In 2015, the Dublin Canvas project officially launched. Since then, nearly 200 traffic light control boxes across Dublin have been painted by artists and non-artists alike. In 2016, artist Christine Harold painted several dinosaurs on a traffic light control box on the corner of Nassau Street and Kildare Street. Her work, based on a linocut print she had made previously, features detailed graphic, black dinosaur heads overlaid on tropical greens and yellows that blend from one to the next.
She says her design is inspired by her love of the Natural History Museum on Merrion Square. Filled with articulated skeletons and carefully crafted taxidermy, it has been one of her favorite places ever since she was a child. But one key element has always been missing for Christine: a dinosaur.
As she takes us through the process of her artwork, and back into her past, Christine’s voice will guide her niece, Charlie, and a toy dinosaur as they explore Dublin.
Starting their escapades in Merrion square, Charlie and Rex make their way through the city to Christine’s studio in the docklands. Throughout their journey, Christine illuminates one of her earliest and most formative memories. In her studio, she explains and demonstrates her work, before the story folds back on itself. As Christine shares her belief that the way to live is by making one’s own path, Charlie and Rex make their way back to Merrion Square. All the while, Rex emerges as a character in her own right—embarking on a parallel adventure far from the safety of Charlie’s hands.
