Rachel Joynt was commissioned by leading horse-trainer Dermot Weld to make this sculpture for the new Veterinary Medicine building. The quote beside the piece ‘Omne vivum ex ovo’ means all things come from the egg. Sperm like shapes cover the surface of the egg and include depictions of bulls, rats and hamsters as well as man. The sculpture is decorated with small holes, which create a planetarium-like effect when viewed from the pointed end.
Rachel Joynt (born 1966 in County Kerry) is an Irish sculptor who has created some prominent Irish public art. She graduated from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin in 1989 with a degree in sculpture.
Her father, Dick Joynt, was also a sculptor. Rachel Joynt is preoccupied by ideas of place, history and nature, and her work often examines the past as a substrate of the present. Her commissions include People’s Island (1988) in which brass footprints and bird feet criss-cross a well-traversed pedestrian island near Dublin’s O’Connell Bridge. She collaborated with Remco de Fouw to make Perpetual Motion (1995), a large sphere with road markings which stands on the Naas dual carriageway. This has been described by Public Art Ireland as ‘probably Ireland’s best known sculpture’ and was featured, as a visual shorthand for leaving Dublin, in The Apology, a Guinness advert. Joynt also made the 900 underlit glass cobblestones which were installed in early 2005 along the edge of Dublin’s River Liffey; many of these cobblestones contain bronze or silver fish.
PRESS RELEASE:
‘NOAH’S EGG’, a giant cast-bronze egg sculpture, was unveiled on Tuesday 8 June 2004 by leading trainer, Dermot Weld at the UCD Veterinary School in Belfield. The sculpture was a gift from Dermot Weld to the UCD Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
Noah’s Egg represents the beginnings and potential of life, and symbolises both the field of veterinary medicine and the scholarly pursuits and ambitions of the Veterinary students and staff.
Noah’s Egg, which was created by Rachel Joynt, is an interactive sculpture. It is decorated with small holes, which create a planetarium-like effect when viewed from the pointed end. The Egg’s ochre, shell-like surface is richly textured with sperm-like shapes of various creatures including man, bull, rabbit, guinea pig, rat, mouse and hamster. At night, Noah’s Egg will be illuminated by a warm red glow like an incubator light. Noah’s Egg sits outside the UCD Veterinary Faculty’s new state-of-the-art premises at Belfield.
At the unveiling ceremony Dr Hugh Brady, President of UCD said, “It is our ambition that the UCD Veterinary School be recognised as an international leader in veterinary education, research and clinical service. We are delighted that a graduate of the faculty, Dermot Weld, has generously donated this magnificent sculpture to UCD as a symbol of this ambition.”
UCD’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine moved to its new purpose-built facility at Belfield in 2002. The new building provides students with an ideal environment to undertake their studies in Veterinary Medicine, with laboratories suited to the pursuit of innovative research and a superbly planned veterinary hospital to observe and practice veterinary medicine first hand. The Veterinary School is adjacent to the Faculties of Agriculture and Science and the Conway Institute for Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, which ensures that the School is well positioned to participate in the exciting developments in the life sciences at UCD.
THE MOTHERSHIP BY RACHEL JOYNT – NEWTOWNSMITH SOMEWHERE BETWEEN DUN LAOGHAIRE TOWN AND GLASTHULE
According to Google Maps this sculpture is located in Bruce McGovern Doyle Park [sounds like the name of a business] … I have never heard of a park of this named and cannot find any descriptions of it elsewhere. I would describe the area as the seafront at Marine Parade or Newtownsmith in Glasthule.
I first photographed this in 2001 and I have always liked it.
I have seen this described online as the Sea Urchin Sculpture locate on the Glasthule Promenade however I noticed, a few years ago, a plaque which read as follows: “Mothership By Rachel Jotnt 1999”.
Mothership was commissioned in 1998 through an open competition as part of an Art Programme for the Dun Laoghaire Drainage Scheme. The sculpture is located in Newtownsmith which is an area between Dun Laoghaire and Glasthule. Over time it has become an iconic and popular work that has captured public imagination. Its scale and form leads itself to inter-action, as its is possible to climb into the body of the shell.
The sculpture, made of cast bronze and stainless steel, depicts a sea urchin positioned on its side and suspended in motion leaving a trail of metal silver droplets.
It is as if the sea urchin has been thrown up onto the shore by a wave. Positioned at a slight angle, we can follow the moving sea urchin’s tracks – small stainless steel discs – as it spins to a halt, and surprisingly remains upright.
The sea urchin is a confident statement of clear sea water, made possible by Dun Laoghaire Drainage Scheme. On a more subtle level the diameter chosen for the piece is the same diameter that is used in the tunnelling and pipe construction involved in the Drainage Scheme.
The work is positioned to allow the viewer to look through it and out to open sea.
THE MOTHERSHIP BY RACHEL JOYNT AT NEWTOWNSMITH BETWEEN DUN LAOGHAIRE TOWN AND GLASTHULE
I first photographed this in 2001 and I have always liked it.
I have seen this described online as the Sea Urchin Sculpture locate on the Glasthule Promenade however I noticed, for the first time, a plaque which read as follows: “Mothership By Rachel Jotnt 1999”.
Mothership was commissioned in 1998 through an open competition as part of an Art Programme for the Dun Laoghaire Drainage Scheme. The sculpture is located in Newtownsmith which is an area between Dun Laoghaire and Glasthule. Over time it has become an iconic and popular work that has captured public imagination. Its scale and form leads itself to inter-action, as its is possible to climb into the body of the shell.
The sculpture, made of cast bronze and stainless steel, depicts a sea urchin positioned on its side and suspended in motion leaving a trail of metal silver droplets.
It is as if the sea urchin has been thrown up onto the shore by a wave. Positioned at a slight angle, we can follow the moving sea urchin’s tracks – small stainless steel discs – as it spins to a halt, and surprisingly remains upright.
The sea urchin is a confident statement of clear sea water, made possible by Dun Laoghaire Drainage Scheme. On a more subtle level the diameter chosen for the piece is the same diameter that is used in the tunnelling and pipe construction involved in the Drainage Scheme.
The work is positioned to allow the viewer to look through it and out to open sea.
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