A helping hand as art - or, in a provocative new project, a customised van in a gallery from which food will be served to the homeless over the next two weeks.
"Artwork for an Imperfect World" aims to challenge our assumptions about what art is and whether it has a social function while also highlighting the difficulties faced by the homeless.
Put simply the project, by artist Mick O'Kelly, is a white van customised with bain-marie to keep food warm and washing facilities, standing in the Temple Bar Gallery and Studios in Dublin.
Food will be cooked in the nearby Merchants Quay Project's kitchens and kept warm in the van, for serving between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
First proposed in early 2002, the project gave rise to much argument and soul searching among art and homeless services providers, explained Ms Marian Lovett, director of Temple Bar Gallery.
"When Mick first proposed the project I was intrigued though I saw there could be potential problems. There were questions like, 'What use can this be to the constituency it purports to address?' and whether it would be seen as exploitative." Some people were very against it, she said.
The project will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday.
The gallery will reopen at 7 p.m. and people will be offered a hot meal and shelter until 9 p.m.
This will happen over 12 consecutive evenings and blinds will be drawn to protect the privacy of those inside.
Mr Tony Geoghegan, director of the Merchants Quay Project, said he hoped the project would highlight "the fact that there is no evening meal service for homeless people unless they can get into a hostel".
