Artist: Jaume Plensa (Barcelona, Spain)
Title: Tolerance
Completion Date: January 2011
Medium: Stainless steel and stone
Funding Source: Private Donors
Location: Harmony Walk, Buffalo Bayou Park, Allen Parkway at Studemont
Council District D

Plensa’s Tolerance consists of seven stainless steel human figures approximately ten feet high rendered in his signature stainless steel alphabet mesh. Each figure is formed specifically to rest atop a unique boulder hand-selected by the artist in his native Spain. At night, the figures glow from within, creating a constellation of beacons. Plensa designed the installation to reflect Houston’s unity and its diversity. At a distance, the figures will appear alike because of their size, shape, and kneeling positions. Closer examination reveals that each figure is unique, having been created with an open mesh of a distinct set of characters taken from a mix of languages, including Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Greek, Hindi and Cyrillic. Plensa’s use of the building blocks of language as a primary element in the project reflects his ongoing artistic concerns to convey both individuality and universality. He says, “Despite all of the many differences that make us unique, such as religion or language, we are all trying to achieve similar things, such as love, health, prosperity, and the success of our children.”

 

 

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