Dublin Airport
A whirlwind of mirrored wings, this bespoke installation celebrates a unique corridor between two countries.
- Year
- 2016
overview
Made up of over 600 individual sculptures, this playful and energetic installation sits at the heart of the 51st&Green Lounge at Dublin Airport.
Falling under US jurisdiction yet situated on Irish soil, the lounge uniquely allows travelers to avoid border control when they land stateside. Titled Murmurations, the piece celebrates this intersection between two great nations.
Hundreds of airplanes are arranged in a familiar whirlwind form, mimicking the movement and migrations of birds and the way in which they come together to roost at night. The installation reflects the way these creatures create paths between places and retrace them each year, just as millions of passengers return to Dublin Airport on their travels.
What appears at first glance to be folded paper is actually metal. Each airplane has been cast in this reflective material, designed to bounce light around the space and catch the movements of jumbo jets as they take off and land on the nearby runway.
The ability of these many mirrored wings’ to reflect light nods to the inspiration behind the lounge. The layout of 51st&Green mimics that of Newgrange, a Neolithic monument on Ireland’s east coast. Just as its corridors and chambers are illuminated every Winter Solstice, so too does the installation seem to flutter and dance when caught by the sun’s rays.
