“Alchemist”— by Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa
Alchemist

Jaume Plensa (Spain, 1955): Alchemist, 2010, Painted Stainless Steel

Cyphers and mathematical symbols are typically used by scientists and engineers to abstract and encode. The Spanish artist Jaume Plensa (born in 1955 in Barcelona) “took a puzzle” of white character pieces to frame a human body: a scramble of variously sized signs and symbols magically composing a seated, thinking man. The sculpture with the name “Alchemist” is located between Cambridge's Massachusetts Avenue and the Julius Adams Stratton Building—home to the Student Center of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The following description is given onsite:
On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the founding of MIT, this sculpture was commissioned and gifted by an anonymous alumnus in honor of all the alumni who have helped support MIT over the years.
This is a great place to test your symbol literacy. Show me the “infinity symbol!” Do you see the “not equal sign?” You also are invited to walk through the “knee gate” inside the Alchemist and explore the exterior MIT space through holes and gaps formed by the dizzying aesthetics of the symbol arrangement.
Follow Me on Pinterest
More to explore