Proposals for the 'Democracy Bench'
Scroll down to view all the benches, and follow links to read more. If you were at Who Wants to Be...?, you can login and vote for as many as you like. Guests may register and comment.
Art in the Park is a successful provider of arts projects both within
Southwark and across London. Established in 1996 and incorporated as a
limited company and registered charity in 1998 its vision is ‘to enrich
Londoners lives and environment through making visual art’.
Our community studio is in Chumleigh Gardens itself and we hope to be
given the opportunity to build our bench for the gardens that we love so
much. Bill Hudson is one of the founding artists of Art in the Park and
his work in Burgess Park is already well known to the local community.
Jill Newman has worked as a community artist with Art in the Park for
the last 10 years and worked in partnership with Bill on the William 1V
o read more »
17 Comments
The design of my bench is based on an ear; the tool for listening. In a
true democratic society the elected leaders must listen to their voters
and for a fair debate listening is required in equal measure to
speaking. The shape of the ear, with its entrance is inviting to
passers-by and sitting inside the ear people can talk freely and easily
to each other as it is horseshoe shaped. Either side of the entrance can
be used as podiums for people to voice there opinions on.
Read the complete entry here read more »
Discuss
An intimate circle of friends. People face each other and talk! A
circular plan bench made of marine birch plywood, 24mm thick, cut into
10 sections supported by 70 x 57mm oak bearers on creosoted 700mm x
150mm min. diameter new telegraph poles set 350mm into concrete footing
at 500mm centres 800mm from the centre of the sundial column in the
centre of the facade near the Chumleigh Cafe.
Read the rest of this submission here read more »
94 Comments
An X marks the spot a place where there’s hidden treasure. An X is
something that used to be that’s now become something else. An X is a
kiss a love token. An X is a choice what you believe in, who you are,
that you are. An X is a simple m read more »
4 Comments
"This is a bench which registers the daily patterns of life we don’t see - that keeps a tally of its usage and remembers everyone who takes the time in a busy city, to sit on it and watch the world go by. Built in read more »
19 Comments
The idea is to enliven public urban spaces using the power of textile
design and processes. Heavily influenced by traditional interior
textiles, my aim is to find a new approach to using these textiles and
free them fr read more »
6 Comments
This is a public park bench that encourages playful and social
interactions between users. It is sprung and offers a degree of movement
and ¿bounce¿ to engage people and bring them together under a shared
playful exp read more »
2 Comments
The Blueprint Bench uses an old, simple technology to make a site that
not only celebrates democracy but also tells a story which offers
warnings about the efforts required to make sure the 'government by the
peopl read more »
15 Comments
The idea for the Hi Bench is that Democracy is useless without
communication.
The right of free-speech isn't of any use if we cannot initiate open and
equal discussions with the other citizens of our Democracy. All we read more »
7 Comments
When I make things I am interested in my role as somebody in the middle
often working for and with several opposing sides, but at the core I'm
trying to solve problems creatively.
The proposal has thrown up a lot read more »
13 Comments
For democracy to work well, the people who are elected to represent their constituents must truly understand the issues and needs of the group they are speaking for.
They need to have a heart for the people, so my star read more »
3 Comments
I propose to make a pair of benches for your 'Democracy Bench'
commission: one is turquoise and has the word 'FOR' cut out of the back,
and the other one is red with 'AGAINST' in the back. I am an artist and
I had these benches made last fall for a temporary interactive public
artwork so they have already been tested as a conduit for encouraging
democratic discussion.
I took these benches to various locations around Washington, DC in the
United States and set them up in public locations. People passing by
were invited to sit on the bench of their choice and pose for a
photograph.
The bright colors are attractive, and the words inspire responses.
People wanted to be photographed on them with read more »
1 Comment
A democratic form of seating
A thing or ting (Old Norse, Old English and Icelandic: þing; other
modern Scandinavian languages: ting) is the name of the oldest forms of
democracy in the world.
My idea is not so much a be read more »
499 Comments
The pillars will be situated in a natural pattern - eliminating any form
of hierarchy or specific path of entrance emphasizing equality among
people. The interaction or activity is determined by the way the space
is used. It can support a meeting between two people or a small group/s
and up to a public/communal lecture/speech/debate.
Read the full proposal and artist's CVs here read more »
3 Comments
Proposal:
Use the money to import a large, appropriately shaped piece of rubble from the recently bombed hospitals or schools in Gaza. Before shipping it out, get local Gazan children to write their wishes for peace and international intervention on it in Arabic. English translations can be added later if deemed appropriate, perhaps by local English school children.
Place this bench-like piece of rubble, a symbol of the Gazan destruction that Britain set in motion with its 1917 Balfour Declaration, in the park next to a plinth and plaque with the original wording of the declaration inscribed into it.
Let the real debate begin.
read more »
1 Comment
"The design we have in mind would be satirical in nature, examining the "corporate interest" undermining of democracy; how the power of money is used control not only election processes but the leaders themselves once read more »
20 Comments
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This site is for gathering proposals for a 'democracy bench', and for an online jury of 180 people to vote on it. The winning proposal gets £1800 to make it happen.
Very cool.Ill have a look later. Fast cash loans today...Nice post.Ill check it out later today. I take photos of myself. Come...check out the full proposal for Art in the Parks ideas. The bench in the...Valid point about 1/5 of a seat each. Lets hope we can make these large...Halfadrop: you did see the full PDF didn't you?
Very cool indeed!
Wish I could see more than the provided...Hello genkitm and destrin. glad you like my idea. i created this design...This flexible design creates a space to encourage democracy and much more....
Wish I could see more than the provided...Hello genkitm and destrin. glad you like my idea. i created this design...This flexible design creates a space to encourage democracy and much more....