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International Artist Lights Up Downtown Durham
"Sleep No More" opens to the public on December 1st

Durham- Internationally renowned Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, whose accessible, high-tech installations have been enjoyed by people all over the world, is bringing his creative touch to Durham this month. Donated to the city of Durham by Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc., Plensa's "Sleep No More" will be located in a newly created plaza beside the Durham Performing Arts Center as a lasting beacon to the ongoing revitalization of the city. The light bridge will be turned on only when there is programming in the Durham Performing Arts Center.  The debut will be part of the City of Durham's Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Public Event on December 1st. 

"Sleep No More" features a narrow beam of white light shining high into the night sky. Located in an intimate courtyard adjacent to the new theater, the light will be emitted beneath the ground through a circular lens, embedded in a 13-ft diameter cast bronze disk. The beacon of light is expected to be visible for miles. A quote by Shakespeare drawn from Macbeth will be cast in raised letters, spiraling out from the center of the disk.  The sculpture affirms consistent themes in Plensa's work, including a connection to the literary and theatrical worlds, as well as the duality between light and dark, the Earth and the heavens, and an upward economic and cultural transformation of the city of Durham.

Plensa was born in Barcelona in 1955 and has won numerous national and international awards.  His work is exhibited in museums and galleries around the world.  Best known is his Crown Fountain in Millennium Park in Chicago, a pair of 50-foot glass block towers projecting video images of ordinary people visiting the park.  Other light bridge works include the Blake in Gateshead, a laser beam that on special occasions shines high into the night sky over for Contemporary Art in North East England and BreathingGateshead 's Baltic Centre, a memorial dedicated to journalists killed while undertaking their assignments.  Located atop the BBC Broadcasting House in London, a beam of light is projected from the sculpture each evening to coincide with the BBC News at Ten.  

American Tobacco is Downtown Durham's Entertainment District and is home
to the American Tobacco Campus, which contains 5 restaurants and over
three dozen businesses; the Durham Bulls Athletic Park; and the Durham

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