I like my little island of Ireland. Sitting to the left of Europe with a population of around 5 million, we are very small in comparison to Great (Sic) Britain but we really punch more than our weight would suggest. We are not a big influence with our Political or Military might but through our export of culture. If there was anything to be proud of being Irish it would be this: We colonise the world with our culture. Of course, I am not proud of being Irish, it just happened that I was born and live here. Saying that, at least I'm not English.
This project took place on the island of Texel in northern Holland. It is really a beautiful place with lots of wildlife and amazing beaches. The sculpture project was made in the sand dunes next to the ocean and had the theme of 'Islands'. I was teamed up with the village idiot Jamie Wardsley from England and asked to make something about our own little islands. We opted for a map showing the different things that our countries were known for.
Working with someone who comes from a country which has been a right pain in the arse for my little home could have brought up many uncomfortable conversations from the past but as close neighbours, the Irish and English get along pretty well. We have put behind us the over 400 years of occupation and persecution her majesty's Government has inflicted on us and now we are all friends...ish. To be honest I have found that the English are not very educated on what the history is between our two nations. Needless to say Jamie and I concentrated on the culture and the good things. Don't mention the war.
The maps themselves were straightforward enough and as we worked our way down we made little models of things that made geographical sense. On Ireland, I had Harland and Wolff, The shipyard that built the Titanic. A Euro coin with our Harp motif, Saint Patrick, a pint of Guinness, A Dolman(Megalithic tomb) Ryanair ( yes it really is one of our biggest exports) and a hurl with slither (The fastest sport in the world). I don't give a damn what Jamie did with his crappy Imperialist Country but as a limey bastard, he did a nice job.
Since it was very much a one-sided sculpture we decided that on the other we would stick in a symbol of another island and that was a big abstracted Sun for the islands of Japan. This was a fun element to carve and in many ways my favourite part of the sculpture.
The tubes that made the sun rays were a lesson in patience. Jamie did one side and I the other. It was nice to have something we could each carve as far away from each other as possible and still have a nice overall effect. English people smell so, I made sure I was working on the upwind side of the sculpture.
As a piece, I think it turned out quite well and maybe in some ways It helped mend some of the hurt between our two countries. But rather than give it the name dimwit Jamie wanted I am calling it the Irish isles. So there.
(If you are English and reading this please don't invade me)
Ps
Thanks for reading. I use PeakD to document my work as an ephemeral Sculptor of sand, snow and ice, amongst other things. This will hopefully give it a new life on the Hive Blockchain. Below you will find some of my recent posts.
Love is blind: are you? - ice sculpture
Love machine - ice sculpture
Parting the Red Sea - ice sculpture
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