Fun and Bronze

Posted on 08 September 2018 by Isabel Gibson

The Glaswegians give fun names to their bridges; Dubliners give nicknames to public sculpture. Herewith, Anna Livia, personifying the River Liffey which passes through Dublin. AKA the Floozie in the Jacuzzi.

She has good core muscles, at any rate.

Bronze statue personifying the River Liffey.

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12 Responses to Fun and Bronze

  1. Tom Watson says:
    09 September 2018 at 11:09 am

    Isabel
    Am I right that there was no person Anna Livia…aside from the character in James Joyce’s “Finnegan’s Wake?”
    Tom

  2. barbara carlson says:
    09 September 2018 at 3:28 pm

    Not a restful thing to look at. Sorry.

  3. Laurna Tallman says:
    09 September 2018 at 3:46 pm

    I will cast my vote with Barbara’s. Have I ever seen a more uncomfortable pose in a statue? Gargoyles aside. Stopping to analyze while I will feel uncomfortable going to bed tonight raises many questions about the purpose and effect of public art. Glad you raised — no, lowered, no raised — the question!

    • Isabel Gibson says:
      10 September 2018 at 3:59 am

      Laurna – Good point. Art is only (or even?) about being pretty or uplifting. It’s OK to provoke uncomfortable emotions and thoughts, also. That doesn’t mean we have to like it! I myself don’t like the setting for this piece because it’s in a scummy little park, despoiled by gull droppings and garbage, but I do get a kick out of the nicknaming.

  4. Tom Watson says:
    09 September 2018 at 4:40 pm

    I think the statue is supposed to represent a young woman sitting on the slope of a river…so calls in us to imagine a wall of water behind her and supporting her. In that sense it may be more comfortable than it looks.

    At the very least, it’s unique.
    Tom

  5. Tom Watson says:
    11 September 2018 at 7:30 am

    Just kiddin’ with ya, Isabel.
    Tom

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