New York artist Jason Eppink has been getting lots of awesome press for his Take a Seat project lately, including the interview on NY1 above.
He writes:
Take a Seat is an ongoing series of public furniture installations aimed at increasing the availability of seating options in New York City subway stations. Perfectly functional chairs are rescued from trash piles and reassigned to stations where limited seating options leave subway patrons no choice but to stand for extended periods of time.
Take a Seat creates value simply by relocating an object to a new location. Rescued chairs – once liabilities – become assets with little to no effort.
Seating solutions installed for Take a Seat are not affixed to MTA property in any way, opening up opportunities for collaboration with subway patrons who, if they take the initiative, may continue the project by installing the chairs in other locations that could benefit from more seating options.
You also enjoy another of our favorite chair-related projects: Rob Cockerham’s Starbucks Chairs Prank.
Funny you mention this Charlie. My community newspaper just ran an article on people taking furniture and appliances from the curbside garbage and how it actually costs the city money. Granted these are small furniture items that don’t need special pickup but for bigger items it is a criminal offense as the city contracts outside companies to pick them up. And when they show up and the item is gone, they still need to get paid.
Love the idea and the post but it did make me think of that article.
Awesome!
I recommend using thin cable and crimpers to anchor them to a spot. This is not so much to limit theft, but to give them legitimacy.
Newspaper stands across the country are teathered to streetcorners with this method.
You can look a little suspicious carrying the “bolt-cutter” style ferrule crimpers, but a pair of large pliers works fine too.