The process of securing artwork for Limerick County Hall, commenced almost as soon as the design for the building had been agreed and signed off on.
The first work commissioned was ‘The Numbers Game’ by artist Tom Fitzgerald. The sculpture consists of two free-standing bronze uprights on top of which are attached two profiles of faces looking at each other. The faces are connected physically and visually by a jumble of numerals issuing from the mouth of each. The verticals are cast hollow from ash saplings giving them an organic feel. This piece is part of an ongoing series that Fitzgerald has been working on under the general title ‘Chaos Theory’, dealing with among other things the uncertainty and unpredictability lurking at the heart of all human endeavour. ‘The Numbers Game’ is now installed on the roof garden at the Council Chamber, adjacent to the restaurant.
In January 2003, the Council’s Public Art Jury commissioned three artists Andrew Kearney, Gerry O’Mahony and Corban Walker to create work for respectively the Council Chamber, the Cathaoirleach’s Office and the Atrium.
Andrew Kearney’s work is a series of elongated oval casts, eighteen in all, installed at different heights and in random order on the back wall of the Council Chamber. Embedded in each cast is a low wattage lighting system, the sequence of which mimics the lighting conditions in the area immediately outside the building. The shape of the casts, their relationship to the architecture of the installation space and their lighting sequence bring a sense of harmony to a busy space and it everyday use, while providing continuity between the activities of the chamber and the artist’s work.
Gerry O’Mahony’s work which hangs in the Cathaoirleach’s office comprises fifteen individual paintings, hung as one. The work covers an area of three metres by two metres and incorporates the media of water-colour, acrylic, graphite and gold leaf on water colour paper. The core of O’Mahony’s idea is based on the concept of the function of the Council, and redirects our gaze back to the ideals of democracy and local government. The juxtaposition of individuality and oneness within the same work is a metaphor on the purpose of the Council showing that neither individuality nor unity need be sacrificed as the Council brings together its individual parts to serve the community. An integral part of the work are words that flow throughout the work and form part of the piece both physically in their shape and symbolically in their meaning.
Corban Walker’s work installed in the Atrium is a large scale permanent inter-active sculpture made in stainless steel and containing two way mirrors. There are forty components to the sculpture, each stacked one above the other and cantilevered from the wall. Each stainless steel tray carries a level of water before discharging it into the tray below it. All forty trays bar four carry water. The other four trays allow water to pass over them in a ‘water wall’. The glass two way mirrors allow the viewer to watch the tray partially fill with water as well as reflect the surrounding area. The perforated holes in each tray are randomly located allowing water to spiral down the sculpture. The stainless steel has a slightly darker tone and has a sandblasted satin finish. The water passing through the work creates a gentle sound in the Atrium, masking the hub of voices and draws the eye upwards reinforcing the sheer height of the building.
Walker is the only one of the four artists not from Limerick and while this is purely a coincidence, it is a happy coincidence that this building of civic importance for the County features work by three contemporary Limerick artists, Fitzgerald, Kearney and O’Mahony.
|