The bench is yours II – Culture Corporation

Design: Claus Bjerre, Ditte Hammerstrøm and Jeremy Walton. (Culture Corporation)
Intervention: Paustain East Copenhagen.

This is the second bench in the concept of inviting local communities to participate in building a bench with locally sourced wood (donated from the urban community – urban driftwood). ‘The Bench is yours’ consists of a starting block, of an archetypal seat and back, with the text ‘the bench is yours. Build further’ engraved in the back. Initiation is typically organised in intervention events supporting local residents to build.

The second bench was built at Paustian (furniture and interior showroom, exhibition site and restaurant in Copenhagen) as part of the ‘Derfor’ exhibition. In association with danish Crafts and curated by Louise Campbell. Technically it also includes Bench I, which was moved to the site and placed part inside the exhibition, as if to cross through the window, staring the initiation of Bench II, that was built on the front steps of the building. Elements of Bench I were also built into the external bench.

Bench II conducted at an design and craft exhibition shows deliberate innovation, where participants seems to respond to the proceeding build to challenge the idea of a bench. It starts to lack charm and imperfection of naivety. Coupled with the majority being built hastily with a high point of the exhibition opening, the result, reflects a free for all battle of individuals.

_{Louise Campbell – “Hvorfor? – Why have you made such a wild bench?.”}

_{Culture Corporation – “Derfor! It is a democratic project that cannot be designed in advance. We create the base, there after it is up to the people that use the park to continue where the last person stopped.”}

Danish Crafts 2002.

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• _{Materials: Locally donated wood.}
• _{Production / Technique: Local facilitation, Bodging, Intervention.}
• _{Dimensions: Block 50 x 50 x 80 cm}
• _{Dissemination: Glentavej Plads 2003: ‘The bench is yours III’. Culture Corporation. Quarter Lift northwest. Copenhagen}
• _{Relating Projects: Culture Corporation, Bench is yours.}