Context Background:
In July 1997, South Dublin County Council and its consultants, Artworking, invited three directors of national visual art organisations to propose artists for two Per Cent for Art commissions. A new park under construction between Rathcoole and Saggart and St. Finians Park, Lucan would provide sites for these works. The Council intended these as a pilot project that might lead to longer term public art programming. Creative engagement with the site and an ability to effectively engage with recipient communities were the main critieria. A shortlisting and presentation process led to the selection of Patricia McKenna and Maurice O’Connell.
Description:
Life Lines is a series of bronze overlapping hands, cast from members of the Rathcoole and Saggart communities and sited directing water under a waterfall in Rathcoole Park.
The artist, Patricia McKenna, cast the hands of twenty local people in bronze. She attended the villages’ church gates on Sundays, the local schools, post offices and day care centre, collecting over one hundred signatures, a selection of which she also cast in bronze. She also created a photographic archive documenting the different aspects of these communities, housed in County Library, Tallaght.
'People are the lifeline of a community. They are the flesh and blood that give it energy, meaning and character. I wanted this commission to involve local people of all ages to help create a work which is both a permanent memorial to themselves and an ongoing memorial to their community, which is under their care and custodianship'. Patricia McKenna
Artist Biography:
Patricia McKenna is an Irish artist working in in multimedia and installation. Her work includes the installations The Grey House and Soil which were part of the series Marking the Land. Her work is generally process and timebased, it often takes place in site specific non art spaces and endeavours to involve the public in the creation of the work.
She has exhibited widely in Ireland, USA, England and Europe. She has been awarded a number of Arts Council Awards and Travel Grants and has been a Rockefeller scholar in Bellagio, Italy. Her work has been documented in several publications, including Sculpture magazine (USA). She has also been a nominee for the IMMA/Glen Dimplex award.
Selected Exhibitions:
Claremorris Open, Co. Mayo (1991 - 1993); EV+A, Limerick (1992-3);
Cross Borders Leeds, England (1993); Iontas, Sligo (1995 - 97);
RHA, Dublin (1995-97)
RHA. Banquet Exhibition, Critic Choice chosen by Medh Ruane (1997); Shattering the Crockery Boulder, Colorado, USA (1998) Grotesqueness of Desire Chicago, USA(1999);
Minute Multiples Artist Space New York (2000) Liverpool Biennial, Cathedral Crypt, MRUA Group, Liverpool England, (2002).
Mediation:
3 Commissions, a catalogue produced by South Dublin County Council features work from the public art programmes from 1997 – 1999 including Life Lines
Commissioner Type:
Local Authority
Commissioner:
South Dublin County Council SDCC
Programme:
In Context 1
PerCent for Art:
yes
Commissioning Process:
Limited Competition
Funding:
Dept. of Environment Heritage and Local Government
Budget Range:
10,000 - 30,000
Project Start Date:
11/05/1998
Project End Date:
01/07/1999
Associated Professionals:
Project Manager: Artworking - Jenny Haughton & Aisling Prior