Pointless roadside art.

Sky King

There's a giant golf tee just off the M50 near the Ikea exit.

https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.4079657,-6.2907977,3a,75y,55.68h,92.89t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1syi4fHre2WsAP_HwkFIek3A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en

I always that this was a great homage to Padriag Harrington and other Irish golfers.

Excellent art.

Regarding the Nass Ball - does anyone else really want to see someone with superhuman strength roll it down the hill out onto the road?

Or put the ball on the giant golf tee and have it hit by a giant?

Niska

Really like the Saints and Scholars just past Tullamore

http://newsrss.bbc.co.uk/rss/sportonline_world_edition/football/world_cup_2010/video/rss.xml

(Someone elses pic from facebook)

freshpopcorn

whisky_galore wrote: »

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?

At junction 10 there is a sort of half built house. This the roadside art there.
The plaque is either to do with that or it's says when the road opened and who cut the ribbon.

goose2005

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 like it. And it's a sort of symbol for the town, which shows that local people have taken to it

ollaetta

fryup wrote: »

the one near nenagh? i like that as well

I do like that one but I think it worked way better when the bull was closer to your man before they widened the road.

Winner has to be this shít heap. The only masterstroke here was the artist who managed to sell this to idiotic council. Paul Joseph Watson could get a video out of this abomination alone. proof that anyone can claim to be an 'artist'.

murpho999

murpho999 wrote: »

I like the roadside art. Particularly the Naas ball. Think it looks great.

Not everything in life has to have a point. Somethings just look nice and add to the area.

I actually dont mind the ball. There is far worse and its become iconic over time. There has been fantastic art. The pikesmen near Wexford come to mind but we are at an artistic dead end in many cases

Muahahaha

grahambo wrote: »

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

I'm cool with the idea of a giant ball but what gets me is that they covered it in road markings, it shows a real lack of artistic imagination IMO. I can easily see the artists during the tender process selling the idea to Kildare County Councils' Arts and Culture officer telling them "The painted road markings on the sphere help to ground it in its environment and make people think about their journey through life, wondering which direction they will take" :rolleyes: Eh no, I don't want to be looking at more road markings after a horrendous commute. Something bright and enlivening but not road markings.

Lots of good road art posted in this thread but for me the Naas ball doesn't cut the mustard.

Kermit.de.frog

ArchXStanton wrote: »

Those miniature beehive huts on the M1 look cool, like a little village

Are they still there?

Haven't been up that way in a while.

AllForIt

The only roadside anything I have a problem with is roadside memorials to ppl who have died. Some of them look like graves. When I go for a walk I don't want to be reminded about depressing things - which completely defeats the purpose of going for a nice much needed mind clearing relaxing walk.

Muahahaha

Muahahaha wrote: »

I'm cool with the idea of a giant ball but what gets me is that they covered it in road markings, it shows a real lack of artistic imagination IMO. I can easily see the artists during the tender process selling the idea to Kildare County Councils' Arts and Culture officer telling them "The painted road markings on the sphere help to ground it in its environment and make people think about their journey through life, wondering which direction they will take" :rolleyes: Eh no, I don't want to be looking at more road markings after a horrendous commute. Something bright and enlivening but not road markings.

Lots of good road art posted in this thread but for me the Naas ball doesn't cut the mustard.

the piece is called 'Perpetual Motion' and the message it is trying to say is that there is 'perpetual motion' if you like on the road.

ArchXStanton

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Are they still there?

Haven't been up that way in a while.

Yep still there, passed them a few days ago

For Forks Sake

McGaggs wrote: »

The only complaint I have about those three lads is that they're not somewhere that more people would get to see them. I'm a big fan of them.

There's four of them. Great bunch of lads.

STB.

Ferrycarrig, Wexford


Famous for it's wildlife.

* the Elephant is in for repair, last time I checked

BuboBubo

Cantona's Collars wrote: »

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.

Apparently so, but I've driven 100's of times on that road, and moved in and out in the lane to try to figure it out. Twenty years later, I'm still stumped. Mr Bubos aunt lives nearby, and nobody she knows has figured it out either. Maybe if you drove up on the bank or something? I ain't trying that though.

Many years ago, that road used to have "Warning, Garda in bushes" and an arrow pointing to the aforementioned bushes daubed in white paint on the tarmac, that was useful road art

Squeaksoutloud

AtomicHorror wrote: »

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?

It was an April Fools joke back in 2006.. I only rem because I was away from Ireland that year and got sent an article from home about it and thought it had happened.

pleas advice

and what the hell is this about...?

Always Tired

Duffryman wrote: »

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.

Why would those things be funded out of the roadworks budget?

I think that even though some of them are daft, they provide interesting landmarks and conversation pieces for drivers and passengers. and I would much prefer to see art then have more sports facilities we've enough money going to that, and especially in rural communities that dont get much art and where everything is all GAA/rugby/football already, there isn't much culture or creativity being fostered in those areas and not everyone is into sports

Also, the very definition of fine art is that it's only purpose is artistic expression, ie: it's supposed to be useless for anything other than looking at/thinking about.

freshpopcorn

pleas advice wrote: »

and what the hell is this about...?

According to Gormley, the significance of an angel was three-fold: first, to signify that beneath the site of its construction, coal miners worked for two centuries; second, to grasp the transition from an industrial to an information age, and third, to serve as a focus for our evolving hopes and fears

Hal3000

Plastic bottles and plastic ****e thrown everywhere is Irelands new roadside art !!

Nerdlingr

whisky_galore wrote: »

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?

Is this to do with Ned Kelly? Think I heard back many moons ago that it was the ancestral house where his father grew up before he was shipped off to Oz, or something. Could be completely wrong though.

AtomicHorror

Squeaksoutloud wrote: »

It was an April Fools joke back in 2006.. I only rem because I was away from Ireland that year and got sent an article from home about it and thought it had happened.

Hm. So my subconscious has the imagination of a Leinster Leader journalist. And I'm guessing they don't put the A-listers working on the April Fools gags.

retalivity

Polestar roundabout in letterkenny, although i like it.
Also, the guy on the horse outside boyle is pretty cool and striking from the road

sunshinew

tgdaly wrote: »

There you go, even more than I thought it was! Agreed, huge waste of money, the 0.1% I thought it was would in fact be a more suitable figure

It's not really 1% though...it's 1% on projects up to 2.5 million and then it reduces after that. The highest limit is around €64,000 no matter how big the capital project budget is. You wouldn't build an extension on your house for that and creating large outdoor durable artworks is expensive.
If anything I think we should be bolder and bigger in our public art. Think of certain sculptures that have become tourist attractions -The angel of the north/Christ the Redeemer/Fearless girl. I think public art enlivens a country and can show off its cultural identity and tell a story. (Love that feather sculpture in Cork symbolising the Choctaw generosity to the Irish famine relief effort).
Some of it is crap though, and I think the problem with the percent for art scheme is it results in lots of little mediocre art projects being produced by local councils, whereas if we pooled the resources strategically, maybe we could make some really great transformative artwork or something more engaging like Gaudi's Park Guell in Barcelona. Ireland's pretty crap at any type of planning like this though...

BuboBubo

Wading in here again, I trawled through Google and eventually found an image. Seems you would need to mount the feckin bank to line the blasted things up Dumbest road art ever.

rubberdungeon

Situated in Duleek Village Co Meath, this remarkable piece of roadside art was created by Irish artist Maurice Harron.

This 4.5 metre-high sculpture features a family of two parents and three children, happily walking hand in hand in a green meadow.

“The Family” is a group of five stainless steel figures built according to a technique very familiar to the artist.

Consisting of hundreds of rectangular and square pieces of stainless steel, assembled irregularly, “The Family” glitters and shimmers in the sunlight and now even at night, thanks to a dedicated LED lighting system embedded around the basement of the artwork.

Warmly welcomed by the population, this eye-catching piece of art, erected on the mound at the entrance of Duleek village and funded by money donated by Indaver Ireland, now looks even more spectacular.

https://www.enlighten.ie/mies_portfolio/family-statue/

CosmicFool

Duffryman wrote: »

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.

but who would get the funds then?

ArchXStanton

rubberdungeon wrote: »

Situated in Duleek Village Co Meath, this remarkable piece of roadside art was created by Irish artist Maurice Harron.

This 4.5 metre-high sculpture features a family of two parents and three children, happily walking hand in hand in a green meadow.

“The Family” is a group of five stainless steel figures built according to a technique very familiar to the artist.

Consisting of hundreds of rectangular and square pieces of stainless steel, assembled irregularly, “The Family” glitters and shimmers in the sunlight and now even at night, thanks to a dedicated LED lighting system embedded around the basement of the artwork.

Warmly welcomed by the population, this eye-catching piece of art, erected on the mound at the entrance of Duleek village and funded by money donated by Indaver Ireland, now looks even more spectacular.

https://www.enlighten.ie/mies_portfolio/family-statue/

Love that one, I pass it fairly regularly

bodhrandude

Slightly off topic but roadside art in Scotland on the road from Stirling to Edinburgh, The Kelpies.

wexandproud

BuboBubo wrote: »

Apparently so, but I've driven 100's of times on that road, and moved in and out in the lane to try to figure it out. Twenty years later, I'm still stumped. Mr Bubos aunt lives nearby, and nobody she knows has figured it out either. Maybe if you
drove up on the bank or something? I ain't trying that though.

Many years ago, that road used to have "Warning, Garda in bushes" and an arrow pointing to the aforementioned bushes daubed in white paint on the tarmac, that was useful road art

don't tell me you've never seen the ostrich ... get all the circles in line as you go towards wexford