Bamboo Scaffolding
Click the image to view the full gallery.
| Artist Name(s) | Dan Shipsides |
| Artwork title | Bamboo Scaffolding |
| Context/Background | The Nissan Art Project, sponsored by Nissan Ireland, was established in 1997 in association with the Irish Museum of Modern Art. The project was created to provide meaningful support and financial assistance for artists working in Ireland, and was one of the largest visual art sponsorships in Ireland at the time. It was initiated to offer artists working in any medium the opportunity to realise a new temporary artwork for the public domain – defined as any space or process to which the general public has ready unmediated access. The project was open to Irish artists working in Ireland or overseas and to non-Irish artists who had a defined involvement with Ireland. In 1997 the first in the series of commissions was awarded to Irish-born artist Frances Hegarty and British installation artist Andrew Stones for their temporary public artwork ‘For Dublin’. Subsequent commissions included Dorothy Cross ‘Ghost Ship’ (1998), and Dan Shipsides ‘Bamboo Scaffolding’ (2000) at the Carlton Cinema, Dublin. From 2002 onwards, Nissan Art Project commissioned retrospective exhibitions by four Irish mid-career artists, shown at the RHA, Dublin: John Noel Smith (2002), Barrie Cooke (2003), Martin Gale (2004) and Stephen McKenna (2005). |
| Description | Bamboo Scaffolding (2000) involved the erection of a bamboo structure on the facade of the disused Carlton Cinema building on O’Connell Street in Dublin’s city centre. The Carlton Cinema building was, at the time, being renovated under a major redevelopment scheme for the whole of O’Connell Street. Over 12,000 metres of bamboo was shipped from Hong Kong for the structure, which was 30m long x 20.5m high x 1.5m wide. The structure was identical to working scaffolding in many Asian countries, where the use of bamboo scaffolding is common place. A team of seven professional scaffolding workers from the Ever Need Company Ltd., Hong Kong (supervised by company manager Albert Lai) erected the scaffolding using simple hand tools, under the direction of the artist and Museum staff and with assistance from Scafform, Dublin. The process of construction took ten days and took four days to dismantle. These “live” periods were conceived as integral aspects of the project, with the workers moving dramatically in choreographed actions high above the street. Bamboo Scaffolding was the third Nissan Art Project. Following the success of the two previous projects – ‘For Dublin’ by Fran Hegarty and Andrew Stones (1997) and ‘GHOSTSHIP’ by Dorothy Cross (1999) – Nissan Ireland announced an increase in its sponsorship from £40,000 to £100,000 for the millennium year, making the project one of the largest visual arts sponsorships in these islands. For a more detailed account of the project including the artist’s conceptual motivations, see his website: http://www.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/bamboo.html A video of the installation process/documentation footage is available here: |
| Mediation |
|
| Biographies | Dan Shipsides was born in Lancashire, England in 1972, and has lived and worked in Belfast since 1995. He is is a former co-director at Catalyst Arts, Belfast and is currently based in Orchid Studios and is a researcher and lecturer at the School of Art & Design at the University of Ulster in Belfast. He was awarded the ACNI Major Artist Award in 2004, the Nissan Art Award in 2000, and the Perspective award (OBG, Belfast) in 1998. He has exhibited nationally and internationally including: ACCA, Melbourne (Desire Lines), The MAC, Belfast (Still not out of the woods), Aliceday Gallery, Brussels (Vigil | Star), South London Gallery (Games & Theory), Castlefield Gallery, Manchester (Radical Architecture), Wings Project Art Space, Switzerland (Performance), Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol (Elastic Frontiers), Konsthall C, Stockholm, Sweden (Under plattan, ängen!), Platform Guranti, Istanbul (Hit & Run), Confederation Gallery, PEI, Canada (Beauty Queens), HEDAH, Maastricht (Rochers à Fontainebleau), Riga Sculpture Quadrennial, Latvia (European Space), Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast (Beta), Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin (Pioneers), Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (Sporting Life). Smart Project Space, Amsterdam (Endure), Melbourne International Biennial, Australia (Signs of Life). Detailed CV available on the artist's website: |
| Commission Type | Public Private Partnership (PPP) |
| Commissioner Name | Nissan Ireland in partnership with the Irish Museum of Modern Art |
| Commissioning process | International Competition (jury selection) |
| Public Presentation dates | September 26, 2000 - December 2, 2000 |
| Partners | Irish Museum of Modern Art |
| Artform | Visual Arts |
| Funded By | Private |
| Budget Range | 70000 - 150000 euro |
| Location | Carlton Cinema building |
| County | Dublin |
| Town | Dublin |
| Street Address | O’Connell Street |
| Website | www.danshipsides.com/DshipsidesWeb/bamboo.html |
| Content contributor(s) | Web Editor |
| Associated professionals / Specialists involved |
The members of the 2000 selection panel were:
The panel was chaired by Declan McGonagle, Director, Irish Museum of Modern Art. |
