SCULPTURE IN CONTEXT 2023 PLUS

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THE BEST NIGHT EVER BY BOB QUINN AT THE BOTANIC GARDENS 4 OCTOBER 2024

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THERE IS A DUPLICATE IN CITY WEST

Here’s what I know about “The Best Night Ever”:

Depicts: Two figures, seemingly women, walking arm in arm with a sense of joy and ease. It captures a moment of simple happiness and connection.
Style: Quinn’s style is described as expressionist and figurative. He uses his knowledge of anatomy to abstract the human form, focusing on movement and emotion.  
Location: You can find it nestled amongst the trees in the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin.
Mystery: Interestingly, there’s no plaque or sign explaining the sculpture, which adds to its intrigue.

A few other interesting tidbits:

Two versions: There’s actually another casting of this sculpture in City West, Dublin. When I photographed the one in City West security advised me to leave immediately as photography was not permitted.
The artist: Bob Quinn is a well-established Irish sculptor with a long career in advertising and design. He’s known for his evocative bronze figures that often capture everyday moments.  

EMBRACED LOOP BY ANAISA FRANCO

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THE CONCRETE SHELTER AND THE CORTEN STEEL SCULPTURE

I included the concrete shelter in some of the photographs even thought they have no obvious connection other than their location.

The Embraced Loop, by Anaisa Franco, is a poignant and significant sculpture located in the People’s Gardens within Phoenix Park in Dublin, Ireland.

Here are the key details about this remarkable monument:

Purpose and Symbolism: The Embraced Loop serves as an HIV and AIDS NATIONAL MONUMENT. Its design expresses solidarity with everyone, both past and present, who has been affected by HIV and AIDS.

The sculpture aims to:

  • Show solidarity with those currently living with and affected by HIV.
  • Remember those who have lost their lives to this devastating disease.
  • Celebrate the lives of those who fought bravely and supported others.
  • Mark their contribution to society.

Design and Aesthetics:

  • The sculpture takes the form of an abstract loop.
  • It creatively incorporates the Red Ribbon, which is universally associated with HIV/AIDS awareness.
  • The loop symbolises interactive approach and the interconnectedness of all those impacted by the epidemic.

Unveiling and Significance:

The Embraced Loop was officially unveiled in the Phoenix Park. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar expressed its importance, stating that it would permanently reside in the People’s Gardens.

The monument serves as a powerful reminder that the struggle against HIV/AIDS is ongoing, and we must continue to act and support those affected.

Anaisa Franco is an award-winning artist who pioneers participatory public art with a mission to activate the body and public spaces through an interactive approach. Her studio specialises in parametric digital fabrication and technology integration, creating experiential, self-sustainable organisms. Graduating with a Masters in Digital Art from the University of Plymouth in England, UK, in 2007, Franco has developed digital work at Medialab Prado (2008) and currently works as a New Media artist at Applied Future Studio in Berlin. Her work combines creativity, technology, and community engagement to create meaningful and impactful installations.

TODAY IS USED THE SONY 85MM LENS

The Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM lens is an absolute gem for portrait photography.
Let’s dive into the details:

Image Quality: The lens ticks all the right boxes for portraiture on a full-frame camera. With its 85mm focal length and fast f/1.4 aperture, it excels at isolating the main subject against a beautifully blurred background. The image quality is stunning, and the bokeh is wonderfully soft and dreamy, even when stopping down a little. The lens features a very well-rounded 11-blade diaphragm that contributes to the pleasing bokeh.

Build and Handling: The build quality is rock-solid, and the lens is weather-sealed. It’s part of Sony’s flagship G Master (GM) lineup, which means top-quality construction. Notably, it includes a customisable focus-hold button and an aperture control ring with a ‘de-click’ option for smooth transitions during video shooting.

Optical Design: The optical path incorporates a high-precision XA (eXtreme Aspherical) element for enhanced bokeh quality. Additionally, there are three ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements to boost sharpness, contrast, and reduce colour fringing.

Performance: Autofocus, based on a Linear SSM (Super Sonic wave Motor), is fast and near-silent. Sharpness is excellent wide open at f/1.4 and becomes stunning when stopped down slightly. The lens also features Sony’s nano-structure AR coating to minimize ghosting and flare.

Price: It’s undeniably a pricey lens, but its performance more than justifies the cost.
In summary, the Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM is ideal for top-quality portraiture and still-life photography. Whether capturing people or objects, this lens delivers outstanding results.

The Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM lens has garnered acclaim for its optical excellence, but it’s not without a peculiar issue related to autofocus noise.

Let’s delve into the details:
Focus Noise: Some owners [including myself] have reported an unusual noise when the lens focuses. Descriptions range from a coffee grinder-like sound to a scraping noise. This issue was particularly prominent in the lens’s early days, around 2016-2017. You can find discussions about it on forums like SonyAlphaForum, Fredmiranda, and Dpreview.

Scratches Inside the Lens: In a few cases, this autofocus noise seems to have caused scratches inside the lens. While not widespread, it’s essential to be aware of this potential concern. I did not notice this issue.

Comparisons and Observations:
Roger Cicala from LensRentals conducted some preliminary investigations:
Noise: All the lenses exhibit some noise during focusing, with varying levels of loudness. Most likely, this noise comes from the motor (possibly Piezo motor noise).
Inner Barrel Markings: Over half of the lenses have markings on the inner barrel when the focusing element is retracted toward the mount. These markings could be lube or scrapings in the plastic.
Dust: Like many wide-aperture 85mm lenses, the Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM has some dust particles inside, which is typical and not unique to this lens.
Lube Streaks: No lube streaks on inner elements were observed.
Metal Shavings: The inner barrel doesn’t appear to be metal, and no dust particles resemble reflective metal shavings.
Noise Consistency: After focusing back and forth 500 times, there was no noticeable change in noise.

BRIDGEFOOT STREET PARK FEATURING A METAL SCULPTURE

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PHOTOGRAPHED 17 FEBRUARY 2024

In recent years when walking along Bridgefoot Street I have had a few unpleasant incidents involving youths on electric bikes and scooters so I no longer use my cameras when photographing in the immediate area and this is why I used an old iPhone that does not have a SIM.

However, despite my concerns, there is a very low incidence of vandalism in the park itself. This is due in part to an unseen network of park champions who effectively protect the park through local family and social networks. Dublin City Council have had little or no negative feedback regarding the aesthetic and character of the park with its ‘wilder’ appearance of naturally colonising vegetation.

A derelict site in Dublin’s Liberties has been transformed into a public park known as Bridgefoot Street Park. The park, which opened to the public in May 2022, was designed by Dermot Foley Landscape Architects in collaboration with Dublin City Council’s Parks, Biodiversity and Landscape Services.

Work commenced in 2020 but completion of the project was delayed by Covid-19 restrictions.

The new park, developed in conjunction with local residents, includes a performance area, play spaces, allotments and a community garden. There are 181 new trees and a mixture of herbaceous and ground-covered species have been planted, along with amenity grass and ornamental hedging.

A VIDEO OF THE WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS MEMORIAL IN ST STEPHEN’S GREEN

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SCULPTURE BY HENRY MOORE

I am willing to bet that the majority of those who visit St Stephen’s Green are unaware that there is a Henry Moore sculpture within the popular city centre public park.

Published on 8 July 2020: “Today, the Office of Public Works is delighted to announce the reopening of the William Butler Yeats Memorial in St Stephens Green Park, following an extensive programme of conservation works including the rejuvenation of ‘Knife Edge’ a sculpture by the internationally renowned sculpture Henry Moore.”

The W.B. Yeats Memorial is situated in an area known as the “Mount”, being a series of irregular terraces, forming an amphitheatre within the park. The creation of the amphitheatre was intentional; to provide an area in the Green that can be used for quiet contemplation or theatre, in the round and oration, reflecting Yeats’ work as a poet & playwright, as much as an informal place for people to gather. It remains today a much loved place, regarded by many as their own shared secret place among the trees.

The sculpture was donated by the W.B. Yeats Memorial Committee and funded by Irish American Philanthropist Mr. J. Kelly and Córas Tráchtála Teoranta. The Committee, who made a formal application to the Office of Public Works to place the proposed memorial in St Stephens Green, as “it was one of Yeats’ favourite haunts.”

The location of the sculpture was specifically chosen for the attractive views of the lake and waterfall obtained from the setting, which was terraced and paved by the Office of Public Works at the time. It has been cited as one of the finest settings for Henry Moore’s ‘Knife Edge’ by such eminent bodies as the Henry Moore Foundation.

Set onto the terrace in front of the sculpture is a plaque giving the sculpture its context as part of the Memorial. This was created by esteemed Sculptor Michael Biggs, the prominent sculptor and graphic designer responsible for the Arbour Hill Memorial Wall and the Series B Irish Banknotes (circulation 1976-1992).

SENTINEL IS A SET OF TWO SCULPTURES BY VIVIENNE ROCHE 224969

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REPRESENTING A VIKING NEEDLE AND A CHURCH STEEPLE

Usually it is impossible to properly photograph this public art installation because every time I try someone walks into frame.

1994 Sentinel consists of two major elements which are described below.

Sentinel responds to its historic setting outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. The larger form is based on a Viking needle found on the site during excavations. As with Liberty Bell (by the same artist) in the adjacent St. Patrick’s Park, it uses existing architectural features to extend its reach.

Vivienne Roche is a sculptor who lives and works near the sea in Co. Cork, Ireland

Over the last three or four decades she has worked in large-scale bronze, glass, steel, sailcloth, stuccodore plaster, and reconfigured landscape. Drawing, watercolour and photography have also been central to her work. Her artistic themes derive from site-specific dialogues between architecture and sculpture, the emotional resonances of the coastal landscape in which she lives, relationships between male and female, archaeology sites and their artefacts, and between music and the visual. Light has been a central focus as is evidenced in commissioned artworks such as NC Iris (2006), Whitelight Garden (2006), Light Ensemble (2008) and Light House (2009)

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