Sho 2007
Sho is a sculpture that represents a female head and is
formed by white-painted stainless steel openwork mesh.
It stands approximately 13 feet tall and 10 feet wide and
weighs 660 pounds. Sho is an excellent example of
Plensa’s mastery of his medium. It is a portrait of a young
Chinese girl, Sho, whom the artist met in Barcelona
where his studio is located. The undulating curves of the
girl’s facial features and braided hair are emphasised,
especially in profile, demonstrating the artist’s
characteristic experiments with the interplay of large
scale and intimacy in three-dimensional representations
of the human form.
Sho was first exhibited at the Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM) in Valencia, Spain, in the
winter of 2007. It was the centerpiece of a mid-career retrospective exhibition of Plensa’s work
and served as the cover illustration for the accompanying catalogue. The work then travelled to
Chicago, where it was exhibited along the riverfront in the heart of downtown, and to Grand
Rapids, Michigan, where it was included in a major exhibition at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and
Sculpture Park through early January 2009.
Conversations à Nice 2007
Conversations à Nice is a commission at Place Masséna,
Côte d’Azur, in Nice, France. It features seven-resin
statues sit quietly over 10 meters high and steel post. In
the day they are white, however at night they glow and
change colour to express the idea of communication
between the different communities of today’s society.
Each resin figure represents one of the seven continents
The project is a metaphor for the relationship between the
different communities that are part of today's society.
The figures are lit from inside with lights kinetics. The
seven works pass smoothly from one colour to another,
establishing a dialogue between the figures themselves
and with passers-by walking around the square.
The arrangement of works follows the route of the tram
and gives a new interpretation to the traveller in motion.
Such as lighthouses on the coast, the figures appear to
watch over the public, protect them, and without
disturbing the vacuum of space, they invite them to look
up and rediscovered the sky over the city.
Breathing 2005
Breathing is a sculpture situated on the roof of the Egton
Wing of BBC Broadcasting House, in London, which takes
its inspiration from the audio life of the building - home to
the BBC's Audio & Music Division. It consists of a 10 metre
(32 ft) high glass and steel column, with a torch-like,
inverted spire shape, decorated with words. The words
which are inscribed around the sculpture in a spiral of
continuous text evoke the antithetical themes of speech
and silence, life and death. At night the sculpture gently
glows, then at 10pm every evening to coinciding with the
broadcast of the BBC ten o'clock news. Breathing shines
a beam of light into the sky for 30 minutes, which reaches
up to 900m. It was officially unveiled on 16 June 2008 by
the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. It was
commissioned and selected as a result of an international
competition for the BBC's public art scheme. The shape of
the sculpture is inspired by the spire of the adjoining All
Souls Church, and the radio mast on the roof of
Broadcasting House.
Poem
Breathing
life turns and turns on the crystal glass
breathing in our body
silence is a voice, our voice
silence is a body, our body
life turns and turns on the crystal glass
breathing in our body
I invite you to breathe
I invite you to listen to the silence
By Jaume Plensa
Crown Fountain 2004
Crown Fountain is an interactive work of public art
and video sculpture featured in Chicago's Millennium
Park, which is located in the Loop community area.
Designed by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa, it opened in
July 2004. The fountain is composed of a black
granite reflecting pool placed between a pair of glass
brick towers. The towers are 50 feet (15.2 m) tall,
and they use light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to display
digital videos on their inward faces. Construction and
design of the Crown Fountain cost $17 million.
Weather permitting, the water operates from May
to October, intermittently cascading down the two
towers and spouting through a nozzle on each
tower's front face. Residents and critics have praised
the fountain for its artistic and entertainment
features. It highlights Plensa's themes of dualism,
light, and water, extending the use of video
technology from his prior works. Its use of water is unique among Chicago's many fountains, in
that it promotes physical interaction between the public and the water. Both the fountain and
Millennium Park are highly accessible because of their universal design. It is a popular subject for
photographers and a common gathering place. While some of the videos displayed are of scenery,
most attention has focused on its video clips of local residents; hundreds of Chicagoans visit the
fountain hoping to see themselves appearing on one of the fountain's two screens. The fountain is
a public play area and offers people an escape from summer heat, allowing children to frolic in the
fountain's water.
Concept and design
Grant Park, which is between Lake
Michigan and the central business district,
is commonly called ‘Chicago's Front Yard’.
Its northwest corner had been Illinois
Central rail yards and parking lots until
1997, when it was made available for
development by the city as Millennium
Park. Millennium Park was conceived in
1998 as the capstone of Grant Park, to
celebrate the new millennium and to
feature world-renowned architects, artists,
designers, landscape architects, and urban
planners. As of 2007, Millennium Park trails
only Navy Pier as a Chicago tourist
attraction. The fountain is centrally located in Chicago: it is east of Michigan Avenue and its
Historic Michigan Boulevard District, north of Monroe Street and the Art Institute of Chicago; and
south of Madison Street. Looking north from the fountain, viewers see some of the tallest
buildings in the United States (Aon Center, Two Prudential Plaza, and One Prudential Plaza).
Selection of artist
In December 1999, Lester Crown and his family agreed to sponsor a water feature in Millennium
Park. Unlike other park feature sponsors, the Crowns acted independently of Millennium Park
officials; they conducted independent surveys of water technologies, held their own informal
design contest, and stayed active in the design and engineering of the project. The Crowns were
open-minded about the choice of artist; wanting a modern work, they solicited proposals from a
list of prospective artists and architects. Jaume Plensa researched the traditions and history of
fountains and studied anthropomorphism in fountain imagery. Some of his early ideas for the
project referenced Buckingham Fountain, but these were soon abandoned. His presentation to the
Crown family started with a slide show of fountains from the Middle Ages through the
20th century. Plensa focused on the philosophical meanings associated with fountains, their
history, use and art. His presentation included computer animation of facial expressions. The other
finalists were Maya Lin, who presented a low-height horizontal form, and Robert Venturi, who
presented a fountain that would have been 150 feet (46 m) tall. In January 2000, Plensa won the
commission to design the fountain over Lin and Venturi. The installation is a video sculpture,
commissioned to operate thirty years.
Artistic design
Artistic design
Prior to Crown Fountain, Plensa's dominant theme had been dualism, which he had expanded to
artworks in which the viewers are outside, and the visible subjects of the art are inside containers
and hollow spaces. In the 1990s, he completed several outdoor sculptures in which he explored the
use of light (The Star of David, 1998 at Stockholm's Raoul Wallenberg Square, Bridge of Light,
1998 in Jerusalem), and LED technology, video, and computer design (Gläserne Seele & Mr. Net
in Brandenburg, 1999–2000). In his public art, Plensa challenged himself to involve the viewer with
his art, which led to his conception of the Crown Fountain. His objective was to create a socially
relevant, interactive fountain for the 21st Century. Since water is the focus of a fountain, and since
Chicago, and especially Millennium Park, is so greatly affected by the nearby water, Plensa sought
to create an eternal water work to complement the local natural inspirations. Because of the
climate of Chicago, Plensa had to create a fountain that remained vibrant when the water was
inactive, so he relied on his experience with the theme of light and the use of video technology.
Plensa explores dualism with Crown Fountain, where he has two randomly selected faces
‘conversing’ with each other. Plensa feels that by using faces, he can represent the diversity of
the city both in ethnicity and in age. The artist intends to portray the sociocultural evolution of the
city by updating the collection of images. Plensa feels that the challenge in the creation of
successful work of public art is to integrate the viewer into an interactive relationship with the art.
The fountain is known for encouraging its visitors to splash and slide in the reflecting pool, jostle
for position under the water spout and place themselves under the cascade. This interactivity was
to some degree accidental. Although the city planned for some interactivity, the transformation of
the fountain into a water park for kids within hours of opening surprised Plensa. Now, when the
National Weather Service issues summer heat advisories and the Governor of Illinois declares state
office buildings as official daytime cooling centers, the national press points to Crown Fountain as
a respite for inhabitants of the Chicago metropolitan area.
Video production
Approximately 75 ethnic, social, and religious Chicago organisations were asked to provide
candidates whose faces would be photographed for integration into the fountain. The subjects
were chosen from local schools, churches and community groups, and filming began in 2001 at the
downtown campus of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). The SAIC students filmed
their subjects with a $100,000 high-definition HDW-F900 video camera. About 20 SAIC students
took part in what became an informal master's course in public art for the project. Faculty from
Columbia College Chicago was also involved in the production of the video. The high-definition
equipment was used because of the scale of the project. Because the image proportions were like
a movie screen with a width far exceeding its height, the camera was turned on its side during
filming.
Each face appears on the sculpture for a total of 5 minutes using various parts of individual 80second videos. A 40-second section is played at one-third speed forward and backward, running
for a total of 4 minutes. Then, there is a subsequent segment, where the mouth is puckering, that
is stretched to 15 seconds. This is followed by a section, in which the water appears to spout from
the open mouth that is stretched to last for 30 seconds. Finally, there is a smile after the
completion of the water spouting from the mouth that is slowed to extend for 15 seconds. Of the
original 1,051 subjects filmed, 960 videos were determined to be usable for the project. Originally,
the set of images was presumed to be the beginning of a work in progress, but as of 2009 no
additional videos are planned.
To achieve the effect in which water appears to be flowing from subjects' mouths, each video has
a segment where the subject's lips are puckered, which is then timed to correspond to the
spouting water, reminiscent of gargoyle fountains. Each face is cropped so that no hair and usually
no ears are visible. Since there is no tripod designed for cameras turned on their sides, an
adjustable barber/dentist's chair was used to minimize the need for the movement of the stateof-the-art camera during filming Nonetheless, in some case, digital manipulation was necessary to
properly simulate puckering in the exact proper location on the video. Many of the faces had to be
stretched in order to get the mouths properly positioned. Additionally, each video was colorcorrected for brightness, contrast and color saturation. Both the playback equipment and the final
videos had to be further adjusted to account for sunlight during viewing
Construction and engineering
The Crown family, for whom the fountain is named, donated $10 million of the $17 million
construction and design cost. The Goodman family, known for funding the Goodman Theatre, was
also a large contributor; the entire $17 million cost was provided by private donations. The initial
proposed cost for the fountain had been $15 million. The fountain's black granite reflecting pool
measures 48 feet by 232 feet (15 m × 71 m) and has an approximate water depth of 0.25 inches
(0.6 cm). It displays videos on two LED screens, each encapsulated in a glass brick tower
measuring 50 feet by 23 feet by 16 feet (15.2 m × 7.0 m × 4.9 m).
The firm designed a special stainless steel T-frame both to bear the load of the walls, which are
50 feet (15 m) high, and to withstand the lateral wind forces. The frame holds all the glass blocks
and transfers the load to the base in a zigzag pattern. Rods measuring 0.5 inches (13 mm) in
diameter anchor to the structure and project into the frame for lateral stability, while triangular
corner brackets add support.
After several dozen glass manufacturing firms were interviewed, L. E. Smith Glass Company
emerged as the company to produce 22,500 glass blocks near the upper limit of the size of press
glass formed from hand-poured molten glass and cast iron molds. The process used sand and soda
ash heated to a temperature of 2,600 °F (1,430 °C) and "gathered" with a large clay ball
resembling a honey dipper. Rather than use a standard plunger to ensure the glass that sagged off
the rod spread to the corners of the mold, they relied on gravity. The full mold was annealed
(reheated in an oven to 1,100 °F (593 °C)) and cooled. Over the course of four months of
production, about 350 blocks were produced per day.
The glass was custom-made at a factory in Mount Pleasant,
Pennsylvania, and was fitted into small sections of the frame.
Each block is 5 inches by 10 inches by 2 inches (13 cm × 25 cm ×
5.1 cm) with glass thin enough to avoid image distortion. On each
block, one of the six faces is polished, and the other five surfaces
are textured.
The fountain uses 11,000 imperial gallons (50,000 L) per hour,
97% of which is recycled back into the system. Getting the water
to the spout took ingenuity. Although consideration was given to
omitting a LED tile, it was determined that the images would then
look as though they were each missing a tooth. Instead, one tile in
each tower is recessed about 6 inches (15 cm) to allow the
installation of 1 inch (2.5 cm) clear tubing for the water nozzle.
The water regularly spills over the fountain and down the sides of
the towers and intermittently spouts from the nozzle. Two
essential custom fittings contribute to the artistic vision of the
fountain: a custom glass block at the upper edge for guiding the
water's descent while remaining unobtrusive, and a plastic nozzle
fitted to the stainless steel frame to control the rate of water flow
The water nozzle
LED lights can be seen behind the
front face and are absent from other
faces.
and reduce liability to the city for any injuries sustained by the fountain's interactive participants.
The interactive participants are usually children playing in the stream from the water spout or
under the cascade. The risk that the spouting water would knock people down made the design
both a legal and a physical challenge.
The fountains use over one million LEDs. The inner surface of each tower uses 147 smaller screens
with a total of 264,480 LED points (each with two red, one blue and two green LEDs).
Plensa had used LED fixtures on previous projects. The LED structure is not supported as a single
wall (which would be 50 feet (15 m) high), but rather as several segments that are noticeable as
visible horizontal bands every few feet: these show where the LED equipment is supported. The
heat generated is handled by fans that cool the air at the bottom, which then works its way
through the chimney-like tower. Perceptibility was determined to be optimal with LED lights
2 inches (5.1 cm) behind the glass. LEDs were chosen because they were viewed as the lowest
maintenance option of the possible color changing fixtures. LEDs fit into an electrical circuit,
causing illumination by the movement of electrons in the semiconductor material and making a
filament unnecessary, so the bulbs never burn out and do not get too hot. Fins were added to the
screens to keep direct sunlight from hitting the LEDs. ColorBlast 12 LEDs fixtures are used to
illuminate the tower structures and glass in an attempt to meet Plensa's objective that the towers
have a light and translucent appearance, with their internal structures reflecting light from behind
the glass surface. The electronics were designed to be adaptable to the time of day, weather and
season and to meet the desired century-long longevity and dependability objectives set by the
design team in response to the thirty-year directive.
Video sculpture
The front face of each tower is animated with a continuous, dynamic exhibit of lights and
electronic images. Although the LED screens on the towers periodically display clips of landscapes
such as waterfalls, most intriguing are the display of faces of Chicago residents. About 1,000 faces
of Chicagoans are shown in a random rotation, the order determined using a Barco show
controller. Each face is displayed for five minutes, with a brief period between each of these
videos during which the sculpture is unlit. As a result, no more than 12 faces appear per hour
during the summer. However, during the winter a version without the final one minute of
puckering is shown, so the video segments then are only four minutes each. The video pattern also
includes a three-minute water scene every half-hour and a 30-second fade-to-black every 15
minutes. If all the faces were shown consecutively, instead of randomly,
they would each appear about once every eight days.
The spouting water from the faces of the towers appears to be flowing
from the displayed subject's mouth from a 6-inch (15 cm) nozzle
located in the center of each interior face 12 feet (3.7 m) above the
reflecting pool. Images are shown daily year-round, while the water
feature only operates from May 1 to approximately October 31, weather
permitting. The park is open to the public daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Each tower is illuminated from within on three sides by approximately
70 color-changing Color Kinetics LED lighting fixtures per tower, while
the fourth side features opposing Barco LED display screens. At night,
some of the videos are replaced by images of nature or solid colors.
Also at night, the other three sides of the fountain display changing
Night view of south tower
colors. The outer Color Kinetics surfaces randomly display the translucent glow of one of eight
colors along with each of the inner opposing faces. As a video sculpture with a variety of cascade
and water spout fountain modes, the sculpture is a fluid, dynamic evolving artwork.
(Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Fountain)
Blake in Gateshead 1996
Blake in Gateshead is a laser beam that on
special occasions shines high into the night sky
over the Baltic Centre of Contemporary Art,
Gateshead, U.K. It was commissioned by the
Metropolitan Borough Council Libraries and
Arts, 1996. Whist walking over the near the
Tyne Plensa began to think of Blake and has
said he wanted to created a new bridge, a
vertical bridge that takes the viewer towards
another kind of landscape, above our heads and underneath our feet and maybe because it is too
close or too far it is unattainable.
Opera and Theatre projects
2007
Bluebeard’s Castle by Béla Bartók
Diary of one who Disappeared by Leos Janácek
Opera Garnier, Paris, France
Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, Spain
Opera House, Kobe / Tokyo, Japan
2003
The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ruhr Triennale, Bochum, Germany
Opera Bastille, Paris, France
Teatro Real, Madrid, Spain
1999
The Damnation of Faust by Hector Berlioz
Salzburg Summer Opera Festival, Salzburg, Austria
Ruhr Triennale, Bochum, Germany
1997
The Martyrdom of Saint Sebatian by Claude Debussy
Teatro dell’Opera, Rome, Italy
1996
La Atlántida by Manuel de Falla.
Granada Summer Festival, Granada, Spain
Bluebeard’s Castle by Béla Bartók, 2007
The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 2003
The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 2003
The Damnation of Faust by Hector Berlioz, 1999
Future public projects
Echo 2011
Echo is Plensa’s first public project in
New York, USA. The sculpture,
located in Madison Square Park, is a
monument to everyday people
Creatively inspired by the presence of
the 9-year old daughter of a
restaurant proprietor near Plensa’s
home in Barcelona, the 44-feet tall
sculpture comprised of white
fiberglass resin depicts the face of
this inspiring young girl in a dream
state from the neck, up. Plensa’s
sculpture, made from marble gelcoated fiberglass-reinforced plastic, will be sited on
the central Oval Lawn of Madison Square Park.
Its monumental size and vertical orientation reflect the architecture surrounding
the park, while the visage of the sculptor’s subject exudes a welcoming tranquility
perfectly suited to this cherished urban oasis. Drawing inspiration from the
presence of a real person in real time, Plensa’s sculpture also references the myth
of the Greek nymph Echo. According to Greek mythology, Echo was a nymph,
who loved her own voice until it was later taken. From that point forward the
legend tells of Echo being able to utter the thoughts of others but not her own.
Jaume Plensa’s Echo plays on the tale of this Greek myth, creating a sculpture of
massive scale drawing parallels to the Greek Echo’s origins as a mountain nymph.
The reference is carried further by the artist’s decision to depict the young 9-year
old girl’s face in a dream state, translating this massive sculptural portrait into a
physical monument of all the voices and thoughts of others internalised by
Madison Square Park as by the nymph in the myth of Echo.
Together 2012
The new sculpture will be suspended in the central
aerial space within Chichester Cathedral, West
Sussex, UK. The form of the sculpture is the hand
of the resurrected Christ, raised in the sign of
blessing. A ‘cloud’ of letters form the hand,
maintaining transparency and enabling the viewer to
see directly through the sculpture. The letters
composing the hand are derived from eight
alphabets: Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Cyrillic, Arabic,
Hindi, Japanese, and Chinese. Chichester Cathedral
has an international reputation as a bold patron of
contemporary
art within an ancient setting; this artwork will revitalise that tradition. The
commission was launched in 2009, and was timed to mark the centenary of Walter
Hussey (1909-1985) who was Dean of Chichester from 1955 to 1977. Referred to
by the art historian Kenneth Clark as ‘the last great patron of art in the Church of
England’. Alphabets are a perfect metaphor for the different origins, cultures and
backgrounds that comprise humanity, which is the fundamental idea behind
Together, and is in harmony with Chichester’s role as a world Cathedral.’ The
hand raised in blessing is a familiar motif to be found throughout the Cathedral,
from the 12th century Lazarus Reliefs to a detail within a Victorian stained glass
window. Jaume Plensa’s aspiration for Together is that it should be perfectly
integrated into the architecture of the Cathedral, emphasising the powerful
spirituality of the space. The material of the three dimensional sculpture will be a
matt finish stainless steel, which will subtly reflect the light, and is an appropriate
material for its strength, durability and lightness. The size of the sculpture will be
approximately 2.5 – 3m high, the exact scale to be determined following a scale
model installed in the space.
Quotes by Jaume Plensa
“As a sculptor, I basically work in the terrain of ideas, not with material of forms,
although each idea obviously demands it material and form, but these are not the
main concerns”
(Jaume Plensa in A Conversation with Jaume Plensa, 1999, quoted in Jaume
Plensa: Chaos-Saliva, 136)
“Over time, the work becomes a part of each person’s personal memory and
likewise exists as part of the collective.”
(Jaume Plensa in Selected Works 1995-1999, 1999)
“For me, a sculptor uses physical material to express abstract ideas.”
(Jaume Plensa in Transforming Energy, Sculpture Magazine, March 2006, 38-45)
“I’m obsessed with the idea that art itself is something in-between. It has to take
up and assimilate a wide range of influences, experiences, and strengths and make
a whole out of them.”
“As an artist you have to speak indirectly, you have to project another world that
allows you to know your own world better. It is best if you can put yourself outside
all the customary relationships and ties. Thus you will see and feel much more
sharply.”
(Jaume Plensa in Jaume Plensa, Love Sounds, 1999, 6)
“The development of a kind of collective memory is one of the finest reasons for
being an artist. The rest doesn’t matter.”
(Jaume Plensa in Jaume Plensa, Love Sounds, 1999, 8)
“I’m not a conceptual artist and I never have been: I’m a very physical artist, I need
to touch things, but ideas can be touched too”.
(Jaume Plensa in Speech and Matter, Arts Magazine, AÑO 3 –Nº 7, July –
September, 2010)
“Very early on I knew that sculpture gave me everything”
(Jaume Plensa in Jaume Plensa 2008, 12)
“My work follows this rule: the development of independent cells that slowly
continue to associate with one another to eventually arrive at the construction of
one unique, single body.”
(Jaume Plensa in “Conversation,” Jaume Plensa, 2007, 60)
“For me, art is nothing more than a body sound. Our bodies produce vibrations,
and I view art as one of these vibrations. It belongs to me: it’s a part of me.
Without art, I’m not imaginable. I never took care to become a good artist, but I
always took care to become a good person. I don’t care about art as a problem of
shapes. Art is a consequence. It’s the breath of my experience. It helps people
understand life. It helps people to grow up. But I’m not good at explaining what art
is or should be. If I were able to do so, I probably could not continue to be an artist
any longer. “
(Jaume Plensa, Sculpture in Public Part II, the 21st International Sculpture
Conference, 2008)
“Since I began doing sculpture I made up my mind to break with the centrality of
the work of sculpture, with the totemic idea implicit in it. To replace that centrality
with something far more interesting: the ungraspable. To give a physical content
to that concept and renounce form as gesture”
(Jaume Plensa in Jaume Plensa, Institut Valencià d’ Art Modern, Valencia, 2007,
22)
“…in fact it is the sculptor who has regained his public freedom; he does not need
to decorate or commemorate any more, he can talk about sculpture again. That
means he can ask a small question, write a very discreet little question mark on the
wall: I think that is the real function nowadays”
(Jaume Plensa in Jaume Plensa, Institut Valencià d’ Art Modern, Valencia, 2007,
22)
Public works
Crown Fountain
“For over twenty-five years I have exhibited in both galleries and museums, and
designed opera sets and public sculpture, and so it was exhilarating to face the
new challenges a concept for a fountain in a city such as Chicago, bearing in mind
that the Crown Fountain was to be my first major public project in the United
States”
(Jaume Plensa in The Crown Fountain, 2008, 13)
“I am fortunate enough to have been invited to install my works in places as
diverse as England, Japan, Korea, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Israel. These
experiences have contributed to my ever-growing interest in, and great respect
for, the concept that we call ‘the public space,’ whether it is to be found in an
urban context or in a more natural environment”
“I have learned to value intangible characteristics, subtle sensation, and ‘time’ –
that most ephemeral of elements – which invisibly envelop the physical and
architectural aspects of spaces. These are the traits that confer upon the work its
true personality”
“I have experienced the energy of the people who live with my works. I have
grown by learning from their reactions to beauty, from their endeavours to
understand and appreciate the unknown, and from their determination to
participate fully in the development of the works”
“My aim was to emphasise and expand upon the poetic, sensorial, and social
aspects of my own experience of the public space. I wanted to generate an
interactive and multidisciplinary relationship with the city and to expose the souls
of its inhabitants by creating an archive of its people, as well as to provide a link
connecting Chicago with the rest of the world”
“I wanted to produce a project for the twenty-first century based on the concept
of the fountain in the great classical tradition, but one that would create a bridge
to the future at the same time.”
“I wanted to put the city’s inhabitants once more at centre stage, a position I felt
they had lost in recent years. I wanted to bring them out of anonymity by
incorporating them fully into the process of the work”
“I wanted to build a space for silent reflection amidst the natural sound of falling
water, a place where people, whether young or old, could be themselves; a place
to be enjoyed. I wanted to create a living work, which, like the city, would
perpetually transform itself”
“Restoring the concepts of water and the fountain to the public space, and turning
them into a new experience for all the senses, took me back to the origins of the
tradition: to the small springs in the mountains, to the great rivers in the plains, to
the dark oceans. From the damp silence of Japanese fountains to the sunlit
fountains in the Mediterranean. From the murmuring of medieval gargoyles to the
Italian fountains of the Renaissance. From the Iguacu Falls to the fountains by Luis
Barragan. From Niagra Falls to the Trocadero and Antoni Gaudi”
“I wanted the towers to be like transparent houses that embody the true notion of
community. I wanted to embody the idea of communication and social aspects of
our lives as individuals. They suggest the opening of our homes: a place where we
can shelter and protect the souls of others as if they were our own. I wanted them
to shatter the barriers that separate us, to help us share our experiences through
light and transparency”
“One of the great traditions in fountains throughout history, gargoyles were the
faces of mythological beings sculpted in stone or bronze, and through their open
mouths flowed the water of life. The Crown Fountain draws on this tradtion, using
the faces of the people of Chicago as modern adaptations of the gargoyle.”
“Water flows through their mouths as a symbol of life. These faces made sacred
and majestic through their grand scale and prominence, offer a mythical
significance to our daily lives and pay tribute to the people who, through their
anonymity, give their energy as a gift to the community”
“At the same time, however, fountains have been used in all cultures as a
reference to nature in our everyday domestic and urban setting. The fountain is an
ever-present reminder of our roots in nature”
"When we took the fence away the night before the opening, it just sucked people
in—I couldn't believe it, I never expected that beautiful response from people—
that they would adopt the fountain as part of their lives, especially kids. The
municipality had been a little concerned that it would be too intellectual and too
much technology for the public space, but it's probably the most visceral piece I
ever did in my life. I improved a lot in that project."
(Jaume Plensa in Man of a Thousand Faces, ARTnews online: March 2010)
"I had never had as strong a relationship with people as I had in Chicago, filming
1,000 faces, one after another,"
“In Chicago, where I was asked to take part in a competition, I wanted my work to
represent an archive of the city’s inhabitants”
“In a way, the faces are like a mosaic representing the different cultures and
ancestries of the city’s people.”
“With Crown Fountain, I attempted to create a place of beauty where people
could meet, talk, and meditate. I wanted it to be a modern version of the
traditional fountain. When water streams out of the mouths, one is reminded of
the gargoyle, which is an old deity of life and a popular motif in the history of
fountains. The flowing of water, images, and light represents permanent change
and transformation. I think that this is the first time people did not stand in front of
a fountain watching the water, but instead stood in the middle of it, becoming a
part of it. They experience the water like they experience the images. They are so
close to them that they distinctly see the red, blue, and green dots that constitute
the images of the 50-foot-high faces”
“The beauty of the work consists of the fact that in the midst of this vast
emptiness, the two towers produce enormous tension. I think that people go there
in order to feel this magnetism. It’s a great pleasure for me to know that
Chicagoans have really integrated Crown Fountain into their lives.”
Breathing
“The BBC commissioned it for a new building in Regent Street, where it is visible
from all sides. It is accompanied by a text on silence. I reverse things. The people
at the BBC live from their talking all the time, and I’m confronting them with a
mode of
existence praising silence. They understood this very well and were very excited
about the idea. At night, a powerful beam of white light radiates out of the work
into the sky.”
“The BBC piece will also count among my vertical bridges connecting heaven and
hell. Obviously, this is reminiscent of Blake.”
Gongs
“The specific aspect of all these works is the material removed during the
engraving process. It’s like creating sculptures out of the negative, opening up
quite a new space as an artist.”
Early work
“When I did Wonderland I, I was in Great Britain working on a project and an
exhibition for the Henry Moore Sculpture Trust. I was reading Alice in Wonderland
at the time and thinking about someone who could shrink her body to pass
through small doors. Reading Carroll´s book is like reading a book on sculpture. I
recall a conversation I once had with Anthony Caro, who told me: “Jaume, there
are three major issues in sculpture—scale, scale, and scale!” “Yes,” I replied, “but I
disagree completely. For me, the most important issue is time.”
“Time appears in the doors of Wonderland in the way your image is reflected, as in
a mirror. When you stand in front of a door, the most important thing is that you
are thinking about the other side, and what you are thinking depends on how old
you are and what you have experienced in your life.”
“Wonderland I is a very personal piece. When I was looking for information on
doors, I came across a dictionary definition that said: “Door: the most important
part of a house.” I don’t think that this is based on architecture, but because
there’s a decision connected to it: you have to decide whether and when to cross
the threshold. That was the idea behind my work. When I produced Wonderland I,
I was 38 years old. And because I decided to dedicate it to myself, I gave it 38
doors”
Cells, containers and cabins
"I always thought that silence is only a dream. Our body is heavy and noisy, full of
life, finite life. The cabins are meditation cells. And at the same time there is
something cannibalistic about them…"
(Jaume Plensa in Galeria Carles Taché, 1989, no page number, interview by Gloria
Moure)
(There are houses made of polyester such as Bedroom (1995) and houses with
texts such as Winter Kept Us Warm (1998), Scholars of War (1999), and Komm
mit! Komm mit! (1999). Then there are the three houses made of brass, which are
meant to be self-portraits (1997), as well as the four houses with body sounds,
Love Sounds (1998))
“A house is a place to be. The idea of a home is more essential for me than the
idea of a house. That’s the most important point for me. For me, a home is not
necessarily a building. It can be the wife you love, the book you are reading, the
music you like, or the nature you feel well with. It’s a general concept. It’s probably
for this reason that people feel comfortable with my works regardless of where I
show them”
Houses as self-portraits
“They reveal something about me, my attitude toward humankind and the world.
It’s the idea of body and soul. A house is a body in the sense of it being a place to
be. And when someone enters one of my houses, he or she furnishes them with a
soul. The piece is not complete until someone enters it.”
Materials
“The glass bricks, like transparent stones, call to mind the great tradition of the
Sefer Yetzirah, or the Book of Creation, that tells of hoe Yahweh created the
world: ‘Yahweh engraved, modelled, weighed, and combined the twenty-two basic
letters on a wheel, as if they were walls… How did he combine and arrange them?
Aleph with all the Aleph, Beth with all the Beths…and he found that every creature
and everything said comes from a single name…Two stones build two houses.
Three stones build six houses. Four stones build twenty-four houses. Five stones
build one hundred and twenty-two houses. Six stones build seven hundred and
twenty houses. Seven stones build five thousand and forty houses. Thereafter, go
away and think about everything that the mouth cannot say and ear cannot ear’”
“The idea of creating something large out of small elements, much the same way
that cells joins together to form a complex body.”
“In the beginning I used forged steel and cast iron, adopting an industrial technique
for my sculptures. I was dreaming about the moment when the mountains were
formed, the moment when everything was liquid and hot and suddenly started to
cool, solidify, and take shape. For me, there’s a mythical element in the way fire
transforms things into liquid. Something solid becomes liquid and then becomes an
object again.”
“I had an experience in the foundry. I clearly remember it. I used to work a lot with
cast iron. So there is was, standing in the foundry, looking at the liquid iron and it
seemed to be made only of burning, flowing light. Completely weightless. From
then on I started working with light”
(Jaume Plensa in Love Sounds, 1999, 7)
Sculpture and Art
“ Art is a consequence…it helps people understand life…but I am not good at
explaining what art is or should be…every definition of an artist with regard to art
and his or her role as an artist is right, subjectively right…Combining all the
different experiences and definitions would probably sum up what art is and what
an artist is. There is no such thing as just one single definition”
“What I have always tried to depict in my work is a sculpture of the memory…you
can find fresh footprints or fossils in mud and the emotional reactions to the two
footprints are so different and unequal that there is not comparison. Sculpture, my
sculpture at least has a tendency towards fossilised footprints rather than fresh
footprints. Sculpture has the same constant objective: the totem, and totems are
something we have in our inmost being since time immemorial; symbols, all this
constitutes shared memories, and sculpture is rather like some marvellous sublime
material in which one can work on this space in a collective memory.”
Moure)
“As I understand sculpture it is the union of something physical with an abstract
idea, the union of thought and matter”
(Jaume Plensa in Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids,
Michigan, 2008, back cover)
“Art can provide keys and messages to change your life permanently – it can make
your eyes open”
Michigan, 2008, 7)
“Since I began doing sculpture I made up my mind to break with the centrality of
the work of sculpture, with the totemic idea implicit in it. To replace that centrality
with something far more interesting: the ungraspable. To give a physical content
to that concept and renounce form as gesture”
(Jaume Plensa in Jose de los Santos Aunonn, Conversation with Jaume Plensa,
2001, no page number)
“Poetry is not the exclusive property of the poets. There are other aspects that
explain my approach to sculpture. I'm very physical. My relationship with the
sculpture is a sensitive approach.”
(Jaume Plensa in el cultural.es, 2000, online)
"The sculpture is not just a problem of scale, materials, and so on. For me,
sculpture is a link, a bridge. In sculpture, there are guidelines and these guidelines
will relate to the impossible, with abstraction, so far away from the tactile and
material, but through the physical, and this is a wonderful contradiction”
People
“Everybody is the same, we are all a little universe unto ourselves”
Michigan, 2008, 10)
“Only a few people can read what is tattooed onto your skin, a friend, or a lover,
perhaps. This is when you are moved, enabling you at last to share with others
what is legible to you yourself. You live in loneliness with your text, with your
tattoo”
(Jaume Plensa in Une âme, deux corps... trois ombres, 2006, 32)
Body
“If you think about material, for example, you don’t necessarily have to think about
weight, you can instead think about energy. It is similar with the body. Everyone
has a certain aura, and you can try to fill up space with this energy instead of filling
it up with the body. In my work, I like to transform this energy into an object.
Bodies appear and vanish and are subject to a process of permanent change. They
acquire biographies and memories. I’m interested in this process— not as
narrative, but as energy. I’m less interested in the individual than in the collective.
Because I’m trying to proceed to the origin— not of shape, but of attitude—I
regard myself as a classical sculptor.”
“Every human being is a “place“. Every woman, every man, every child, every old
person are themselves a living space which moves and unfolds; a “place“ in the
sense of time, geography, volume and colour. Whole cities built out of bodies that
open and shut like doors. Flashing lights. Each time a human being dies, a house
shuts down and a “place“ is lost.
My work is its remembrance. The freeze frame of all those bodies, which in their
unfolding, disappear at lightning speed. My work is their volume”
(Jaume Plensa in Jaume Plensa conversation, 2002, 8)
Public projects
"It's not just a geographic area but a place where people do something just by
passing through or relaxing or eating. Public spaces are an expansion of your body,
your home. They are another circle."
“Public space has its own laws and shouldn’t be confused with a gallery or a
museum. Public space is owned by a city’s inhabitants, and the artist should keep
this in mind. I have always refused to use public space as a site to install objects
that interrupt people’s customary movement. I try to produce something that
invites them to come.”
(Jaume Plensa in Transforming Energy, Sculpture Magazine, March 2006, 42)
Other Materials/elements
Silence
“One of my obsessions is silence, silence as a key need. And in a very noisy world,
silence is to be produced, must "make", because there, an inner silence for people
to be themselves again”
Light and sound
“While working in the foundry with cast iron, I was fascinated by the light of the
glowing red substance. When iron is molten it is pure light. It completely loses its
weight. La Neige Rouge works with light the exact colour of the molten iron when
it comes out of the oven. For the first time, I also added sound to a work—the
sound of electricity amplified by the conical shapes of the work itself. People were
struck by the aggressiveness of the light and sound of this piece.”
Influences
Literature
“As I understand sculpture it is the union of something physical with an abstract
idea, the union of thought and matter. I find this in the great images of literature
too”
"I started with the idea of being a painter, but it is likely that my fascination with
the writing took me to the sculpture. In principle, the painting seems to relate to
the act of writing, but from my point of view, poetry is closer to sculpture”
“Books were important, but not in the way they may be for a conceptual artist. I
loved the physical aspect of text. I remember leafing through books and being
puzzled that while I was looking at one page, the previous page had already
disappeared although it had just become part of me. I dreamed about transforming
letters into something physical.”
“I make elements of language into shapes, but on no account do I aim to make this
conceptual, I do it only at optical level.”
Moure)
“You are familiar with my fascination with texts and the importance I give to the
written word, in its most organic sense, due to its similarity with the body, with the
way the human being grows and expands. One simple letter is like a cell charged
with memory. It may seem, a priori, that they can have nothing in common with
each other in view of the human personality and a notable differentiation in shape,
but this tiny letter in association with others starts to form words, and these in
association with others give rise to texts, which in association with others proffer
ideas, and these in further associations give shape to the thought that nourishes
cultures and religions, traditions and so on… In short, the whole world! This is the
idea of the Even Shetia, or foundational stone, around which the temple was built,
around the temple the city, around the city the country, from the country to the
world, the world to the universe, and so on and on… It’s the idea of expansion from
the smallest of things, from the association of diverse elements for the purpose of
constructing a more complex body. A complex body like ours formed of eyes,
fingers, ears, hair, feet, arms, lungs, heart, and so on and so forth… Elements that
when compared to each other do not appear to have any relationship to one
another, but in association do in fact perfectly articulate one single organization:
the body.
(Jaume Plensa in “Conversation,” Jaume Plensa, Valencia: IVAM Institut Valencià
d’Art Modern, 2007, 60)
“Why should the page of a book be opaque if when I pass to the other page my life
is completely different thanks to the experience of reading it?”
(Jaume Plensa in an interview with Jed Morse, 2009, cited in Genus and Species.
Jed Morse, 2010, 44) Language
“The physical aspect of language fascinates me. In my last gallery show in London,
I had words like “day” and “night,” “sweet” and “sour” engraved into two metal
plates, which I connected to a scale. As the letters were incised into the metal, the
weight of the plates changed and the scale’s dishes went up or down accordingly.
In this work, the weight is the absence of the word.”
(Jaume Plensa in Transforming Energy, Sculpture Magazine 2006)
“It is this obsession with the word as a space where we find ourselves and share
our memory, our little fragment of memory”
(Jaume Plensa in a transcription of a unpublished taped conversation with the
author 1997, for context see Willaim Jeffet: 1998, 61-73)
Childhood
“You know, for years I wanted to become a doctor. I loved the body. In fact, I was
obsessed by it. I had numerous medical books, which stimulated my imagination.
But it was more a fantastic than a scientific interest. In the 18th century, people did
wonderful etchings of the body, about the fluids inside and how the muscles
worked. Later, I dreamed about becoming a writer. I even imagined myself as a
musician. I wanted to be everything and everybody. Because I don’t have the
courage to be just one—that would be too difficult for me—art has probably
allowed me to pursue all these aspirations”
“In my works, words and letters are lent weight and volume. In this way they
endure and don’t vanish. You know that I work with the opera. Everything from
my childhood re-appears in my art—the music, the books, the body. All of these
elements are the essence of my work today.”
Shakespeare
“Sleep No More is a very important work because it represents the first time I
used text. An excerpt from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. I’ve always thought that
Macbeth provides the best definition of what a sculptor can be. For me, a sculptor
uses physical material to express abstract ideas. The moment that Macbeth kills
the king he destroys his own ability to sleep. The act is an expression of a precious
paradox: Macbeth touches a body, which he kills, and at the same time he kills
something untouchable. So I used this sentence in Sleep No More, casting it in iron
to fix this fragile idea. It was a very important moment in my artistic career.”
Blake
“Blake became very important for me after I became familiar with his Proverbs of
Hell. They are a brilliant combination of high culture and low, of tradition and
progress, matter and spirit, body and soul. And I feel close to Blake because he,
too, was born midcentury: Blake in the middle of the 18th century, while I was born
in the middle of the 20th. Thus we both function as bridges between different
times, forces, and energies. Besides, I’m obsessed with the idea that art itself is
something in-between. It has to take up and assimilate a wide range of influences,
experiences, and strengths and make a whole out of them.”
“Blake became very important to me after I became familiar with his Proverbs of
Hell. They are a brilliant combination of high culture and low, of tradition and
progress, matter and spirit, body and soul. And I feel close to Blake because he
too, was born mid-century: Blake in the middle of the 18th century, while I was
born in the middle of the 20th. Thus we both function as bridges between different
times, forces, and energies.”
“I love his modernity. There are so many parallels to our time. He too grew up in
difficult times and lived through the end of a century two hundred years ago. He
too was a loner without the help of schools, ideologies and parties. I feel very close
to him”
“I appreciate his poetry in which he artfully combines popular and elaborate
elements and where he develops a convincing philosophical pragmatism.”
Poetry
“I think that in order to conceive words and letters as sculptures I had to be
influenced by another poet, Rabelais. In one of his books, he tells a wonderful
story: Gargantua is at sea with his men, and suddenly they hear strange sounds
and voices in the air. It’s very cold, and the words and sentences freeze and fall
down as objects onto the ship. Later, it becomes warm again and they all melt
away. The remaining drops look like diamonds, and the men ask Gargantua if he
might sell them what remains of the voices. He responds by telling them that
lawyers sell voices, but that he could only sell them silence, which is much more
expensive. The physical aspect of language fascinates me. In my last gallery show
in London, I had words like “day” and “night,” “sweet” and “sour” engraved into
two metal plates, which I connected to a scale. As the letters were incised into the
metal, the weight of the plates changed and the scale’s dishes went up or down
accordingly. In this work, the weight is the absence of the word.”
Opera
“I think that working for the opera is a natural extension of my work in space. I
described how beautiful it is for me to see my work alive, with people using it. This
is a basic condition on stage. What you create for the stage is used by other
people. What attracts me to the stage, too, is that the work at an opera is an
amazing combination of different energies and knowledge. You have the author,
the director, the composer, the singers and dancers, the conductor. I love the
opera: it was born from the idea of creating a “total art,” an idea that still
fascinates me.”
“The best thing about opera is its ephemerality. It exists only for the transitory
moments of its representations. It is born and it disappears. Thus it’s like a parable
of life. I like the idea of the permanence of my works in public spaces, but I also like
this concept of ephemerality.”
Light art
Light art is a form of visual art where main media of expression is
light. Light has been used for architectural aesthetical effects
throughout human history. However, the modern concept of light
art emerged with the development of artificial light sources and
experimenting modern art. Examples of light art include works by
Dan Flavin, Olafur Eliasson, James Turrell, Waltraut Cooper,
Aleksandra Stratimirovic, Austine Wood Comarow, Tim WhiteSobieski and many others.
History
One of the first artistic uses of light is the way in which stained
glass can be used to colour transmitted light, examples of this
goes back to the 4th century. Most prominently seen in
churches and mosques with elaborate stained glass windows.
Another use of light in art is in shadow puppetry, where
Olafur Eliassons The Weather Project
projections of shadows from puppets can be used to create the
illusion of moving images. A form of shadow puppetry is described at Tate Modern, London, 2003.
as early as 380 BC by Plato in the Allegory of the cave.
All visual art of cause use light in some form, but in modern times
photography and motion pictures, use of light is especially
important. However, with the invention of electrical artificial light,
the possibilities were expanded and many artists began using the
light as the main form of expression instead of just a vehicle for
other forms of art.
Examples
As an example artist Austine Wood Comarow works with pure
polarised light passing through birefringent materials to create
interactive and morphing images. This art form uses no pigments
whatsoever, deriving prismatic colors purely from birefringence.
Detail of a 13th century window from
Also included in the light art genre is the so-called light graffiti
Chartres Cathedral in France
including projection onto buildings, arrangement of lighted windows
in buildings and painting with hand-held lights onto film using time
exposure. A unique project for light art can be found in front of the
Osram headquarter in Munich, Germany: Seven LED stelae form as a plattform for
altering art projects (involving video artists such as Diana Thater and Björn Melhus, film
makers such as Harun Farocki or media artists such as Art+Com.
Light sculpture
Light sculpture is an intermedia and time-based art form in
which sculpture or any kind of art object produces light, or
the reverse (in the sense that light is manipulated in such a
way as to create a sculptural as opposed to temporal form
or mass). Most often light sculpture artists were primarily
either visual artists or composers, not having started out
directly making light sculpture. László Moholy-Nagy (1895–
1946), a member of the Bauhaus, and influenced by
constructivism is regarded as one of the fathers of Light art.
Light and moving sculpture are the components of his LightSpace Modulator (1922–30), One of the first light art
pieces which also combines kinetic art. Light sculpture is
sometimes site-specific. (Taken from Wikipedia)
László Moholy-Nagy, Light-SpaceModulator, 1930
Bibliography
Genus and Species. Jed Morse, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas, 2010
L’Âme des Mots. Jean-Louis Andral, Olivier Kaeppelin and Jaume Plensa, Mussée Picasso,
Antibes, France, 2010
Jaume Plensa, Nomade. Daniel Abadie and Jean Louis Andral, Musée Picasso and Managements
of Museums de la Ville d’Antibes, France, 2008
Jaume Plensa. Joseph Antenucci Becherer, Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand
Rapids, Michigan, 2008
Jaume Plensa. The Crown Fountain, Keith Patrick, Hatje Cantz, 2008
Jaume Plensa. Save our Souls, Albion Gallery, London, 2007
Jaume Plensa. William Jeffett and Gilbert Perlein, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia, 2007
Jaume Plensa. Song of Songs. Albion Gallery, London, 2007
Jaume Plensa. Sinónimos. Javier Arnaldo, Félix Duque y Ángel Gabilondo, Círculo De Bellas Artes,
Madrid, 2007
Jaume Plensa. I in his eyes as one that found peace. Michael Stoeber 2005, Richard Gray Gallery,
Chicago, 2006
Jaume Plensa. Jerusalem. Pere A. Serra, Marie-Claire Uberquoi and Carsten Ahrens, Es
Baluard, Palma de Mallorca, 2006
Jaume Plensa: une âme, deux corps... trois ombres, Jean Frémon, Doris Von Drathen, Galerie
Lelong, 2006
Complete Theatre Of William Shakespeare. Illustrated by Jaume Plensa. Ed. Galaxia GutenbergCírculo de Lectores, Barcelona, Spain 2006
Jaume Plensa. Montse Badia, Bruno Corà, Jacques Terrasa, Oscar Wilde, Centro de Arte
Contemporáneo de Málaga, Málaga, 2005
Jaume Plensa. Glückauf?, text by Christoph Brockhaus, Rolf Lauter, Gottlieb Leinz, Stiftung
Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, 2005
Jaume Plensa: Thirteen Doubts, Achim Sommer, Kulturzentrum Englische Kirche, Galerie
Scheffel, 2005
Jaume Plensa. Opera, Teatro y amigos, text by Carsten Ahrens, Juan Ángel Vela del Campo,
Massimo Luconi, Fernando Maquieira Fundación ICO, Madrid, 2005
Jaume Plensa Silent Noise, text by J.M. Bonet, Kathy Cottong, Laura Coyle, Doris Von Drathen,
Ed. Ministerio De Asuntos Exteriores / Dirección General de Relaciones Culturales y
Científicas / Sociedad Estatal Para la Acción Cultural Exterior SEACEX, Madrid 2004
Jaume Plensa Fiumi e cenere, text by José Jiménez, Marco Pierini, Edizione Gli Ori, Siena-Prato
2004 Il Suono del sangue parla la stessa lingua, interview by Lorenzo Benedetti, Volume!, Roma
2004
Jaume Plensa - Livres, estampes et multiples sur papier: Books, prints and Multiples on paper.
1978-2003, text by Caroline Joubert, Fernando Gómez Aguilera, Jaume Plensa, Fundación César
Manrique / Institut Valencià d'Art Modern / Musée des Beaux Arts de Caen 2004
Jaume Plensa, text by Mario Mauroner, Galerie Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art. Academia
Galerie und Verlags Gesellschaft m.b.H & Co KG. Salzburg 2004
Jaume Plensa: Silent Noise, text by Juan Manuel Bonet, Kathy Cottong, Laura Coyle, Doris Von
Drathen, The Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago 2003
Jaume Plensa, text by Carsten Ahrens, José Jiménez, Robert Hopper, Dr. Stefan von Senger,
Keith
Patrick, Susan Crown and Jaume Plensa, Ediciones Poligrafa, Barcelona 2003.
Jaume Plensa, Conversations, text by Gottlieb Heinz Jaume Plensa, Edition Scheffel, Bad
Homburg, 2002
Jaume Plensa, text by Oriol Pi de Cabanyes, Jean-Pierre Van Tieghem, Jaume Plensa, Fondation
Européenne Pour la Sculpture, Bruxelles, Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona 2002
Jaume Plensa, Wispern, text by Carsten Ahrens, Biel Amer, Alicia Chillida, Jaume Plensa, Església
de Sant Domingo, Pollença, Mallorca Ajuntament de Pollença 2002
Jaume Plensa, Europa, text and interview by Mª José de los Santos, Galeria Toni Tàpies,
Barcelona 2001
Jaume Plensa, Close Up, text by Keith Patrick, New Moment – Mestna Galerija, Ljubljana 2001
Jaume Plensa – “Gläserne Seele”: Mr Net in Brandenburg – Generation_0, text by Stefan von
Senger, Wolfgang Fürnib and Jaume Plensa, Ministeriums für Wirtschaft, Land Brandenburg, zur
EXPO 2000, q-bus Mediatektur GmbH 2001
Jaume Plensa: Chaos – Saliva, text by Jaume Plensa, Carsten Ahrens, José Jiménez, Barbara
Catoir, Doris von Drathen, Sune Nordgren and an interview by Alicia Chillida; Museo Nacional
Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Palacio de Velázquez, Madrid 2000
Jaume Plensa 360º, text by Antonio Garrido Moraga, Alfredo Taján, Jesús Aguado, Jaume Plensa,
Museo Municipal De Málaga, Málaga 2000
One thought fills immensity, Jaume Plensa, text by Mario Mauroner, Galerie Academia, Salzburg
2000
Jaume Plensa – Nir Alon. Passage International, text by Nira Itzhaki, Lóránd Hegyi, Meir Agassi,
Chelouche Gallery for Comtemporary Art, Tel Aviv 2000
Jaume Plensa / Selected Works 1995-1999, text by Javier Aiguabella, Tamada Projects
Corporation, Tokyo 1999
Jaume Plensa - Wanderers Nachtlied, text by Lóránd Hegyi, Daniel Abadie, Bruno Corá,
Rosa Olivares, interview by Daniéle Perrier, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Palais
Liechtenstein, Vienna 1999
Jaume Plensa - Love Sounds, text by Carsten Ahrens, interview by Michael Stoeber, Kestner
Gesellschaft, Hannover 1999
Jaume Plensa, text by Carlos Martínez Gorriarán, Galería Altxerri, San Sebastián, 1999
Jaume Plensa, excerpt of interview by Yves Lecointre – 1997, Sala Robayera. Ayuntamiento de
Miengo, Miengo, 1999
Jaume Plensa, text by Bernardo Pinto de Alameida, Galeria Fernando Santos, Porto, 1999
Wie ein Hauch, text by Reiner Maria Rilke, Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin, 1998
Dallas?...Caracas?, text by William Jefett, Rick Brettel und Tulio Hernandez, The McKinney
Avenue Contemporary, Dallas; Fundación Museo Jacobo Borges, Caracas 1998
Water. Jaume Plensa, text by Jaume Plensa and an interview by Yves Lecointre, Fonds régionale
d'art contemporain, Picardie, 1998
Jaume Plensa, text by Renato Barili, Girogio Cortenova, Robert Lambareli, Skira editore, Milano &
Palazzo Forti, Verona, 1998
Jaume Plensa, Text by John Berger, Daniel Adadie, Hanns--‐Jürgen Buderer, Jaume Plensa
And interviewby Manuel J. Borja--‐Villel, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona; Galerie Nationale du Jeu
de Paume, Paris; Malmö Konsthall, Malmö; Städtische
Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, 1997
Jaume Plensa Small Sculptures, text by Keith Patrick, Galeria Die Brucke, Buenos Aires, 1997
Jaume Plensa, text by Keith Patrick, Centre de Cultura Sa Nostra, Palma de Mallorca, 1996
Islands, text by Robert J. Loescher, Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago 1996
Jaume Plensa, text by Lóránd Hegyi, Scognamiglio Et Teano Agencia d'Arte Moderna, Neapel,
1996
The Personal Miraculous Fountain, text by Robert Hopper, José Jiménez, Bruno Corá, Gloria
Moure, The Henry Moore Sculpture Trust, Leeds, 1995
Jaume Plensa, One thought fills immensity, text by Werner Meyer, Alain Charre and Jaume
Plensa, Stadtische Galerie Goppingen, Goppingen, 1995
Wonderland, Galeria Gamarra Y Garrigues, Madrid, 1994
Jaume Plensa, text by Flaminio Gualdoni, Gloria Moure, Bruno Corá, Jaume Plensa, Galleria Civica
di Modena, Modena, 1994
Jaume Plensa, Un Sculpteur, Une Ville, text by Jean Pierre Rehm, Bruno Corá, Alain Charre,
Biennale 1994, Valence, 1994
Memoires Jumelles, text by Jaume Plensa, Galerie de France, Paris; Galerie Alice Pauli, Lausanne,
1993
Auch 1991, Jaume Plensa, text by Norbert Duffort, Francois Barré, Ministère de la Culture en
France, Mairie d'Auch, 1992
Jaume Plensa, text by Jaume Plensa, Galeria Carles Taché, Barcelona, 1992
Jaume Plensa, text by Florian Rodari, Gloria Moure, Galerie Eric Franck, Geneva, 1991
Jaume Plensa, text by Jaume Plensa, P.S. Gallery, Tokyo, 1991
Jaume Plensa, text by José Jiménix, Colección Monocrom Galeria B.A.T., Madrid, 1991
Prière, Jaume Plensa, text by José Jiménez, Galeria Carles Taché, Barcelona, 1990
Jaume Plensa. Colección Liu e Ignacio de Lassaletta, text by Maria Luisa Borrás, Centro de
Exposiciones y Congresos, IberCaja, Saragossa, 1990
Jaume Plensa, text by Jaume Plensa, Galerie De France, Paris, 1990
Sculptures, Jaume Plensa, text by Martine Heredia, Eglise de Courmelois-Silo Art Contemporain,
Ministére de la Culture - D.R.A.C. Champagne-Ardenne, Reims-Val-de-Vesle, 1990
Jaume Plensa, text by Menene Gras Balaguer, Galeria Carles Taché, Barcelona, 1990
Jaume Plensa 1, Edicions T, Barcelona, 1990
Jaume Plensa, text and interview by Gloria Moure, Galeria Carles Taché, Barcelona, 1989
Suite Tervuren, Jaume Plensa, text by Bart de Baere, Galerie Philippe Guimiot, Brussels, 1989
J aume Plensa, text by Gloria Moure, Galeria Rita Garcia, Valencia, 1988
Jaume Plensa. Sculptures, dessins, text by Thierry Prat, Bernard Lamarche-Vadel, Gloria Moure,
Musée d'Art Contemporain Saint Pierre, Lyon, 1988
Jaume Plensa, text by Jesús Ferrero, The Sharpe Gallery, New York City; Galerie Folker Skulima,
Berlin, 1988
Jaume Plensa. Sculptures, Dessins, text by Bernard Lamarche-Vadel, Galerie Philippe Guimiot,
Brussels, 1987
Jaume Plensa. Escultures, text by Gloria Moure, Galeria Maeght, Barcelona, 1986
Jaume Plensa, Skulpturen, text by Alexander Dill, Galerie Folker Skulima, Berlin, 1984
Plensa, text by Gloria Moure, Galeria Ignacio de Lassaletta, Barcelona, 1983
Setmanes, 8 Artistes, text by S. Juanpere-Huguet, Galeria Artema, Barcelona, 1979
Estructures, Jaume Plensa, text by Tomás Bosch, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, 1980
Plensa Desenhos, text by Jule Barreto, Fundacao Caetano Do Sul, Sao Paulo, 1976

Jaume Plensa - Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Transcription

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