My brief was to create a product to mark the occasion of President Michael D. Higgins’ visit to GMIT Letterfrack on October 17 2014. It was an honour to take on the project; therefore, I set out to create something that would be a powerful symbol of the connections between the President and GMIT Letterfrack. I sought to use an imaginative, complementary approach in the design that would encase both the President’s work as a poet and the educational context of the college.
I was instantly drawn to the idea of designing bookends as pillars supporting both the literary and the educational to express the support President Higgins has for the work of the College. While researching the President’s literary work I was immediately drawn to the poem, The Currach. With the proximity of the sea to the college and familiar sight of local fishermen out in their currachs I set out to design bookends in which the construction would connect with this poem.
The choice of native wood –oak and ash - balances with the native materials used in the construction of the Currach. Weather is intricately linked with oak and ash as illustrated in the old rhyme.
Oak before ash, we’ll only have a splash;
Ash before oak, we’ll surely have a soak.
The currach encounters the same weather extremes with ‘stillness of the sea’ and ‘the predictable wave’.
The dovetail connecting the base to the book slotting the two together symbolises the jointing together of the knowledge within the book with the craft of furniture making as shown in the creation of the bookends.
The two rippling pools signify the two educators. The grain is unique but the circles uniform allowing us to see the knowledge being distributed.
With The Season of Fire President Michael D. Higgins has created a piece of work for us to enjoy I hope he enjoys our work as much
I was instantly drawn to the idea of designing bookends as pillars supporting both the literary and the educational to express the support President Higgins has for the work of the College. While researching the President’s literary work I was immediately drawn to the poem, The Currach. With the proximity of the sea to the college and familiar sight of local fishermen out in their currachs I set out to design bookends in which the construction would connect with this poem.
The choice of native wood –oak and ash - balances with the native materials used in the construction of the Currach. Weather is intricately linked with oak and ash as illustrated in the old rhyme.
Oak before ash, we’ll only have a splash;
Ash before oak, we’ll surely have a soak.
The currach encounters the same weather extremes with ‘stillness of the sea’ and ‘the predictable wave’.
The dovetail connecting the base to the book slotting the two together symbolises the jointing together of the knowledge within the book with the craft of furniture making as shown in the creation of the bookends.
The two rippling pools signify the two educators. The grain is unique but the circles uniform allowing us to see the knowledge being distributed.
With The Season of Fire President Michael D. Higgins has created a piece of work for us to enjoy I hope he enjoys our work as much