Exercise 2b: Create: just a seat?

I have chosen a place where a new seat might be needed and asked myself the following questions.

What will the bench be used for?

Style of bench?

Where is the location?

The most appropriate material to use?

After answering these questions I started doodling and sketching ideas. As the bench will be in a rural setting, on an allotment surrounded by apple trees, blackberry bushes, vegetables and fruits growing with a view of fields in the distance, it needs to be large enough for two or more people, to sit and spend time chatting or enjoying the peace and quiet after working on the garden. The most appropriate material to use would be hardwood, maybe teak or oak? I am keen for it to have an organic style but maybe with traditional elements, I have researched benches that are used on peoples allotments, some examples are below.

For comfort it needs to have a backrest to be able to sit for longer than anticipated. Also it will need armrests, for those days when there is more than one or two people using it or you simply want to rest your arm at one end. Maybe a design in the shape of a vegetable or fruit growing on the allotment, which will add more of a fun element?

I thought it would be also be fun to make a collage of a bench. I searched the house for materials to use, I found some colour cards, cut them up into strips to resemble planks of wood and created a collage. It was fun to try something other than sketching and I really love the effect that the different coloured squares give.

After assessing the space that I had chosen, I took a photograph and uploaded it. Once I had changed the style of the bench using the software, I added the bench to a photograph of the allotment, the location, using Photoshop.

Images

Fig. 1 – 3 – Images of benches found online https://tate-fencing.co.uk/st-leonards-church-england-primary-academy-allotment/ (accessed 12.8.21) https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/512636370078600093/ (accessed 12.8.21) https://coldashpc.org.uk/the-bench-in-the-wag/(accessed 12.8.21)

Fig. 2 – My own sketches of some different styles of benches Walker, T (2021) Photographs [Pencil on paper] in possession of: the author: Stoford

Fig. 3 – Fig. 3 – My collaged bench, using cut up colour cards Walker, T (2021) Image edited on Photoshop [Coloured Paint Chart] in possession of: the author: Stoford

Fig. 4 – An image of the collaged bench on location at the allotment Walker, T (2021) Image edited on Photoshop [Photograph] in possession of: the author: Stoford