Bench Around the Lake

• Title — Bench Around the Lake • Artist — Jeppe Hein • Year — 2010 • Type — Powder-coated galvanized steel • Metric Unit — cm • Imperial Unit — in • City — Indianapolis, Indiana, United States • Museum — Indianapolis Museum of Art • Owner — Indianapolis Museum of Art

Bench Around the Lake is a re-interpretation of Hein's Modified Social Benches which manipulate the traditional concept of a park bench. With this artwork series Hein hopes to challenge the idea of a bench being a passive object used for sitting, as well as to promote visitors to interact with the artwork in different ways and to explore more secluded or less-used areas of the park. This series of benches also coincided with Hein's May 2010 temporary installation of Distance inside the museum.

Working with IMA staff and Indianapolis-based landscape architect Eric Fulford, Hein selected the locations for the benches which are placed throughout the 35-acre park. The benches appear along the beaches on the lake and river, a gully, by fallen trees, the park's Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion and other spots throughout the park's many pathways. The artwork was fabricated in Germany and shipped to Indianapolis and installed at the IMA by their Design and Installation crew. The artwork was fully installed by the park's opening in May 2010.

On creating the artwork Hein states: "Once you start to experience them sequentially, you'll feel that connection between them," encouraging interaction with the artworks by visitors and the appearance of tunneling the benches have within the environment. "They are a tool for communication, and create a kind of social playroom," Hein states, referring to the functional aspects of each bench. He describes one bench as the "kissing bench" due to the sliding factor the bench has, bringing together those who sit upon it regardless of their desire to be close.

Bench Around the Lake requires regular cleaning of its powder coated galvanized steel surface to discourage the buildup of potentially damaging materials. Instrumental analysis involving the artwork's color and gloss levels has also been recorded.