NEWSLETTER

© art-public

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The Public Bench is a 45-metre-long structure that borders the Millennium Place on its north side. It curves slowly away from the main wall separating the place from the buildings of the Museum of British Road Transportation. In this way, several walking and sitting levels are created in an area, which allows people to rest, contemplate and converse.
The Public Bench is a work in progress. Contributions from the people of Coventry and visitors to the city will become a permanent feature of the bench. Anyone who wishes to contribute is invited to do so. The concept is simple. Any person may feature his or her name, along with the name of someone of his or her choice, on a pvc plaque (7 x 12 cm) to be affixed to the Public Bench. The chosen person may be from Coventry or not, a personal acquaintance or not, alive or dead, real or fiction. The public is thus invited to commemorate a friendship, a marriage, a common cause or feeling, or just a brief encounter, on these small plaques that link two names. Each commemorative plaque displays only these two names and a date. The reasons for the choice and the identity of the names will not be revealed. Emotions, such as sympathy, admiration, support, and above all, love, determine many of the choices. The choice is one person's choice. It does not require anyone else's approval.
The plaques are randomly distributed over the entire surface of the bench, forming an irregular pattern of dashes. The public's participation becomes visible through the growing density and extension of this "Milky Way" of plaques.

Contact: Anya Reichmann
atelier@gerz.fr

http://www.gerz.fr