Meditation on Plates,
Casino Marino, Dublin, 2014
A project by Mary Heffernan, National Historic Properties, OPW and Nuala Goodman, Artist & Co-curator.
Introduction by Alessandro Mendini:
A perfect architecture in a perfect setting. The perfect opportunity to realize a series of perfect souvenirs. The collection of plates inspired by the Casino Marino is truly exemplary. Lord Charlemont’s Casino is an inexhaustible source of symbols, signs, decorations, proportions, shapes and environments full of meaning. And all the authors immersed themselves with excitement in this small magical architecture as a great neoclassical gem, and every interpretation turned into poetry. An extraordinary collection of round drawings, rich in memory and nostalgia.
And you can understand how aesthetic pleasure has played a part in all of these inventions, so different from one another but all developed under the hypnosis of the perfection of this architecture.
Each author found his personal charm, his joy, his meditation. No one could avoid the sense of strength and protection emanating from this small, perfect metaphysical colossus. So they have designed it and relived it with the intellectual and physical pleasure of making it their own, many indeed wished to draw the building itself.
A collective performance, an unexpected movement, choral and cathartic, such was the charisma of this secular temple.
So, not just a series of plates based on a single theme, but a rhythm, a summary of vibration, the perfect gift, indeed.
Alessandro Mendini,
Milan, 2014
Cinzia Anguissola "The frieze decoration on the outside of the Casino Marino inspired the spiral in the middle of the plate. All the elements of the Casino are represented in the yellow triangles around the plate’s frame. The reason these rectangles are pointed towards the centre is because each element is part of the Casino, as well as the image."
Nigel Atkinson "The artwork for this plate draws inspiration from the Neo Classical architecture set within a romantic, landscaped, garden and focuses on the relationship between interior and exterior spaces, actual and imagined."
Countess Ann Bernstorff "I thought it would be fun to represent the outdoors of the Casino Marino so drew a carriage going from place to place to visit the places that once stood in the grounds: the Root House, Fair Rosamund’s Bower... just as the aristocrats would have done in the past. The star in the centre came from the inlaid floor in the Casino."
Oisin Byrne "My plate is decorated with a duck egg (or azzurro) blue greek fret pattern with gold detailing which mirrors the ceiling mouldings at the Casino at Marino. The entire pattern is hand drawn, with a strong but fluctuating line."
Aldo Cibic "I always find it difficult when I have to start a drawing on a blank page; For the Casino in Marino, I thought that I wanted to draw it as it is, resting on a green leaves cloud. The drawing is like a sketch but this is what makes it even more simple."
Alec Cobbe "I assembled some of the architectural features of the Casino into a design reflecting one of the ceilings within it, and to animate the design I represented the chimney urn as it would appear if the building was in use with the fires lit."
Margaret Corcoran "This piece has a post 9/11 apocalyptic return to Utopia. We are as humans, much better off celebrating each others cultures, than doing anything other than revelling in difference. It is appropriate that here in this Irish Utopian venue, many centuries later we are still celebrating the magnificence of the force and influence of Italian Culture."
Paul Costelloe "It is such an honor to have been chosen to take part in this wonderful exhibition. I am a great believer in preserving Ireland’s great land which helps keep our identity alive today."
Michael Craig "The youthful Earl of Charlemont was persuaded to refine his morals by going on a “Grand Tour” from Dublin to Constantinople and, eventually, back again. Despite facing Death on many occasions - pirates, brigands, storms and women - he survived to believe that his future was in Ireland; a decision that benefits us all to this day."
Dorothy Cross "The drawings on my plate are from my mothers school drawing portfolio, probably drawn around 1935. The portrait in the centre is of her – drawn by another hand. My mother had an incredible eye for beauty. I placed three small crabs on the drawing and photographed them... three siblings."
Michael Cummins "My drawing starts at the centre of the inlaid floor in the China Closet, looking at the irregularly shaped wood pieces which make up the symmetrical shape; I was happy to find something irregular in this building of such perfect regularity. From there the drawing feels its way out to the labourers who made the gardens, by referencing the tools found in plasterwork in the room."
Vanessa Donoso Lopez "The origination of certain objects and images represent the need to recreate the memory of the impact that certain subjects, and encounters have had on me. The actual process of making the work allow me to keep or to reminisce this experience. This technique evokes states of familiarity and recognition."
Arthur Duff "Coming out of a crowded noisy smelly city to Marino it must have been such a relief for Lord Charlemont to find fresh air but of greater value was surely the prospect of an uninterrupted view. The memory of his beloved Italy must have remained with him."
Natalie Du Pasquier "...using that “azzurro” blue that for me has to do with the time the casino was built, I have put together these rotating hard edges shapes that are there as symbols for all the new ideas that were emerging with the illuminism and were still very much at the stage of abstract ideas... anyway first of all I wanted to design a nice plate... white..."
David Eager Maher "The design for my plate is constructed using gold leaf and applied in a way that is rough and shows cracks. Above this is a silhouette image of a potato plant, painted in a solid black form, that has echoes of botanical illustration. I was interested in making an object that resonates with the idea of illusion and it’s close companion delusion."
Lisa Farmer "This plate celebrates the state in which opposing forces harmonise; the absolute beauty of being in or coming into equilibrium."
Fornasetti "I am glad I’ve been invited to give my personal artistic interpretation of this stunning Casino. Neoclassical architecture is a theme that is very dear to me: deeply rooted in the history of the Fornasetti artistic oeuvre, and very recurrent as well. This project to me represents a way of relating to Lord Charlemont."
Duilio Forte "Sleipnir, Odino’s horse is shown here as protector of the Casino Marino."
Paolo Giordano "I wanted to bring something of the blue of the mediterranean to cool Dublin."
David Godbold "The design for the plate is an idealized landscape, sourced from a period sketchbook of the Casino gardens. Above it is overlaid an image of a blindfolded figure (originally illustrating an 18th Century edition of Descartes’ 1649 Treatise), finding their way, unsighted, or de-sensed."
Nuala Goodman "My plate is a drawing of the Casino Marino in Dublin and the Villa Rotonda in Vicenza. The background is the sea in between, the platinum drops trace the link between the two buildings."
Richard Gorman "I visited Casino Marino the first time as a schoolboy in the sixties. Looking again at it, I thought about its four porticos. This resonates with my present work, so my plate is more a connection with than an interpretation of the building."
Alessandro Guerriero "I redesigned the Casino Marino in multi colours as though it had been designed today.Every side has different colours and it’s difficult to understand which is the principal side of the building: every side seems the principal side! I’m all for a sense of kitsch because kitsch is the art of happiness."
Maria Christina Hamel " 'Melusina at Marino’s' I picked up a topic dear to me which is the myth of Melusine I found on the chimneys of the Casino Marino. In the drawing on the plate I represent Melusine as a portrait of myself."
Eithne Jordan "I imagined a contemporary view of Dublin Bay from the vantage point of one of the Casino lions which are placed at each corner of the podium. The outer circumference pattern of my plate refers to the egg and dart design which is used extensively in the interior moldings of the Casino."
John Kindness "The work is based on the Winged Fauns relief on a pedestal at the Casino. The materials come from the Thames at low tide. Basically a plate of broken plates. In parts of England these are called ‘Booty plates’ and are a vernacular art form in many countries."
Fergus Martin "The Casino at Marino is a perfect thing. My favourite image of it is Thomas Roberts’s painting, which made me want to paint something delicate and glowing. I painted it in green tea."
Stephen McKenna "My design for the plate was based on the original ground plan for the Casino, in combination with the colours and design of the wooden floors."
Alessandro Mendini "A perfect architecture is a perfect setting"
Fulvia Mendini "I drew a mandala inspired by the neoclassical decorations and symbols of the marvellous Casino Marino; the wooden floors, ceilings and outdoor sculptures. A mandala is a small circular universe, an ancient symbolic image, and a wonderful tool for meditation."
John O' Connell "What was uppermost in my mind in executing this design was the manner in which Sir William Chambers conceived this heroic building. He did not have the opportunity to the visit the building due to the demands of his great project, Somerset House, London. Therefore, my design seeks to convey one of the main driving forces for this heroic structure."
Terri Pecora "Venus and Apollo are on the facade facing south, looking out towards Italy where the architectural inspiration for the Casino comes from. The Italian fiery pepper, an aphrodisiac symbol used to ward off bad luck, is a tribute to the buildings noble origins."
Donatella Pellini "The idea of the decoration of the plate is born by looking at the architectural motifs of Casino Marino with the eye of one who is used to creating jewellery: the friezes and stucco become the precious elements that create a necklace."
Kathy Prendergast "The drawing on my plate is based on the door knob at Casino Marino. I loved the fact that in designing this building even the door knobs were treated with special attention with filagree and whorls trailing over the wood. Such beauty! Everyone has to open and close doors, from the Ist Earl of Charlemont to the maids and cleaners. Beauty is for everyone!"
Luca Scacchetti "My plate portrays the architect of Casino Marino, Sir William Chambers, unrolling an architectural plan. On one of the backgrounds appear Chinese characters which remind of how this great architect was especially admired for bringing the exotic crush of chinoiserie and orientalism to English Neoclassicism."
George Sowden "...my design started working around the original wooden floors from Casino Marino."
Victor Togliani "In the future the Casino Marino could be the monument chosen by aliens as a platform landing for their ships."
Kyoko Wainai "My grandmother was a kimono designer of renown in northern Japan. I found this piece of fabric in her treasure chest of remnants after her death. I added the dots to represent the landscape setting of the Casino and Dublin, binding these concepts together."