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Camden bench follows in fourth plinth footsteps
By Amira Hashish, Evening Standard 01.10.09
Got a story to tell? visit Tales From a Park Bench
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What would happen if the idea behind Anthony Gormley's fourth plinth – to give the supposedly ordinary a chance to be represented – was transposed to a park bench in a disused shop in Camden Town? Well, here's your chance to find out.
Tales From a Park Bench is a temporary installation by local residents Russell Loughlan, Charlotte Haigh and Stephen Emms that will run for just one week in August in C22, a pop-up gallery on Chalk Farm Road.
“Our starting point was actually Bench Marks (www.benchpoetry.blogspot.com), my weekly column in Time Out that covers the quiet, often touching lives behind park bench inscriptions,” says Stephen Emms.
“But when we read about the Gormley show, something seemed to connect the two and Tales From A Park Bench was born. Ultimately it's about the democratization of human stories; the idea that no-one is boring.”
Every evening locals, strangers, artists, businessmen and everyone in between can perform on the bench in whichever way they choose. Take to the bench and rant for a minute, or an hour: there's no time limit. And there's always the chance that no-one will use the bench at all.
“Whilst the world media spotlight is on the fourth plinth, our little project is going on simultaneously in Camden Town, a celebration of regular lives and real life,”says Stephen Emms.
To participate email talesfromaparkbench@googlemail.com
C22, Chalk Farm Road, London NW1, August 3-9 2009
