Dublin Port Company Art Commission

DUBLIN PORT COMPANY ART COMMISSION

ARTIST’S BRIEF, STAGE ONE OF COMPETITION

INTRODUCTION
Dublin Port Company invites submissions from artists to a two-stage, international competition for a site-specific artwork for a new Port entrance on Promenade Road. This entrance will come into operation when the Dublin Port Tunnel is completed.

THE SPONSOR
Dublin Port Company, the sole sponsor of this commission, is the authority for Dublin Port, the largest port on the island of Ireland. The Port handles all shipping modes – Roll-on/Roll-off, Lift-on/Lift-off as well as bulk cargoes. It is also the terminus for a number of ferry services carrying cars, passengers and freight across the Irish Sea and is a popular port of call for cruise ships during the Spring and Summer seasons. Dublin Port Company provides the port infrastructure such as berths, terminals and roads as well as port services such as pilotage and towage. It employs 275 staff.

The Port estate covers 270 hectares on the North and South banks of the river Liffey just at the edge of Dublin City. There are strong ties between the Port and the local community from where it would have drawn many of its dock workers in the past. There are approximately 4,000 people employed in the port area by shipping companies, stevedores, warehouse operators, ships agents and other providers of support services.

THE ORGANISATION
This commission is being managed by a Working Group of ten. It comprises
• five members representing Dublin Port Company, the Port’s customers and the local community,
• four members with technical expertise (arts management, public art commissioning, architecture and engineering)
• a project manager.

THE COMMISSION
The value of the commission is €300,000. This includes the following costs: artist’s fee, expenses and insurance, materials, engineering design, fabrication, health and safety statements, transport, labour, landscaping, installation and VAT.

VISION & CONTEXT
When the Dublin Port Tunnel, now being built by Dublin City Council and the National Roads Authority, is completed, there will be a new main entrance to Dublin Port on Promenade Road. This will be a very visible and prominent site. To define it clearly as the main land-side entrance to the Port, Dublin Port Company wishes to commission a work of art which will be specific to the site.

In commissioning this work, Dublin Port Company is seeking to create an iconic image for Dublin Port. The landmark most readily identified with the Port at the moment is the pair of chimneys on the ESB’s electricity generating station on the South side of the river at Ringsend. A defining image of more direct relevance to the Port’s activity is needed. Dublin Port operates in a complex milieu with many stakeholders. Its customers form an obvious constituency to whom it relates both operationally and commercially. It already has a strong and explicit liaison structure through which it communicates and works with the surrounding community. When completed, the artwork will be part of the daily lives of both communities. It is also hoped that a striking new entrance will provide a symbolic impetus for the renewal of the Dublin Port environment.

The medieval Port of Dublin was further up-river, west of O’Connell Bridge. In order to accommodate growth in trade and larger ships and to overcome obstacles to safe navigation, the Port gradually moved down river. Ships continued to berth at Eden Quay and Burgh Quay in the city centre up until the late 19th century. Until the late 20th century many shipping companies and ships agents operated from that area. Today the Port operates further down river in an area that has been reclaimed from the sea.

THE LOCATION
The new Port entrance will be located at Promenade Road which is currently an internal road within the Port estate which terminates at East Point Business Park. What is a single carriageway today will be turned into a dual carriageway which will serve as the main entrance/exit for vehicles.

The available site for the commission is the area on Promenade Road between Bond Road and Bond Drive, a distance of some 490 Metres. The linear nature of the site and its well-defined boundaries (the walls of business premises on either side) mean that an artwork consisting of more than one piece could be accommodated. The accompanying site photographs indicate the nature of the site. Scale drawings will be provided at Stage 2 of the competition.

THE COMPETITION
Stage 1 of the competition involves the submission by artists of expressions of interest in the commission. The jury (members of the Working Group and two artists) will then choose a shortlist of a minimum of four and a maximum of seven artists who will be invited to proceed to Stage 2 of the competition by submitting full proposals for the commission. A fee of €3,000 will be allocated to each of the selected submissions as a contribution to the expenses incurred by the artists in preparing their final proposals. The commissioned artist(s) will be required to work with the project engineer for the Promenade Road development to ensure that all issues relating to structure, services, health and safety are co-ordinated.

THE TIMETABLE
16.30 hrs Thurs 6th Jan 2005 Deadline for Stage 1 submissions
Mon 7th Feb 2005 Announcement of shortlist & issue of full brief
Mon 14th – 25th Feb 2005 Site visits
16.30 hrs Thurs 26th May 2005 Deadline for Stage 2 submissions
1st July 2005 Announcement of commission
1st Dec 2005 Installation of commission

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS, STAGE 1
Artists are invited to submit expressions of interest in this commission by providing the following documentation:
• A current CV highlighting previous commissions (on paper)
• Illustrations of previous work in an appropriate format. These may include prints, DVD(region 0), video(VHS PAL), CD
• An artist’s statement in response to the commission (no more than 300 words)
This information should be submitted to:
The Registrar,
DPART,
Dublin Port Company,
Port Centre,
Alexandra Road,
DUBLIN 1.

The closing date for this stage of the competition is 16.30 hours on
Thursday 6th January 2005.
Please note that submissions will not be returned to artists. However if any artist specifically requires the return of any submitted material, then they should make this clear in their submission; the material will then be made available for collection once Stage 1 of the competition is over.

ELIGIBILITY
This competition is open to both Irish and international artists. The jury will be pleased to consider submissions both from individual artists and from two or more artists submitting a joint proposal.

CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any queries about this commission, please contact the Project Manager:
Mary Gallagher,
41 Priory Hall,
Spawell Road,
Wexford.
Ireland
E: info@dpart.ie