a bench for david
storefront manitoba benchmark competition - shortlist
At Victoria Beach, glacial stones subtly but surely define patterns of life - serving as orientation markers and informal dividers of space along the beaches and throughout the forest - an organizing force for life throughout the island and a container of spatial memory.
Stones too large to be moved by hand, yet small enough to moved by skid steer, are carefully selected from a nearby quarry and simple wire saw may be set up at a consistent height to cut these stones horizontally at a consistent datum. Two solids sit atop this new plane - a vertical totem is angled slightly to provide a backrest, while a horizontal cylindrical stone serves as a small headrest - as if a part of a daybed.
a bench for david is borne of both the natural and the man-made environment. Some geometries are discovered, some are anticipated, and some are controlled. It is a simple assembly rooted in a collective memory of landscape and place, dedicated to the memory of an extraordinary individual.