The outdoor work, ‘(…) Water & Sand + Sticks & Stones (…)’, which was installed in the East Arch of the Royal Hospital in 1993, was originally placed in another configuration – on the first floor landing of the Museum as part of the exhibition ‘Projects’ by Lawrence Weiner. Since its acquisition, the piece has been included in a number of exhibitions at IMMA as well as in external venues. The work is flexible, can be realised in a number of ways, in a variety of different media. It can be shown simultaneously in multiple locations.

For ‘Projects’, the work was painted directly onto the gallery wall. The work also exists as a fabric multiple. This work can be made in a number of ways and can be shown in multiple locations at one time. The original drawings for ‘Projects’ and for the realisation of ‘(…) Water & Sand + Sticks & Stones (…)’ are currently on show as part of the exhibition One Foot in the Real World.

A leading pioneer of conceptual art in America in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Weiner’s work is concerned with language and the way meaning is carried in words, signs, symbols and codes. Exhibiting internationally for the past twenty-five years, he has made books, posters, postcards and textual installations. His work was previously seen in Ireland at the Guinness Hopstore as part of the ROSC exhibition in 1984.

Context forms the content of Weiner’s work, in which the traditional art object is by-passed in favour of language as the medium through which meaning is presented. The context here is the Royal Hospital itself which although an important historical seventeenth century building, now functions as a space for modern art.