Pointless roadside art.

whisky_galore

Just passed that roofless house type thing at Junction 10 in Co Tipp. Has a small plaque in front that obviously you can't see travelling at any speed.

What the hell is it, and what's your favourite pointless piece of roadside art?

kneemos

A lot of it is good in fairness. Not sure what it adds to humanity though.

biko

M4 Triffids

Muahahaha

Has to be the Naas ball. Like after an hour plus long slog of a commute do people really want to be looking at a giant ball covered in road markings?



Whats worse is the 'artists' stiffed the local county council for €110,000 for that abomination, its like some sort of Celtic Tiger joke that has gone on for too long

Feisar

Red Hugh on the horse outside Sligo is cool, everything else I've seen up and down the country is meh with the exception of the three lads with their arms raised between Tullamore and Mullingar.

On the M4 there is a circle and a ring each side of the road as one approaches the toll from the West side. What was the point!??

Markcheese

Muahahaha wrote: »

Has to be the Naas ball. Like after an hour plus long slog of a commute do people really want to be looking at a giant ball covered in road markings?



Whats worse is the 'artists' stiffed the local county council for €110,000 for that abomination, its like some sort of Celtic Tiger joke that has gone on for too long

I think the ball is really cool, some of the stuff is better than others obviously...
The fake ruined cottage... Not so great imo...

ArchXStanton

Think it's on the motorway to carlow, but there's these windmill type things, most of them look half finished as if the artist said fcuk this and just left it that way

Rows Grower

The sculpture of a rearing horse with a unicorn helmet and broken chains hanging from his front legs is the most awesome piece of roadside work I've seen anywhere.

The actual statue itself is a thing of beauty but the placement of it was another stroke of genius.

It's on the N22.

Not too far away from it on the opposite side of the road there is a now barely visible carving of a herd of deer in some of the flat rocks, another mighty piece of work.

von Smallhausen

There is this on the Strokestown road in Longford called "IF"


And then the infamous violin on the N5 Bypass in Longford.



The "IF" one really puzzles me....

storker

I like it. Anything that brightens up a drive is good.

BeerWolf

There's a bunch of giant metal Butterflies on the hillside when driving down to Wexford from Dublin.

jim o doom

I quite like kildare bypass sculptures myself, the way the line up as you are a distance away: https://images.app.goo.gl/8dWuTswtHcfUSBo39

Any piece of art could be considered pointless, regardless of being placed by the side of the road. If you are asking questions about it, it's pretty much doing its job. Espacially if you appreciated it!

ArchXStanton

jim o doom wrote: »

I quite like kildare bypass sculptures myself, the way the line up as you are a distance away: https://images.app.goo.gl/8dWuTswtHcfUSBo39

Any piece of art could be considered pointless, regardless of being placed by the side of the road. If you are asking questions about it, it's pretty much doing its job. Espacially if you appreciated it!

That's the windmill type things I was on about..

irishgrover

there is no competition, the award must goto Ballindine

tgdaly

There's a thing in the regulations regarding road developments like this that 0.1 % (or something like that, could be wrong on the figure) of the budget has to be allocated for roadside art, so that explains all the random stuff you see!

Beta Ray Bill

Muahahaha wrote: »

Has to be the Naas ball. Like after an hour plus long slog of a commute do people really want to be looking at a giant ball covered in road markings?



Whats worse is the 'artists' stiffed the local county council for €110,000 for that abomination, its like some sort of Celtic Tiger joke that has gone on for too long

The only thing "The Ball" was ever good for, was for directions.
Pre-Google Maps, large amounts of people moved to Naas.

When they had visitors the instructions were always: Get off at the big ball

But yeah it's an eye sore now

OldMrBrennan83

I like the lad pulling the bull across the M7 and the flowers in the window on the M9.

I'm not sure if the M11 hedgehog is supposed to be rusty.

.......

The Naas ball is actually a time capsule and has some stuff inside it.

As another poster mentioned, it annoys me that I just whizz past and dont get to read the info or even get the name.

Theres a boot Ive seen on the roadside in Carlow before - at least I think its a boot. I heard it was Leighlins boot - but who knows?

Micheal D Higgins is responsible for a lot of it.

I like it - I think public art is a good thing.

fryup

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

I like the lad pulling the bull across the M7 .

the one near nenagh? i like that as well

o1s1n

Danny_B wrote: »

The "IF" one really puzzles me....

It's the negative space between the letters 'I' and 'f' ..I think!

BuboBubo

There's a stainless steel tree with random stuff on it between Enniscorthy and New Ross. There's an unfathomable installation between New Ross and Wexford nobody can make sense of.

I actually like that ball in Naas

ArchXStanton

fryup wrote: »

the one near nenagh? i like that as well

Is that the bull that some GAA supporters spray painted the final score of a match on its ass for rival supporters to see?

Aglomerado

jim o doom wrote: »

I quite like kildare bypass sculptures myself, the way the line up as you are a distance away: https://images.app.goo.gl/8dWuTswtHcfUSBo39

Any piece of art could be considered pointless, regardless of being placed by the side of the road. If you are asking questions about it, it's pretty much doing its job. Espacially if you appreciated it!

I like that too ...when I realised they made a St Brigids cross, appropriate for Kildare!

Duffryman

tgdaly wrote: »

There's a thing in the regulations regarding road developments like this that 0.1 % (or something like that, could be wrong on the figure) of the budget has to be allocated for roadside art, so that explains all the random stuff you see!

It's actually up to one per cent - https://publicart.ie/main/commissioning/funding/per-cent-for-art-scheme/

Think it's a horrendous waste of money myself. Could provide extra facilities for local communities instead. Maybe a playground or a riverside walk or upgraded community hall or sports facilities or the like.

Yurt2

How do I get in on this roadside are boondoggle? Have some scrap metal in the garage that I can throw together into something resembling a pegasus. Gotta get that sweet pointless art money.

TheIrishGrover

I like them. As said, anything to break up the monotony of the road. As a matter of fact, isn't there some study explaining that this is the exact reason for these? To stop people zoning out.

denismc

I do like the "Pegasus" sculpture near Cork airport, it's actually 3 separate pieces that form into the Pegasus as you drive past.

Yurt2

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

I like them. As said, anything to break up the monotony of the road. As a matter of fact, isn't there some study explaining that this is the exact reason for these? To stop people zoning out.

What happens when they commission something so offensively crap and people start vomiting over their windscreen and having convulsions at the wheel?

.......

Yurt! wrote: »

What happens when they commission something so offensively crap and people start vomiting over their windscreen and having convulsions at the wheel?

Then it would be considered a fantastic piece of art and worth millions.

Yurt2

denismc wrote: »

I do like the "Pegasus" sculpture near Cork airport, it's actually 3 separate pieces that form into the Pegasus as you drive past.

I don't believe it, someone beat me to my pegasus filthy lucre scheme. I'll re-purpose it into a griffin or cerberus.

neris

On the M2 Northbound theres whats meant to be a giant metal rabbit but it spends most of its life hidden behind the trees and bushes

ednwireland

ballyshannon bypass donegal

sbsquarepants

I like the horses on the roundabout at the entrance to Kildare Village shopping outlet - reminds me of the famine monument on the quays in Dublin and also game of thrones zombie horses:D

Cantona's Collars

BuboBubo wrote: »

There's a stainless steel tree with random stuff on it between Enniscorthy and New Ross. There's an unfathomable installation between New Ross and Wexford nobody can make sense of.

I actually like that ball in Naas

I think the one on the N25 between New Ross and Wexford was designed so as you approach it,they amalgamate to form something. A kind of optical illusion.

OldMrBrennan83

sbsquarepants wrote: »

I like the horses on the roundabout at the entrance to Kildare Village shopping outlet - reminds me of the famine monument on the quays in Dublin and also game of thrones zombie horses:D

There's some cows like that on the roundabout near the new Circle K on the M8 at Fermoy.

Edit - well, kind of like that. Not as much as I thought.

OldMrBrennan83

Is there anything on the way to Galway (M4/M6)? It's the grimmest road in the country to travel on so could do with one every few km.

sbsquarepants

The cows are cool too!

I like most of the roadside stuff I have to say, I can't quite figure out what the thing at citywest on the N7 is though, can't find a photo of it, it's like 3 or 4 oval birdcages stuck to a pole. It lights up but the bulbs are always blowing.

That ones a bit stupid I reckon.

Aglomerado

OldMrBrennan83 wrote: »

There's some cows like that on the roundabout near the new Circle K on the M8 at Fermoy.

Edit - well, kind of like that. Not as much as I thought.

That's the cow-ndabout. (Gets coat)

LirW

Can't believe the hedgehog before Gorey wasn't mentioned yet. That thing is 100% rust.

blackbox

I really like the hedgehog on the N11.

The butterflies do nothing for me. Similarly the deconstructed Bridget's crosses on the N7 are meh.

Church on Tuesday

kneemos wrote: »

A lot of it is good in fairness. Not sure what it adds to humanity though.

It brightens up the place, esp soulless motorways.

Iwouldinmesack

The one of the Irish warrior and the two wolfhounds at the entrance to newbridge is excellent.

antodeco

Muahahaha wrote: »

Has to be the Naas ball. Like after an hour plus long slog of a commute do people really want to be looking at a giant ball covered in road markings?



Whats worse is the 'artists' stiffed the local county council for €110,000 for that abomination, its like some sort of Celtic Tiger joke that has gone on for too long

Ha, never realised they were road markings!

Plopsu

o1s1n wrote: »

It's the negative space between the letters 'I' and 'f' ..I think!

Pretty sure the title is actually 'Negative If'. When I see it I think, " 'If' that wasn't there, the money could have been used for something worthwhile".

I do like some of the telephone cabinet graffiti style stuff.

AtomicHorror

I like the big ball at Naas. My kids are fascinated by it. By contrast, the flower/windmill things on the M7 and the coloured cage thing at Citywest don't even register with them. That's a good test in my view.

Did I hear a story of the Big Ball breaking lose and rolling across the road some years back, or was that just a very obvious dream my lazy-ass subconscious came up with?

Church on Tuesday

https://twitter.com/bealachandoirin/status/736262135022559232

Quite like this outside Ballaghadereen, probably the only cool thing there.

Tell me how

I like the bull near J25 on M7 mentioned above.

Also like Cuchullain and his hounds near the Curragh

whisky_galore

Danny_B wrote: »

And then the infamous violin on the N5 Bypass in Longford.

Has a bit of kitsch value, like Australian 'big things', enormous sculptures of, well....things in various towns.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%27s_big_things

Graces7

My favourite is the unicorn on the Cork to Killarney road,

jim o doom

Iwouldinmesack wrote: »

The one of the Irish warrior and the two wolfhounds at the entrance to newbridge is excellent.

That is class, I hadn't seen it before.

Tell me how

Also love this one from the Killarney roundabout in Dingle.



Reminds me of my parents.