Proposals to turn Liberty Hall into "a shimmering tower of light and sound" and to highlight the plight of asylum-seekers by displaying their portraits in Dublin city centre are among the ideas short-listed for the Nissan Art Project for the millennium.
Artists were invited to submit proposals for a temporary public artwork for Dublin. Out of a total of 35 submissions worldwide, four artists have been selected to develop their ideas. The winning project will be announced in March 2000 and realised between September and December.
Two Irish artists are among those short-listed. Shane Cullen proposes siting, throughout the city centre, large portraits and case histories of those who have sought or are seeking refugee status.
Jaki Irvine wants to make a number of short films dealing with the problems experienced by those who leave home, and by exiles who try to return. Inspired by Sheridan le Fanu's book of Gothic tales, In a Glass Darkly, she proposes screening her films in the open air. Hans-Peter Kuhn, who specialises in spectacular lighting displays, has designs on Liberty Hall, proposing to light it from within with batteries of flickering televisions and to broadcast high-frequency sounds outside.
The remaining short-listed artist, Dan Shipsides, would like to erect Asian-styled bamboo scaffolding at a city-centre development site. He envisages a cautionary comparison between the Ireland of the Celtic Tiger and "the once-booming tiger economies of the Far East".
The winner of the last Nissan Art Project, Dorothy Cross's Ghost Ship, attracted a great deal of attention when it was moored off Dun Laoghaire last February. Nissan has increased its sponsorship of this year's project from £40,000 to £100,000.
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