How often do we take the time to sit down, breathe in the fresh air, watch the busy urban life going by or revel in the blissful calm of nature around us? In the case of many of us - not very often. Life has a way of keeping us on our feet, rushing us from one location to the next. Through a new series of work as part of the project named ‘Precepts’, the artist Conor Mccreedy invites us to take a rest on one of eight custom-made benches and be present in the current moment. Whether it be a moment of solitude or an encounter with a friend or stranger, the benches provide not only physical support but encourage reflection and introspection. The benches, which have been painted in the artist’s signature #mccreedyblue, bare carefully selected sayings and truisms that have personally touched the artist. Sayings and “universal truths” such as “sometimes the wrong train can take you to the right destination” may spark a more meaningful conversation between two individuals taking rest on the bench or inspire meditative thought processes within an individual seeking refuge from the rush of urban life. Beyond being public artworks, the benches may be considered as participatory installations. Once passers-by interact with the benches, they allow the precepts to come alive by bringing their own personal histories, memories and emotions to the works. The effect of these artworks ends not when the visitor gets up from the bench but continues to follow them into their lives as the words and the experience stay with them.
Mccreedy’s benches will be situated in different locations in Switzerland. Each location has a personal significance to the artist. Furthermore, the locations Celerina, St. Moritz, Gstaad, Pontresina and St. Moritz lake are surrounded by the particularly breath-taking natural scenes of the Swiss Alps. While the benches may be happened upon coincidentally, each bench holds an individual QR code that leads to a landing page with images of the benches. The landing page will also soon provide access to an audio recording in which the artist takes the listener on a journey recounting the story of this particular location.
The bench located on the St. Moritz lake and the Paradiso club will differ from the other seven benches and will quite literally stand out in its surroundings through its immense scale. This larger-than-life blue bench towers over the viewers and is by design not made to be sat upon. Thus, this bench has a different function than the others. While not able to take rest upon the bench, one may find refuge beneath it. The bench will easily draw the attention of passers-by, provoking them to stop and look upwards at the immense structure. The artist further intends to install a work beneath this bench in St. Moritz. The work is a bathtub that the artist used as an unconventional canvas to paint an abstract work in #mccreedyblue. The Blue Bathtub is a work that was made in September 2020 in collaboration with The Bath Shop in Zurich in response to the outbreak of the coronavirus and is a comment on our current concerns with personal hygiene. Situated below the bench in St. Moritz this winter, it will be a stark reminder of the troublesome times that we collectively experienced and will simultaneously be a testament to the great amount of creativity that hardship brings forth.
While memorial benches are dedicated to a person who has passed away, Mccreedy dedicates his benches to the words he holds dearly. The sayings, however, are very much alive with phrases such as: “Whenever u miss me just remember u had me and I wasn’t enough” having the potential to ring true for many. Not only do the words painted on the benches inspire introspection but the calming depths of #mccreedyblue offers a monochrome counterpart to the overstimulating sensory experience of modern life. Public benches tend to be rendered in unobtrusive colours - greens, browns and black - to blend into the foliage or cityscape surrounding them. Mccreedy, however, decides to draw attention to the bench itself, bringing it centre stage as an artwork and as a landmark. The bench thus becomes much more than urban furniture. Furthermore, Mccreedy sees the colour blue as having symbolic meaning in that the colour will stand in stark contrast to the winter snow, drawing a connection to both the colour of the sky and the ocean. This correlation is particularly interesting to Mccreedy as he intends for this project to draw attention to the beautiful but endangered natural environment in which we live.
The attention which the artist has given to the environmental impact which the benches will have is a significant aspect of his works. Intending to create works that are as eco-friendly as possible, Mccreedy has employed a local carpenter to create the benches (under Mccreedy’s instruction) from European wood that has fallen naturally. The benches are designed to remain in their location until corrosion naturally erases them from the scene. Due to the all- natural materials, the artworks will thus decompose and once again become part of the ecosystem from which their materials were originally derived. This aspect touches not only on Mccreedy’s aspiration to keep his practice as environmentally conscious as possible but also his deep interest in chaos theory.
While the eight installed benches will disappear over time, the landing page reached via the QR codes on the benches contains a link to a registration form for and further information on an auction of a limited number of bespoke blue benches. Thus, it will be possible to purchase a unique bench in #mccreedyblue which, like those shown in the public sphere, will have a precept painted onto it. At the end of the project, a percentage of the sales will be discussed and donated to a nonprofit organisation whose goal is combating climate change.
Further sale inquiries, contact Itha (itha@mccstudio.net)