La Grande Nomade d’Antibes by Jaume Plensa

Officially inaugurated on March 25, 2007, the newly renovated Bastion Saint-Jaume in Antibes is quite eye-catching at the moment.  Originally conceived in the 1700s, this ancient naval site, along with the port, was destroyed by bombing in 1944 by the Germans at the time of their departure, and then rebuilt a few years later.  All naval activities at the site ceased in 1985.  And now this new space will be used to welcome some of the traditional cultural activities that take place each year here in Antibes, such as the Voiles d’Antibes, the Village Saint-Pierre, etc. 

  What is especially eye-catching at the moment is the giant sculpture called Nomade by a contemporary Spanish sculptor named Jaume Plensa.  The Nomade is from a private collection, and it is made from a base of painted stainless steel letters.  It uses light, sound, and language to express its message.  This eight-meter high sculpture, which one can walk into, represents a person, crouching with his arms around his knees, facing the sea.  Plensa suggests that language, spoken or written, goes beyond providing a simple mission of communication, but can also be assimilated into a sort of envelope, which covers the matter and energy that forms our being.  He says, “Telles des briques, les lettres ont une potentialité de construction, elles nous permettent de construire une pensée”.  (Such bricks, letters have the potential to construct, they enable us to construct a thought.) 

  Can it be a coincidence that the artist’s name is “Jaume” Plensa and the sculpture is installed at Bastion Saint-“Jaume” ??

Jaume Plensa’s Nomade in Antibes

A View from Inside Jaume Plensa’s Nomade

Comments

[nika.]

http://www.jaumeplensa.com/

[Marisol]

this is amazing!!, it represent so many things and feelings of the human being...

[Paul Benavidez]

awesome!!!!!!!!!!