On Thomond Bridge recently this installation laid siege to the Castle. A visual mess of contradictions sees an plastic based Micheal Noonan acting in a recycled capacity for Sinn fein postering. The SF poster within arms reach was quickly ripped down re exposing the upside down Noonan to the current electorate. Its unfortunate from a semeiotic point of view because any visage representing what ever political philosophy hung upside down from a lamp post is historically not a good look particularly if your party has been the recipient of slurs linking you to a movement whose Italian leader ended viciously up upside down on a lamp post at the end of the second world war.
The assemblage was removed after an hour of it being photographed and also before Fine Gaels director of elections Frank Flannery hinted that an anti Fianna Fail strategy could see Fine Gael and Sinn Fein do business. In light of that statement and Enda Kennys denial the mongrel postering may have been prophetic.
There is a prominent Independent candidate who proudly proclaims that her posters are ‘recycled from 2004’ and we know this because she printed up stickers to emphasise the fact. Back on the Bridge the Sinn fein candidate undertook a much more progressive tack in cutting up Fine Gales ‘previous’ for their platform (the debris of history etc). From an angle the orange road sign info looks separated by the splash of green to create a Tricolour gone sideways.
John Bergers book on visual signifier ‘Ways of Seeing’ is widely known but one would not need to be familiar with its essays on de coding urban visual matter to appreciate the installation on the bridge ‘ Diversion end.’
Berger has said that ‘Publicity is the life of this culture - in so far as without publicity capitalism could not survive - and at the same time publicity is its dream’. Observing Diversion end while sitting in traffic many may have speculated on the Sinn Fein green peeling from the Fine Gale face and thought of façades, converging policy directions, Public image etc..
Paul Tarpey
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Actually this is a John gilligan poster using noonan's old posters for some reason - NOT SINN FEIN.
On another note, Matt larkin is using old noreen Ryan posters, god they must hate Willie o'Dea
Posted by: Northsideguy | June 05, 2009 at 02:15 PM
'Its unfortunate from a semeiotic point of view because any visage representing what ever political philosophy hung upside down from a lamp post is historically not a good look particularly if your party has been the recipient of slurs linking you to a movement whose Italian leader ended viciously up upside down on a lamp post at the end of the second world war.' — Tarpey, your a genius!
Posted by: Paul (Broken Funk) | June 05, 2009 at 07:55 PM
Apologies, Northside Guy, you are right. From the scrap left on the poster it was hard to make out and Paul wasn't sure. But it is good to see recycling going on.
I saw one of the Noreen Ryan ones alright outside thomond Park, very apt choice on so many levels.
On a personal note, congratulations to Sinn Fein on the historic breakthrough tonight in Limerick City and well done to all left leaning candidates who were successful.
Posted by: Shane | June 07, 2009 at 01:22 AM