Kate O'Connor
But It Rhymes
In the 1930s, one half of all property built in Dublin was social housing; by the 1980s this had dropped to one third; now it is only one twelfth. But it Rhymes questions how the Irish State and the market has fostered an environment that treats residential property as a form of equity rather than a basic human right. It reflects on how social housing has evolved in Dublin since the founding of the Irish State by concentrating on three different housing projects originally planned during the 1930s under the aegis of Herbert Simms, but only built after The Emergency. They are: Dolphin House, also known as Dolphin's Barn, Saint Teresa's Gardens and Dominick Street. All are currently undergoing regeneration.
Using the historically-radical properties of photo-montage and text, I examine these sites from a range of perspectives. It was important to me that one could see both the older parts of the social housing complexes as well as the attempts to modernise and rejuvenate them. I juxtapose and overlap these images in order to examine what a house is actually made of, if you break it down into its individual components.
This strategy echoes my image-text campaign that asks the public to join the conversation about housing in Dublin. Small vinyl posters have been placed around Dublin with a QR code which allows the reader to immediately access an anonymised blog where all contributions are welcome. This conversation manifests in the gallery space via postcard-sized versions of the same posters for visitors to take away.
They say that history never repeats itself but it rhymes. I hope that by seeing these housing projects for what they were without sentimentality - a concerted effort to break the cycle of predatory landlords and substandard housing - we can perhaps rhyme a little ourselves.
In the 1930s, one half of all property built in Dublin was social housing; by the 1980s this had dropped to one third; now it is only one twelfth. But it Rhymes questions how the Irish State and the market has fostered an environment that treats residential property as a form of equity rather than a basic human right. It reflects on how social housing has evolved in Dublin since the founding of the Irish State by concentrating on three different housing projects originally planned during the 1930s under the aegis of Herbert Simms, but only built after The Emergency. They are: Dolphin House, also known as Dolphin's Barn, Saint Teresa's Gardens and Dominick Street. All are currently undergoing regeneration.
Using the historically-radical properties of photo-montage and text, I examine these sites from a range of perspectives. It was important to me that one could see both the older parts of the social housing complexes as well as the attempts to modernise and rejuvenate them. I juxtapose and overlap these images in order to examine what a house is actually made of, if you break it down into its individual components.
This strategy echoes my image-text campaign that asks the public to join the conversation about housing in Dublin. Small vinyl posters have been placed around Dublin with a QR code which allows the reader to immediately access an anonymised blog where all contributions are welcome. This conversation manifests in the gallery space via postcard-sized versions of the same posters for visitors to take away.
They say that history never repeats itself but it rhymes. I hope that by seeing these housing projects for what they were without sentimentality - a concerted effort to break the cycle of predatory landlords and substandard housing - we can perhaps rhyme a little ourselves.
