Sculpture in the Parklands
2002-2010
Kevin O'Dwyer (Ireland)
The sculpture was fabricated from a recycled "Tippler" that was used to unload peat from incoming carriages at Ferbane power plant. The Tippler is wrapped in galvanised steel and the long narrow horizontal openings are made from tubular stainless steel. The installation was inspired by the Nissen huts used in the 1940's and 1950's, which housed Bord na Mona workers during the peat harvest in Boora.
O’Dwyer has recycled one of the tipplers used to unload peat. Tippler Bridge has a cylindrical form. O’Dwyer’s walking bridge uses a hybrid assortment of materials that included corrugated steel that references the Nissan huts that housed over 400 men who worked the bogs in the 1950s. Both shelter and bridge, the Tippler Bridge’s view areas inside offer a cropped view of the surrounding lands, that contrasts the pervasive sky and arc of the horizon that predominates over this landscape. A cachet of local history, an industrial aesthetic, and a collaging of these elements with the landscape panorama all come together in O’Dwyer’s Tippler Bridge for passers by and visitors alike to experience.
John Grande Art Nature Dialogues
Tippler Bridge
2009
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