Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
artist
Jeppe Hein
Jeppe Hein (born 1974, Copenhagen, Denmark) is an artist based in Berlin and Copenhagen.100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park, in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The artwork consists of fifteen individually designed yellow
interactive
Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...
bench installations strategically placed throughout the park location. Some of the benches consist of multiple components or sections within one site.
Description
The artwork consists of fifteen bright
yellow
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...
benches of different shapes, sizes and designs made of powder coated
galvanized steel
Galvanization or galvanizing ( also spelled galvanisation or galvanising) is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerged ...
. The benches are placed at specific sites, as decided by the artist, throughout the park which borders the bank of the White River. Hein describes the work as "one long bench that emerges from the ground and then twists, turns, and submerges again in several locations,".
Historical Information
''Bench Around the Lake'' is a re-interpretation of Hein's '' Modified Social Benches'' which manipulate the traditional concept of a park bench. With this artwork series Hein hopes to challenge the idea of a bench being a passive object used for sitting, as well as to promote visitors to interact with the artwork in different ways and to explore more secluded or less-used areas of the park. This series of benches also coincided with Hein's May 2010 temporary installation of ''
Distance
Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects or points are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria (e.g. "two counties over"). ...
'' inside the museum.
Location History
Working with IMA staff and Indianapolis-based
landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...
Eric Fulford, Hein selected the locations for the benches which are placed throughout the 35-acre park. The benches appear along the
beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...
es on the
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
and
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
, a
gully
A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or commonly a combination of both eroding sharply into soil or other relatively erodible material, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble lar ...
, by fallen
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s, the park's Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion and other spots throughout the park's many pathways. The artwork was fabricated in Germany and shipped to Indianapolis and installed at the IMA by their Design and Installation crew. The artwork was fully installed by the park's opening in May 2010.
Artist
On creating the artwork Hein states: "Once you start to experience them sequentially, you'll feel that connection between them," encouraging interaction with the artworks by visitors and the appearance of tunneling the benches have within the environment. "They are a tool for communication, and create a kind of social playroom," Hein states, referring to the functional aspects of each bench. He describes one bench as the "kissing bench" due to the sliding factor the bench has, bringing together those who sit upon it regardless of their desire to be close.
Condition
''Bench Around the Lake'' requires regular cleaning of its powder coated galvanized steel surface to discourage the buildup of potentially damaging materials. Instrumental analysis involving the artwork's color and gloss levels has also been recorded.
See also
* ''
Team Building (Align)
''Team Building (Align)'' is a public artwork by American artist collective Type A, located on the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It was commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum of Art for their 100 ...