It’s easy to overlook public benches. We take for granted that these humble spaces designated for relaxation and contemplation will simply be there when we need them most.
As silent mainstays of urban and natural landscapes, however, there’s a lot more to the furnishing than meets the eye.
“Public benches are an everyday object, but they’re also deeply tied to memory, identity, and place,” says Kelley Perumbeti, co-curator along with Kate Greenberg of Works in Progress III, a design exhibition that opens during the now-official SF Art Week (January 18-26). By simultaneously representing individual respite and community interaction, public benches blur the line between the personal and the collective.
For the exhibition, Perumbeti and Greenberg have partnered with California College of the Arts to feature eight unique interpretations of public benches from alumni of their furniture program. Each invites visitors to sit and “reflect on the ways we navigate public and private worlds, and how design can create those bridges,” Perumbeti says.
The exhibition is the third installment of Works in Progress, a design series created to build momentum and support for SF’s craft design community. In its first iteration at the FOG Design + Art Fair 2024, the show highlighted chairs, stools, and side tables as a way of developing and clarifying a narrative around the city’s contemporary furniture scene.
Brooke Intrachat's interpretation of a public bench for Works in Progress III.(Courtesy of Works in Progress III)
The dialogue and enthusiasm it sparked led in short order to Works in Progress II, in which the curators paired two artists together to collaboratively interpret and craft a screen. The completed works were displayed alongside a piece from each artist, illustrating the way the voice of an individual changes through cooperation.
For Works in Progress III, Perumbeti and Greenberg asked artists and designers to reflect on their personal experience to create a public bench informed by elements, actions, and landscapes meaningful to them. The results are deliciously varied, with each bringing a new perspective to a common archetype in furniture design.
For Oakland-based Adrien Segal, for example, the bench took on a sculptural shape of rounded edges and dynamic movement. Brooke Intrachat’s interpretation fuses together disparate materials in the construction of motley cohesion, while woodworker Michael Mellon took his bench inspiration from the natural world, with a bench that echoes the structure of a tree trunk.
Michael Mellon's interpretation of a public bench for Works in Progress III.(Courtesy of Works in Progress III)
Along with elevating and archiving the evolution of SF’s contemporary furniture scene, “this series has always been about fostering dialogue and connection within the Bay Area design community,” says Greenberg. “With Works in Progress III, we’re taking that to a new level by focusing on how individual experiences can enrich shared spaces.”
Between January 24th and February 7th, they invite the public to sit and stay awhile to contemplate the public-private interface where utilitarian objects and artistic design meet.
// Works in Progress III opens Friday January 24 at the CCA Campus Gallery from 5pm to 8pm. The event is free but registration is highly recommended at eventbrite.com.
The exhibition is open through February 7 on Weds from 11am to 7pm, Thurs and Fri from 11am to 4pm, and Sat and Sun from 11am to 3pm; CCA Campus Gallery, 1480 17th St. (Mission-Potrero), instagram.com/worksinprogress_sf
Alex Schofield's interpretation of a public bench for Works in Progress III.(Courtesy of Works in Progress III)
