Reply To: Diarmuid Gavin

Originally posted by tea_with_nelly
I just feel that most people can’t relate to the instilations/sculptures that have a place in our towns and cities. I am not questioning their validity but I feel other approches could be tried. Sculpture and architecture, in my opinion, do not need to be purely visual, why not tactile and functional too? I work with community groups bringing art into inner city communities and the innitial response is usually the same. It usually go’s: waist of time, waist of money followed by a random sarcasm about a current piece of art. I am concerned that art in the community is becoming unrelated to its purpose and increasingly people view it with the whole emporers new coat philosophy. As I say i am not condeming whats been before but i’d like to see something new to come. Someone asked me to elaborate and someone made a crack about drunks so here’s my idea: The sculpture would be in the form of a hut or pod with water running underneath it or perhaps some kind of water feature within it. the surface of the pod would be for children so perhaps you could experiment with different textures or make the whole thing an activity centre/climbing fame type thing. thats the day time. At night the water feature is turned off or a floor is slid accross the bottom of the pod, thus turning it into a shelter for the rainy nights. Morning comes, water feature turned on our stream exposed and problem solved! I could go on and on about things like hot air blown out at night or making the inside a non graffitiable surface but…well i already have!

By the way ………..yes yes ok ok I may like Diarmuid a little too much!

Sounds like several law suits to me, children falling, drug dealers dealing, muggers mugging, interactive area falling into disrepair and becoming dangerous.

I am not against the idea but we live in a fecked up society.

Also I would be concerned about having an environment where homeless people & children might interact. Noting against homeless people, but their circumstances often make them act in ways we would consider anti social or outside the acceptable limits of social behaviour.

The cost associted with maintaining an interactive area with water feature would be astronomical compared with that of an inanimate sculpture.

There is a fountain at the top of the keys near the gates of the Pheonix Park which has a seating area, it is used mostly by alchoholics & it seems that someone cleans it every morning before normal workdays begin – sound like a lot of cost to offer people who do not contibute much to our economy or society. Surely that money would be better used to offer them some help.

Rant, rant, rant….