Breathing - a new sculpture for Broadcasting House
Jaume Plensa
Jaume Plensa, born in Barcelona in 1955, is one of the leading sculptors in the field of plastic arts. He works in a wide range of media including drawing, sculpture, print-making, opera scenery, video art, acoustic installations, text and light.
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A significant part of Jaume Plensa's production is set in the context of public sculpture, a sphere in which he has permanent works installed all over the world. The Crown Fountain, in Chicago's Millennium Park, is one of his latest and most renowned projects.
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His work has been exhibited in some of the world's best contemporary art institutions including the Jeu de Paume in Paris, the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, the Joan MirΓ³ Foundation in Barcelona, the Centro de Arte Reina SofΓa in Madrid and Baltic in Gateshead.
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Since 1992, he has received 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), and, most recently, Honorary Doctorate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2005).
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Breathing as an artwork takes its inspiration from the audio life of the building (home to the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Audio & Music Division), shaped as it is in the form of a giant listening glass.
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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.
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Breathing
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life turns and turns on the crystal glass
breathing in our body
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silence is a voice, our voice
silence is a body, our body
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life turns and turns on the crystal glass
breathing in our body
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I invite you to breathe
I invite you to listen to the silence
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By Jaume Plensa
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