Francis Cape: Utopian Benches

Opening Reception » Thursday, January 30, 7pm

When
Event has passed (Tue Jan 21, 2014 - Sat Mar 15, 2014)
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Arts, Galleries
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Description

Francis Cape’s Utopian Benches is an installation of 17 poplar benches arranged in rows that together fill the gallery. Each bench was precisely replicated from existing benches crafted by American communal societies. Their form and design closely reflect their use within the specific community, and by extension their organizational structure and collective values. Of this work, Cape has asserted, “material culture reflects social structure.” The benches are shown alongside Cape’s suite of drawings that serve both as archival renderings and construction documents.

Utopian Benches recognizes these reductive, proto-modern seats as cultural equalizers and essential components in the creation of nonhierarchical spaces for conversation and communion, be it religious, political, or otherwise. Their arrangement creates an egalitarian field that levels proscenium divisions; here there is no stage or audience—we sit together.

Schedule

Walter and McBean Galleries, San Francisco Art Institute
800 Chestnut Street
San Francisco, CA
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Location

  1. Walter and McBean Galleries, San Francisco Art Institute
    800 Chestnut Street, San Francisco, CA