Construction workers installing the sculpture on Glenview Roadabout
What name would you give the new €50,000 sculpture?
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Reactions continue to be mixed to a new €50,000 sculpture on a Tallaght roundabout, with many comparing it to monkey bars in a playground.
Works were recently completed installing the new sculpture on the Glenview Roundabout on the N81 in Tallaght.
The installation is part of South Dublin County Council’s N81 Landscape Improvement Scheme, along one of the county’s main transport corridors.
“Proposals were sought for a distinctive gateway piece that celebrates Tallaght and marks the main avenue of approach into the town centre; the business and residential heart of SDCC,” the council said in a statement released last Friday.
However public reaction continues to be less than complimentary of the piece.
“It looks like straws, it’s the bike shed all over again,” one commenter on social media said.
“€50K for an abstract monkey bars in the middle of a roundabout, I can’t wait to see everyone doing dismounts off it at 2am after a few drinks,” another said.
Others still expressed concerns over children being attracted onto the roundabout of such a busy road to climb on it.
“Can you imagine the amount if kids that will be hurt or worse trying to cross over to climb it?” one person asked, while another stated her nine-year-old child’s first question was “can we climb it”.
“It doesn’t fit with the mountains or the history of Tallaght. What does it represent?” she asked.
The sculpture is funded by the council’s 3-year capital budget and was procured in accordance with the Percent for Art scheme and was designed by Dublin artist Liam O’Callaghan.
“This large-scale, contemporary sculpture reflects both the Gothic spiked roofline of the 8th century St.Maelruan’s church to more contemporary developments of the 1970s and 1980s to the present day,” the artist’s brief detailed.
“The lines of the sculpture also reflect an interlinked network of streets, which hold a community connected by many points, this in turn mirroring the function of a roundabout and the purpose of the N81 itself.
“The colours selected were originally based on the colours in the stained glass windows in St. Maelruan’s Church, at the same time the bright, vibrant colours within the sculpture represent the colourful diversity that makes up the local community, ,” his brief continued.
“The transparent nature of the sculpture, while connecting the viewer to its surroundings, is also sensitive to the need to accommodate vehicular sight lines and not impinge on traffic movement and safety.
“The materials and process used in constructing the sculpture make it durable and timeless.”
No official name has been announced for the piece yet.
What would you call it?
