American artist Jim Sanborn is very well-known for his many sculptures that involve secret messages, codes, and puzzles. While studying archaeology in England, he became interested in sculpting from stone, and since that time, he has excelled at his skills in this artform. Located on the University of Houston campus, A,A is a light sculpture in which beautiful poems, novels, and prose from all over the world illuminate the surface of the M.D. Anderson Library. Arabic, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese projections grow out of the carved copper, covering the dark, architectural background in a stunning display of languages.
In typical Sanborn style, visitors must decipher and translate the words, and he says, “I wanted to choose text that would peak the interest of the people who view it. The issues that are discussed within the text have to do with relationships, and I feel many students can relate to that. I also hope students will interact with each other when translating some of the languages they are unfamiliar with.”
Made out of copper, light, and black granite paving inlay, the public exhibition took the artist one year to complete and reportedly costs $240,000.
