Worst public art in Ireland

Teyla Emmagan

There's a lovely piece outside Strabane, beside Asda. Dancers I think, will see if I can find it.

Here we are: http://strabanechronicle.com/2014/01/how-flann-obrien-bolstered-strabanes-public-art-beat/

It's really lovely.

marienbad

I am a bit surprised at the negativity on here, what do people want ? just more Victorian statues of obscure men.

It seems to me some of the public art around is just simply brilliant and has a nice mix of traditional motifs and more imaginative stuff . I love coming on a new piece ,or new to me, on my drives around the country.

Charlie19

Art is for gallery's and roads are to be drove on.

marienbad

Charlie19 wrote: »

Art is for gallery's and roads are to be drove on.

Rubbish

Charlie19

marienbad wrote: »

Rubbish

For bins.

HeidiHeidi

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

I love the Naas ball!

There's a group of three children dancing around in a circle up on poles somewhere in Monaghan (very hard to describe!) which I think is brilliant, always makes me smile. (eta, found it, and they're not kids :eek: http://www.cspringle.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89&Itemid=78)

The traditional band playing music at Strabane/Lifford is cool also.

And there's bog oak poles somewhere on the Galway road (through the bog, not surprisingly) with the phases of the mooon on top, I love that one.

What are the giant circles in the emankments of the M4 near Enfield all about?

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

There's a lovely piece outside Strabane, beside Asda. Dancers I think, will see if I can find it.

Here we are: http://strabanechronicle.com/2014/01/how-flann-obrien-bolstered-strabanes-public-art-beat/

It's really lovely.

That's one of my favourites - here's a daylight picture of it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Let_the_Dance_Begin_%28The_Tinnies%29_-_geograph.org.uk_-_83262.jpg

Going Strong

Turtyturd wrote: »

Others include the eternal flame statue across from Bus Aras which I convinced my OH was a prop from atlasspheres in the Irish version of Gladiators.

I always call that "The Tomb of the Unknown Accountant"

RDM_83 again

As a bit of background to a lot of these random things dotting the motorways, its because of the Percent for Art, where 1% of the public money used in certain types of infrastructure had to be spent on "art", its not an idea I hate in theory but the application as we can see from a lot of examples in this thread is just awful.

http://www.publicart.ie/main/commissioning/funding/per-cent-for-art/

Funkfield

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

I love the Naas ball!

I think it's ridiculous. A guy I know, from Naas, used to get quite defensive about it. Lovingly referred to it as "The Autosphere"......

Muahahaha

irish_goat wrote: »

The thing that annoys me most is some "artist" always gets paid a fortune to produce this muck.

Airports always have ****e public art outside them as well.

AFAIK the giant ball with road markings outside Naas cost somewhere in the region of €120,000. The artist got the price of a house and is now living as far away from it as possible and laughing at us.

bodice ripper

RDM_83 again wrote: »

As a bit of background to a lot of these random things dotting the motorways, its because of the Percent for Art, where 1% of the public money used in certain types of infrastructure had to be spent on "art", its not an idea I hate in theory but the application as we can see from a lot of examples in this thread is just awful.

http://www.publicart.ie/main/commissioning/funding/per-cent-for-art/

Nobody wants to accept that the public wants figurative sculpture. The initiated (ie well-connected art graduates...) fell that sort of thing is old hat, and they are surrounded by people who feel the same. Always ignoring the "public" in "public art".

conorhal

marienbad wrote: »

I am a bit surprised at the negativity on here, what do people want ? just more Victorian statues of obscure men.

It seems to me some of the public art around is just simply brilliant and has a nice mix of traditional motifs and more imaginative stuff . I love coming on a new piece ,or new to me, on my drives around the country.

At least you can recognise is as some stuffy old victorian bloke.
I blame Duchamps. As soon as he stuck a urinal on the wall of a gallery can called it a 'Fountian' he gave a licence to every waster with an Arts Council grant, that couldn't draw a straight line with a ruler, to call themselves an artist and litter the countryside with with stuff that could only be generously called scrap metal, the vast majority of which is uninvolving and unloved.

whisky_galore

Niall09 wrote: »

This galvanised ****er on the way into Charleville

http://pb-i4.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/222064-1363126773-0.jpg

Pretty crappy effort at a corrugated iron bovine compared to this...http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/7279122.jpg

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

conorhal wrote: »

At least you can recognise is as some stuffy old victorian bloke.
I blame Duchamps. As soon as he stuck a urinal on the wall of a gallery can called it a 'Fountian' he gave a licence to every waster with an Arts Council grant, that couldn't draw a straight line with a ruler, to call themselves an artist and litter the countryside with with stuff that could only be generously called scrap metal, the vast majority of which is uninvolving and unloved.

Duchamps did that to highlight the very point your making, so I'm not sure you should be blaming him .

Beyogn that, to the moaners and (can I say Philistines? ) what would you like to see? What would you classify as GOOD public art?

Graces7

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

There is was a little bronze tree erected on the embankment of the N15 between Bundoran and Ballyshannon. Totally unnecessary waste of €63K as there were also real trees planted along the route which are well established now. The road has a 100kmh limit so it really serves no purpose at all.

https://www.google.ie/maps/@54.486945,-8.222895,3a,75y,90h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sLD_Ze_u3IcINgaV_2jGSjg!2e0

I said was as someone cut off all the valuable metal branches!

they did? bravo! i remember that well

Oryx

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Duchamps did that to highlight the very point your making, so I'm not sure you should be blaming him .

Beyogn that, to the moaners and (can I say Philistines? ) what would you like to see? What would you classify as GOOD public art?

I give you the pikemen:

http://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/large/476847736.jpg?1324397957

marienbad

conorhal wrote: »

At least you can recognise is as some stuffy old victorian bloke.
I blame Duchamps. As soon as he stuck a urinal on the wall of a gallery can called it a 'Fountian' he gave a licence to every waster with an Arts Council grant, that couldn't draw a straight line with a ruler, to call themselves an artist and litter the countryside with with stuff that could only be generously called scrap metal, the vast majority of which is uninvolving and unloved.

you mean your 5 year kid could have made it school of art appreciation - spare me.

conorhal

marienbad wrote: »

you mean your 5 year kid could have made it school of art appreciation - spare me.

You're telling me that they couldn't?

Spare us all!

Muahahaha

RDM_83 again wrote: »

As a bit of background to a lot of these random things dotting the motorways, its because of the Percent for Art, where 1% of the public money used in certain types of infrastructure had to be spent on "art", its not an idea I hate in theory but the application as we can see from a lot of examples in this thread is just awful.

http://www.publicart.ie/main/commissioning/funding/per-cent-for-art/

I think the problem is that in order for an artist to get selected they probably have to be pally with a few county councillors. So what we end up with is public art by brown nosers, which isn't necessarily always the best choice. How come they never put the choices to a local public vote ? It's the public who have to live with it after all.

Anyway I know some people like the road ball outside Naas but for me it's a monstrosity and unlike some pieces of public art it never even had the chance to grow on me, I just can't stand looking at the thing. I would gladly pay good money to witness it being pushed of the cliff edges of a local quarry, which is where it belongs. I'd just love to watch it rolling down a steep hill ending in its destruction.

I suppose art is different things to different people but for me an important part of art is that it should, momentarily at least, take your mind out of the here and now and bring it to a different place. A good artist achieves this by provoking our emotions, imagination, desires so that the artwork takes on a life of its own and begins to represent something to each of us. What good art represents is multi layered and is frequently different from person to person. The roadball outside Naas does none of these things. It doesn't take you away to a different place, instead it is just a mirror of image of what surrounds it- the roads. I have no doubt in my mind that the artist responsible for this abomination sold the idea of a giant ball covered in road markings to county councillors with a healthy dollop of artist waffle, something along the lines of "the road marking sphere is at one with its environment, and is firmly grounded within in it" or some such other spin just so he could pocket the €125,000 bumper payday.

Graces7

well, sneem has the pyramids for a start...then there is the huge metal thing that kids love to use as a climbing frame... there is also what looks like a huge white derriere mixed up with a similar bust.

i can forgive a lot for the breathtaking unicorn on the killarney to cork road

cannot get the image up on my machine but ask google images.
ah wait

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Unicorn_n22_kerry.jpg

Graces7

Graces7 wrote: »

they did? bravo! i remember that well

They sure did This picture is the first time i've seen the thing up close too.

http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/news/donegal-news/controversial-tree-sculpture-damaged-1-5530596

Rocket19

Has to be the Greystones beach bear.

*shudder*

It's the most beautiful landscape there, and the sculpture looks so so weird and out of place (IMO).

http://www.wicklownews.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/bear.jpg

conorhal

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Duchamps did that to highlight the very point your making, so I'm not sure you should be blaming him .

Beyogn that, to the moaners and (can I say Philistines? ) what would you like to see? What would you classify as GOOD public art?

Na, Duchamp was intent on showing us the 'art of everyday objects', I'd love to have been there for the unveiling, so that I could have drunkenly staggered up to it and pissed in it to refute his argument and then loudly proclaimed myself an opressed performace (piss) artist as they dragged me away. :P

Good art is not something who's value and inherent worth as art vanishes if the label falls off. You could have an attic full of Duchamp's and the next person to buy your house would probably toss them in a skip and wonder what kind of wierdo had 20 urinals up there, while a Caravaggio and sit quietly and unrecognised on the wall of a parish for 80 years and still cause passers by to stop, and eventually wonder if perhaps they should not check it was the work of sombody great.

Muahahaha

Rocket19 wrote: »

Has to be the Greystones beach bear.

*shudder*

It's the most beautiful landscape there, and the sculpture looks so so weird and out of place (IMO).

http://www.wicklownews.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/bear.jpg

Haha I like that, it made me laugh. What's not to like about a bear making sandcastles with a bucket and spade down the beach ?!!

It does look a big too big though, I've never seen it but am guessing it takes from the landscape somewhat due to its size.

Graces7

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

They sure did This picture is the first time i've seen the thing up close too.

http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/news/donegal-news/controversial-tree-sculpture-damaged-1-5530596

well pruned...;)

nibtrix

pauliebdub wrote: »

the one further out on the M7 near Kildare is horrific and belongs in a childrens playground.

"Race of the Black Pig" by Dan George

http://kildare.ie/arts/kildare-bypass-sculpture/race-of-the-black-pig.asp

Ugh, I stupidly started reading that webpage and now I hate the art even more!

In working on this proposal I meditated on what the passing motorist/viewer
might consider in relating to the land outside their windows. I remind them with
imagery of the long and significant history and present life of the Curragh.
e.g. The legs of horses = racing, escaping from gravity, the meta state between
nature and Man’s artifice (nature/nurture), physical power, fauna; The oak leaf
= Cill Dara, the power of nature, rooted, spiritual power, flora; St. Bridget’s
Cross = spiritual and physical, rooted yet illustrating movement, semaphore,
signifying, sign, the cardinal points, clock, time, time and direction (the four
dimensions); The circle = rath, Viking shield, round tower, the wheel, the
seasons, tradition, continuity, infinity, the Dionysian, The square = window in,
window out, labyrinth, balance, organization, the center, stasis, the
Apollonian, The wings = Pegasus, wrens, travel, escape from gravity, Daedalus.

conorhal

Muahahaha wrote: »

Haha I like that, it made me laugh. What's not to like about a bear making sandcastles with a bucket and spade down the beach ?!!

It does look a big too big though, I've never seen it but am guessing it takes from the landscape somewhat due to its size.

That and the fact that it's 'child frighteningly sinister', but I still like though (perhaps because of that....)

marienbad

Muahahaha wrote: »

I think the problem is that in order for an artist to get selected they probably have to be pally with a few county councillors. So what we end up with is public art by brown nosers, which isn't necessarily always the best choice. How come they never put the choices to a local public vote ? It's the public who have to live with it after all.

Anyway I know some people like the road ball outside Naas but for me it's a monstrosity and unlike some pieces of public art it never even had the chance to grow on me, I just can't stand looking at the thing. I would gladly pay good money to witness it being pushed of the cliff edges of a local quarry, which is where it belongs. I'd just love to watch it rolling down a steep hill ending in its destruction.

I suppose art is different things to different people but for me an important part of art is that it should, momentarily at least, take your mind out of the here and now and bring it to a different place. A good artist achieves this by provoking our emotions, imagination, desires so that the artwork takes on a life of its own and begins to represent something to each of us. What good art represents is multi layered and is frequently different from person to person. The roadball outside Naas does none of these things. It doesn't take you away to a different place, instead it is just a mirror of image of what surrounds it- the roads. I have no doubt in my mind that the artist responsible for this abomination sold the idea of a giant ball covered in road markings to county councillors with a healthy dollop of artist waffle, something along the lines of "the road marking sphere is at one with its environment, and is firmly grounded within in it" or some such other spin just so he could pocket the €125,000 bumper payday.

well it took your mind 'out of the here and now' long enough to inspire this lengthy post ! Just what art sets out to do- no ?

Muahahaha

Muahahaha wrote: »

What do people think is the worst public art in Ireland ?

For me it has to be this monstrosity which is found on the M7 Dublin to Cork road, just at the junction for Naas.
http://http://www.kildare.ie/ArtsService/media/Media,21165,en.jpg

I quite like that. Reminds me of one of the angels from Neon Genesis Evangelion. They should totally build a giant EVA statue next to it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aoLMp6q3js

boombang

This isn't in Ireland, but I wanted to point out how things could be worse. I used to walk past this on my way to work in Rotterdam:

Rotterdam Gnome

I think there is some rule in Dutch planning law that for large building a certain percentage of the budget has to go into a piece of public art. Consequently the country is covered in nonsense.