Not all the bizarre art in Dublin is the result of the Arts Council commissioning public art. In this case, the builders of a set of Condos in the area have had a hand in it.
On Hayden Run there used to be a rather quiet sprawling horse farm. Across the street was a farm field (also now being converted to condos or apartments). When the builders got the land the horse farm was on, they apparently decided to name this 'The Farms', which as you can see from the picture below to the right was an obvious play on the site's previous usage.
In front of the land they were using is a very small and shallow valley with an active stream in it. The stream overflows strongly during heavy storm periods, snow melts, and in general when rain has been continuous enough to saturate the soil. So that section of land is relatively unusable for anything but a little dell with the stream.
In that area, and along the outer fences of the condos, they apparently commissioned a set of horse 'sculptures' to graze the land and give atmosphere to the facility.
All these pictures are taken during daylight hours since my photographic skills are limited. At night these horses take on a frightful and unpleasant spirit. Just the way this fellow below looks at you when taking his picture is disturbing.
With bare coverings over the hollow bones of these beasts, you can see right through them, which lends more than a little air to them of the dark ghosts of the horses that used to inhabit the farm here.
Even just a quick look at these creatures leads you to wonder if you're watching them, or they are watching you. This fellow looks intent on memorizing anyone who comes close, to who knows what end purpose?
Below, these two are located on a little mound in the valley of this dell. The stream is in the foreground. When the stream is swollen, these two are isolated on that little mound and take on a rather haunting appearance of rising up from the waters.
The beast below almost seems to be grinning, as if his particular plans are laid and he's biding his time to do something mischievous. Are you sure you'd want this appearing outside your window at night? I suppose the dwellers in this condo sleep just fine, none the less, I'm glad I don't live there.
And this guy, he's just watching cars enter the parking lot at this place. The hollow eyes are disturbing enough, but the unrelenting gaze has to make you wonder.
Same fellow, a bit closer.
This one is the closest to Hayden Run. A dark eyed beast, he stands undaunted by the traffic. His position at the fence is stern and he looks more solid than the other haunts in the place. They do have lighting they used to turn on at night to highlight these creatures, but they haven't been turning them on at night lately.
Someone told me they snuck a red LED flasher from Halloween into the eyes of one of the horses on one of the more recent Halloween nights. He tells me that within an hour the LED was gone. We have discussed how much fun it would be to slip red lights into the eyes of all the horses, and put a smoke generator in their mouths/nostrils for that particular holiday.
I suspect that would make them far too frightful a sight to behold.