Giant sculpture to be located in Liffey
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We should give this a chance before condemning it outright. Gormley is a good sculptor and the ‘Angel of the North’ isn’t bad at all. Has to be better than the two poles of unloved abstract oddness and or souvenir shop matey-ness like Jimmy Joyce and Molly Malone.As for the river views, while the views upriver should be sacrosanct (no balloons or cable cars please !) the view down river from Butt Bridge is a bit boring. The river just runs out to a bland uneventful horizon without any interesting landmarks to enliven the view towards Ringsend. It’s broad enough around there to take an interesting intervention.
@Hiivaladan wrote:
We should give this a chance before condemning it outright. Gormley is a good sculptor and the ‘Angel of the North’ isn’t bad at all. Has to be better than the two poles of unloved abstract oddness and or souvenir shop matey-ness like Jimmy Joyce and Molly Malone.As for the river views, while the views upriver should be sacrosanct (no balloons or cable cars please !) the view down river from Butt Bridge is a bit boring. The river just runs out to a bland uneventful horizon without any interesting landmarks to enliven the view towards Ringsend. It’s broad enough around there to take an interesting intervention.
-Rodin was a good sculptor, but I don’t think the French would welcome a 40-metre version of The Kiss sticking out of the Seine.
-Angel of the north is on a hill overlooking a motorway. By all means commission a giant sculpture for the side of the M1 and see what people think.
-James Joyce and Molly Malone are not trendy but they are very small, inobtrusive and popular. Not sure what you mean by the two poles.
-I agree that the river runs out to a bland, uneventful horizon. But this is the DDA’s fault. They built too low, for too far out for the scale of the river past the IFSC. The interesting intervention we need is proper development for what’s left of the docklands to build on.
The Statue of Banality?
Seriously, this sounds like it could be fantastic.
If Gormley is any good he’ll tailor the sculpture specifically to the place. I doubt he’d be so insensitive as to just repeat some stuff from the past without any site-specific considerations.
I did’nt mean two poles literally (Maybe Richard Serra might have tried that sort of thing) but that some Irish sculpture seems to exist at one or other of those two extremes.
“They built too low, for too far out for the scale of the river past the IFSC.” No argument there.Im quite surprise at the hostility to this….I think it sounds like a very interesting idea. I recall a sculpture in the River Spree in Berlin that looked quite well.
my hostility is two fold:
1. if this is attempt to embellish the blandness of what the DDDA have allowed; then i have a fear that it may actually amplify it… by use of a functionless gimmick….2. I dont like Antony Gormleys (recent) work……
@Urban_Form wrote:
I will reserve judgement until I see some sort of illustration of what’s being proposed. .
I think we’d all be better doing that. The last time I looked down the liffey all I saw was lines of busses jammed onto tired old bridges over a putrid expanse of wet litter, traffic cones and shopping trolleys. Oh yeah, and some old jakey was pissing into it.
Is this the one you mean, Stephen?
I don’t like the above sculpture …..two flat bullet holed sillouettes having a scrap.
yep and it could be construed as an ad for the GAA. Although having seen it, there is some merit to the concept of walking on water (a statue of Bertie perhaps). Seriously though maybe we should hold off until a proposal is put forward. Sadly no matter what is proposed it will be built.
@StephenC wrote:
Im quite surprise at the hostility to this….I think it sounds like a very interesting idea. I recall a sculpture in the River Spree in Berlin that looked quite well.
Archiseek has always had a large Joe Duffy caller types who compulsively whinge about any of the following:
A: ANYTHING NEW OR DIFFERENT
B: ANYTHING BUILT IN DUBLIN
C: EVERYTHING ELSEI hope we get to see the proposal soon and, out of idle curiousity at least, the five rejected proposals. Do we know the names of the other five invited artists.
To part answer my own question, from the DDDA website
The six shortlisted artists included: Dorothy Cross (Ireland); Antony Gormley (UK); Luis Jimenez (USA); Andrew Kearney (Ireland); Thomas Schutte (Germany) and Grace Weir (Ireland). Tragically, Luis Jimenez passed away during the year.
I wonder what Dorothy Cross proposed, I think her work on hand ball alleys is one of the best artistic responses i have seen to the irish build environment, ghost ship was wonderful and i have always loved those cow skin wedding dresses.
@GregF wrote:
I don’t like the above sculpture …..two flat bullet holed sillouettes having a scrap.
would be perfect for limerick though
god you’re a gas man! no need for that kind of crap on here. Dublin has its fair share of gangland shootings so people in glass houses and all that…:mad:
Yes thats the Spree scuplture….It looks quite effective (from the Ubahn anyhow)
@GregF wrote:
I don’t like the above sculpture …..two flat bullet holed sillouettes having a scrap.
Actually theres three. Probably that person who goes between the fighting pair and says ”He’s not woort it Micko”, or something to that effect.
I think I’d like it more if the figures were engaged in something other than scrapping, such as preparing tax returns or making tea.
Earl Grey, preferably.
With just a hint of milk; sugar is so lower middle class.It’d at least go some way to improving the tone of the area.
well earl grey is from newcastle, bringing this discussion in a full circle, sort of.
Dublin is full of exceptionally bad statues and sculptures. I am hoping this will be different. Let’s see what he comes up with.
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