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 Mir贸 Foundation in Barcelona, the Centro de Arte Reina Sof铆a 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 成人快手'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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