So a shack on a mountain top...

Cee-Jay-Cee

...has been demolished.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/artists-heartbroken-as-windphone-used-to-meditate-on-life-and-loss-destroyed-by-vandals-36036169.html

The Indo have their usual sensationalist headline declaring that the 'Windphone' was destroyed by vandals, whereas the apparent truth is that people didn't want a hut made from scrap material planted (most likely without planning permission) on top of a mountain in a natural beauty spot and it obviously looked hideous so they decided to take it apart and leave the materials stacked nearby.

If it had been constructed from natural materials and painted to blend into the surrounding country side but it looks like it was made from scrap wood and aluminium in glaring white paint and would have stood out like a sore thumb.

I think it was right to remove it.

Mountainsandh

I've been a bit puzzled at the general reaction about this on Facebook, Thejournal etc... since yesterday, people shouting "vandals !" like you said.

I agree with you, and it started me thinking about whether art gets a wild card when it comes to planning permission and normally accepted conventions.

Maybe it does, maybe it's healthy that art should be allowed to trample over conventions and rules... I get that.

But I'm still bothered at the idea that a group of youngsters thought it was acceptable to plant whatever they saw fit on top of a mountain for whatever la-dee-dah reasons they justify it with, and that on top of that, media outlets try and persuade us to be outraged about its destruction.

TooObvious

Of course the problem is it wasn't removed.

That said, it shouldn't have been up there. The natural beauty up there far outweighs the talent of the "artists" who made the installation.

Cee-Jay-Cee

TooObvious wrote: »

Of course the problem is it wasn't removed.

That said, it shouldn't have been up there. The natural beauty up there far outweighs the talent of the "artists" who made the installation.

I agree, those who demolished it should have gone a step further and completely removed the material from the site.

OldGoat

It's like...physical graffiti.

/OldHippy

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

meeeeh

I thought art was supposed to be a bit more original. Not copying something Japanese have done. Anyway it was reinstalled into an unique pile.

mahamageehad

Agreed, I don't get the outrage about this at all! Illegal structure removed would be a better headline.

Atoms for Peace

It was a replica phone box rather than a scrap shack to be fair, hardly the most hideous thing your going to see in the Irish countryside.

munster87

Heartbroken? little to be worrying about

meeeeh

Thinking about it, Luas Cross City should claim those metal boxes are artistic statement on power of electricity. Claiming something is art puts you above any criticism.

ThisRegard

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

...has been demolished.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/artists-heartbroken-as-windphone-used-to-meditate-on-life-and-loss-destroyed-by-vandals-36036169.html

The Indo have their usual sensationalist headline declaring that the 'Windphone' was destroyed by vandals, whereas the apparent truth is that people didn't want a hut made from scrap material planted (most likely without planning permission) on top of a mountain in a natural beauty spot and it obviously looked hideous so they decided to take it apart and leave the materials stacked nearby.

If it had been constructed from natural materials and painted to blend into the surrounding country side but it looks like it was made from scrap wood and aluminium in glaring white paint and would have stood out like a sore thumb.

I think it was right to remove it.

I opened this thread expecting to see a bit of hysteria about only in this country and this is why we can't have nice things.

Found a reasonable first post on this subject. Pleasantly surprised.

VinLieger

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

...has been demolished.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/artists-heartbroken-as-windphone-used-to-meditate-on-life-and-loss-destroyed-by-vandals-36036169.html

The Indo have their usual sensationalist headline declaring that the 'Windphone' was destroyed by vandals, whereas the apparent truth is that people didn't want a hut made from scrap material planted (most likely without planning permission) on top of a mountain in a natural beauty spot and it obviously looked hideous so they decided to take it apart and leave the materials stacked nearby.

If it had been constructed from natural materials and painted to blend into the surrounding country side but it looks like it was made from scrap wood and aluminium in glaring white paint and would have stood out like a sore thumb.

I think it was right to remove it.

Its purpose was to help people dealing with issues and you think its good that its gone?

Yes the scenic view is far more important.........

ThisRegard

VinLieger wrote: »

Its purpose was to help people dealing with issues and you think its good that its gone?

They say that's were they took their inspiration, but a good bit of wilderness close to the city is a good way in itself to clear ones head and confront issues.

Mountainsandh

VinLieger wrote: »

Its purpose was to help people dealing with issues and you think its good that its gone?

Yes the scenic view is far more important.........

Can anyone declare a noble purpose to something and be given a wild card to install anything they please anywhere then ?

kunst nugget

This is where they got their inspiration:

An old, disconnected black telephone stands in a telephone booth in the town of Otsuchi — about 20 minutes’ drive from Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture. The phone has been visited by at least 25,000 people since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, people who have come to convey their feelings to departed loved ones “through the wind.”

The phone was set up by 72-year-old garden designer Itaru Sasaki in his garden, on a small hill with a commanding view of the calm sea in the Namiita area of Otsuchi. Calling it “Kaze no Denwa” (The phone of the wind), Sasaki set up the phone after the death of his cousin.

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003879180



The original creator of the Japanese Wind Phone set it up in his own garden and was happy to open it to the public. If the collective that created the Irish one were willing to do the same or to go through the proper channels to open it on public land, making sure to be mindful of the landscape, then I'd have no problem with it. But plonking something down wherever you please and then justifying it because 'some people we know thought it was a great idea' is a nonsense.

Greybottle

If putting it there is art, because somebody determines it to be art, then surely taking it down is art too, if someone else determines that to be art.

PandaPoo

Delighted it's been taken down. It was a piece of crap and looked ridiculous. Talking to your dead loved ones on a sh*tty phone up the mountains? No thanks.

Can't believe are outraged over this, as if we should all be allowed to erect 'art' wherever we want.

kylith

Love it when someone has a Freudian slip in the comments

Unbelievable how anyone could do such a horrible thing to a perfect location with their unique piece of artwonk.

VinLieger

PandaPoo wrote: »

Delighted it's been taken down. It was a piece of crap and looked ridiculous. Talking to your dead loved ones on a sh*tty phone up the mountains? No thanks.

Can't believe are outraged over this, as if we should all be allowed to erect 'art' wherever we want.

I cant believe there are people who get as worked up as you on either side tbh, i wouldn't agree to it being put up but again the people who went to such efforts to dismantle it must have very little going on in their lives to get that outraged about something so minor

whisky_galore

Atoms for Peace wrote: »

It was a replica phone box rather than a scrap shack to be fair, hardly the most hideous thing your going to see in the Irish countryside.

I've seen far worse looking dwelling houses.

God knows how they got planning for some of those eyesores, probably the local TD 'looked after' it.

whisky_galore

PandaPoo wrote: »

Can't believe are outraged over this, as if we should all be allowed to erect 'art' wherever we want.

Worked for Banksy.

Surely it's just down to the person who owns the land. If they were happy with the structure, so be it, subject to compliance with planning laws. If they weren't happy or weren't consulted, then it had no business being there.

kunst nugget

whisky_galore wrote: »

Worked for Banksy.

Banksy works on the existing urban landscape, it doesn't affect the natural landscape.

meeeeh

whisky_galore wrote: »

Worked for Banksy.

Banksy usually does stuff in urban built up areas and I bet a lot of it was painted over before his work was worth something. I don't think it would be much of an issue if they put it up in their own back garden and maintained it. While I don't agree with vandalism this should be removed by whom ever is in charge of the area.

WoollyRedHat

You couldn't even make calls in the feckin' thing.. I mean hello!!!

ThisRegard

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

I mean hello!!!

Nobody is going to answer, you can't make calls on it.

BillyBobBS

I think it was the right thing to do getting rid of it. You see a lot of this creeping into the Dublin/Wicklow mountains what with the mountain bike rentals, coffee shacks sure look what they want to do with the hell fire club ffs. Leave the mountains as is and keep the art and commercial crap for the towns and cities.

WoollyRedHat

ThisRegard wrote: »

Nobody is going to answer, you can't make calls on it.

Something very Wuthering Heights about it all.

circadian

ThisRegard wrote: »

Nobody is going to answer, you can't make calls on it.

Sorry what's that? The line is terrible, like non existent.

Oink

It pains me to admit I'm with the vandals this time.
Take your intrusive, unoriginal, out of place artistic masterpiece somewhere else.