




Alchemist
2010
Jaume Plensa's Alchemist from 2010 is a monumental painted stainless steel figure composed entirely of interlocking letters, numbers, and symbols drawn from multiple world alphabets and writing systems. The translucent open structure of the crouching human form invites viewers to look through the body as a vessel of accumulated human knowledge and language. This work exemplifies Plensa's celebrated investigation into the relationship between text, identity, and the human condition, making it a commanding and intellectually rich centerpiece for any significant collection of contemporary sculpture.
- Medium
- Painted stainless steel
- Location
- MIT Stata Center, Cambridge, MA
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Artists in conversation
Kendall Buster
American · b. 1954
Buster creates large scale open form figurative and organic sculptures using perforated and mesh materials that allow viewers to see through the structure, sharing Plensa's interest in transparency, interior space, and the body as a permeable vessel.
Julian Voss-Andreae
German · b. 1970
Voss-Andreae constructs monumental human figures from interlocking steel elements that create open lattice structures, producing the same effect of a transparent humanoid form that dissolves at certain angles while reading as a solid figure from others.

Mel Bochner
American · b. 1940

Bochner builds large scale works in which language, typography, and word systems become the primary formal material and subject simultaneously, directly paralleling Plensa's use of letters and symbols from multiple writing systems as both the physical medium and conceptual content of the human figure.
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