About Fingal Arts Office
Programme and fund high quality artistic experiences for the people of Fingal and encourage community participation in the arts
What's Involved
One of Ireland’s top artists is looking for volunteers from across Fingal to participate in making an iconic artwork which will be permanently displayed in a prominent site within the Swords Cultural Quarter.
John Byrne has been commissioned by Fingal County Council under the Infrastructure 2018 – 2021 Public Art Programme and is planning to create a giant photographic image, featuring a cross-section of people in Fingal, which will be printed and fired onto steel panels.
The image will reference two well-known historical European paintings for which Byrne will cast a broad range of Fingal residents. They will be immortalised in the artwork essentially engaged in a ‘tug of war’ between the two paintings representing the ‘pull’ between rural and urban life in the county and beyond.
Byrne wants to open-up this project to as many people as possible and is asking members of the public to send him a photograph of themselves along with details of their age and height and their email and phone contact details.
Byrne will then, with the assistance of the Fingal Arts Office, begin the process of selecting those who will eventually be included in the actual shoot which is scheduled for Swords in mid-July.
“This is Public Art at its most Public. We are interested in all age groups and diverse communities from all over the county that will capture Fingal in time as it plans for a major cultural investment. We want everyone to be part of it.”
Byrne is regarded as an artist who reinterprets historical artworks into the contemporary. His previous work includes Misneach Ballymun which is an impressive equestrian monument to youth that he made by recasting an adaption of John Henry Foley’s Gough Memorial from the original in the grounds of Chillingham Castle in the UK and which was previously situated in the Phoenix Park.
He is also responsible for the famous ‘Dublin’s Last Supper’, taken from Leonardo Da Vinci’s version and located in the Italian Quarter in the city centre.
The volunteers who are eventually chosen to take part in the project will find themselves involved in a fascinating process. Byrne will work with a constructed set and costume designer with production assistants for his composition. Those chosen to be in the image will be styled and posed to fit his overall vision of the work which will be permanently displayed in the new Swords Cultural Quarter.
What's required for this position
The volunteers who are eventually chosen to take part in the project will find themselves involved in a fascinating process.
Byrne will work with a constructed set and costume designer with production assistants for his composition. Those chosen to be in the image will be styled and posed to fit his overall vision of the work which will be permanently displayed in the new Swords Cultural Quarter
Times and commitment required for this role
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Minimum time commitment: Once Off
Hours required: 6hrs Once off
Other Details
Location of volunteering opportunity:
Liam Rogers Community Centre, Swords
Screening details for this role:
- Informal Interviews
- Identification Check (photo ID etc…)
Volunteers will be provided with the following supports:
- Initial induction and training
Age restrictions:
Over 15
Is this opportunity suitable for groups/teams of volunteers?
No
Benefits you will receive as a volunteer
if selected for the artwork, they will be immortalised in a permanent artwork which will live in a prominent location of the planned Swords Cultural Quarter
