Belfast
An alternative art tour of Belfast
Sandra Johnston
Artwork format: | Performance |
Launch artwork: | www.belfastbenchstops.co.uk/ |
Belfast Bench Stops: An Alternative Tour of Belfast
A series of observances about public space made from the viewpoint of public benches located across the city. A route is created across Belfast directed by the relationship between commerce and commemoration. The benches function as permanent markers for both activities. Each bench presents the possibility for spending time looking and potentially as places of stillness in civic space.
Background
Sandra Johnston is based in Northern Ireland and has been creating site-responsive actions and installations since 1994. Her work is characterised by its attention to detail concerning the nature of environments and the behaviour of human interactions within the selected location.
From 2002/2005 she held an AHRC Research Fellowship post at the University of Ulster which involved researching the concept of "Trauma of Place" - how artists can make creative interventions within spaces associated with violent events. This research was initially provoked by the post cease-fire political climate in Northern Ireland and then extensively explored in many different international contexts.
