THE BENCH OF DISBELIEF
(AND 5 MORE THAT ARE DESIGNED TO CHALLENGE THE WAY YOU THINK)
‘IT’S CALLED the Bench of Civil Disobedience,’ says artist Conor McDonald, before breaking into infectious laughter.
He’s explaining to this perplexed reporter why a traditional metal bench in Gorey Town Park bears the words ‘DO NOT SIT HERE’ on one half, and ‘OR HERE’ on the other.
‘ The park is such a democratic space, that to tell somebody not to sit there, you’d hope they would interact with it and sit there anyway,’ he smiles.
Others are equally head-scratching. The Bench of Disbelief bears the words ‘WET PAINT’. ‘It’s about challenging your belief systems,’ deadpans Conor.
This isn’t a case of random artistic vandalism of the beloved Town Park in the North Wexford town. It’s part of an art project funded by Wexford County Council called ‘Gorey Town District Park’ which has been under way since January.
Conor, a former Gorey School of Art student, and a graduate in environmental art from Glasgow, spent nine months in Gorey School of Art on the Paul Funge residency before coming up with the project.
He describes himself as the lead artist, but he has used the projects to encourage other young people to get involved in the Arts, particularly those who are unemployed. They have set up a studio on the ground floor of Gorey’s Market House, and so far, they’ve been involved in a number of public projects.
They turned six benches in the Town Park into works of art. One of these was created following a public search. Ciara Rapple was selected, and her wording reads ‘Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken’.
The Google bench reveals what comes up in the search engine when the words ‘Gorey is’ are typed in.
They have also celebrated milestones in the history of the Town Park and adjoining Showgrounds, such as the staging of the National Athletics Championships in 1964. This involved converting the two changing rooms into a gallery for a day.
They also marked the fact that the late Gerry Slattery won gold at the championships, by filming a sprinter running into the dark.
As part of Unesco World Radio Day, they partnered with The Kitchen restaurant and Media Skool to broadcast several hours of live music, interviews, audio art works, and poetry and music from the local Polish Cultural Association.
Conor says they are compiling a social history of the park, right back to when Connolly’s Pond was drained in 1951 to create the park, and hope to publish the results.
They are also promoting responsible dog ownership with a Facebook group featuring dogs of the park on their leads. A stargazing group now meets in the park with telescopes provided. They are also supporting the debut solo exhibit of local artist Amanda Doran.
The project officially ends later this month, but Conor says they hope to set up a group to extend it. He adds that a community already exists of people who use the park for different activities, and he hopes the project will encourage more groups to form.
(by Fintan Lambe)