Guerilla artists don't want bench back

A raised park bench mysteriously ended up on a traffic island at the intersection of Houston and Suffolk streets. (Patrick Verel / December 17, 2007)

By David Freedlander, amNewYork Staff Writer | dfreedlander@am-ny.com

December 27, 2007

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The creators of the 8-foot-tall bench that captivated some New Yorkers when it mysteriously appeared on Houston Street last week don't want their guerilla art installation back.

"All this work, once it's installed, it's kind of just left to the fates," said Tod Seelie, who collaborated with street artist Brad Downey on the bench and photographed its stealth installation in the middle of the night. "The idea is to see how time changes it."

The bench, which first appeared on a median strip on Houston and Suffolk streets last Monday, was taken down last week, and it's now looking like it will be scrapped. City sanitation crews already have been contacted about hauling it away from the Department of Transportation warehouse in upper Manhattan, where it is waiting to be claimed.

Seelie helped Downey with his previous street installations last year, including altering pay-phone kiosks and yellow pedestrian crossing signs. "The point is to make people look a second time at their environments and think about things they might take for granted," he said. "It's taking something familiar like a park bench and tweaking it to make you think about the things you don't even notice anymore."

Among those applauding the effort was Christina Ray, who hosts Conflux, an annual art fair in Brooklyn that celebrates artists like Downey and Seelie. "The bench is a bold statement," she said. "It's so public and unmistakable, it's a kind of stop you in your tracks kind of intervention. A pedestrian clearly has to address it."

The city's transportation department took the sculpture down last week after it was unable to determine where the bench came from. Officials feared that since the bench was improperly affixed to the street, it could become a safety hazard.

"We do discourage renegade artwork, but we consider public art critical to vibrant street life and we are working to begin a program that allow for the temporary installation of art in some of the city's public spaces," an agency official said. "he bottom line, with this one especially, is safety."

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Guerilla artists have been using the city's sidewalks as a canvas in recent years. Besides the big bench on Houston, these "exhibit"s have turned up"

A phone booth with three signs popping out of it: Guerrilla street artist Brad Downey installs some of his mischief in Queens and Greenpoint last year.

Elongated pedestrian signs: Installed by Downey in the same neighborhoods last year.

Manipulated stop signs: Caroline Woolard affixed dozens of these blue chairs to stop signs and other poles in Brooklyn last year for her "Have A Seat" project.