It is a sculpture in the shape of two seats constructed from recovered plastic waste from the River Liffey. According to artist Rhona Byrne, the river served as inspiration for the seats' peculiar design.
"I wanted them to have this dynamic movement and also they’re like the wave from a boat in action," she explained.
"Restless: Liffey Love" is the piece's formal title, but Ms. Byrne assures me that the seats are functional for anyone who need to rest their tired feet.
"They are actually really comfortable," she stated.
"There’s all different ways of perching and sitting," she said.
Dublin City Council commissioned the piece, which was paid for by the government's Percent for Art program, which donates 1% of the proceeds from each publicly funded infrastructure project to the arts.
Ms. Byrne wants to transform the area between the National Convention Centre and the 3Arena into a spot where people can enjoy the river thanks to her artwork.
"Become part of daily life here in the city" is how she wants the benches to be described.
"We’ll be hopefully programming events and talks on the sculpture, so creating some dialogue around issues like marine health and waste and how we are custodians of our own city," she continued.
Wonderful to be invited to sing with our newly formed @theliffeyloves group by Artist Rhona Byrne at the launch of her fabulous new social sculpture Restless #LiffeyLove ❤️ The is a fantastic addition to Dublin’s public art and a place to come together and reflect on our future.… pic.twitter.com/eYX5m5ZHE5
— Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr. Donna Cooney (@donna_cooney1) September 16, 2024
Paltech Polymer Engineering manufactured the vividly coloured hard plastic used to construct the benches, while Billings Jackson Design and Steel Smith created the framework.
One million plastic fragments that were gathered from the River Liffey by the Irish Nautical Trust's boat, the Liffey Sweeper, served as the raw material for the benches.