Three Putas Bench
LOCATION: Kenninghall Open SpaceSTARTED: 14 april 2024
ONGOING
Observing the seasonal changes, the cycles of growth, and the evidence of human interaction.
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14/APRIL/2024
Park bench. Two metal slats for the back rest. Thick wooden beams for the seat. Right arm rest missing. Stinging nettles surround the left leg. Three 'PUTAS' tags; one on the top slat; two on the bottom slat. An empty can and cigarette packet on the floor.
04/MAY/2024
Behind the bench the ground has been cleared. A thick wall of nettles remains 6 foot back ready to advance. The nettles around the left leg are still there. A single growth of cow parsley remains on the right.
28/JULY/2024
The nettles are back; grown taller than the bench around the left arm. Cow parsley gone. A Metro has been discarded on the floor with the visible headline 'YES SHE CAN'.
10/AUGUST/2024
Nettles a little yellowed. Food wrappings built up under the bench; drink cans and cartons. White paper pages strewn to the right.
21/SEPTEMBER/2024
The nettles look refreshed. The same litter is visible. Some gone. Some covered by new growth.
09/NOVEMBER/2024
A black puffer jacket has been discarded on the bench; twisted and touching the floor. The nettles are resurgent; the left side of the bench is consumed. Fallen autumn leaves on the ground.
17/NOVEMBER/2024
An empty bottle of fizzy orange left on the bench. Fresh cigarette packets on the floor.
17/NOVEMBER/2024
Stepping back, only a handful of yellow leaves remain on the branches of the trees. The nettles are still luxuriously green.
14/DECEMBER/2024
The old litter has been removed. The floor is clearer. A new coke bottle lies under the bench and a plastic bag rests on the nettles behind.
11/JANUARY/2025
Frost. The seat of the bench is white. The nettles are covered in frost and have collapsed. Two more PUTAS tags have been added - vertically this time. One on the front of each leg. Both prefixed with heart symbols. One of them suffixed with a '1'. Dappled sunlight and shadow covers the scene and the winter sky is blue.
11/JANUARY/2025
Side view revealling a bit more of the bench's location.
02/MARCH/2025
Same rubbish. The stick that first appeared in January is still in the same place on the ground. New growth can be seen emerging from the dry brush.
15/MARCH/2025
Same rubbish. Same stick. Slightly more New growth.
05/APRIL/2025
For the first time, there is a visible borderline between the asphalt path and the plants. The ground is completely free of litter. Behind the borderline, light green is replacing straw. The sun is shining.
19/APRIL/2025
The neat borderline more or less remains. Behind the bench the leaves are abundant forming a luscious green mass. The floor around the bench is still tidy bar a single paper coffee cup. And a thick stick has appeared; such as you might throw for a dog. A small bunch of nettles has formed at the base of the right leg.
25/MAY/2025
White flowers in the trees and on the cow parsley. The nettles are reclaiming the right side of the bench. Minimal litter; a single small drink carton off to the side.
15/JUNE/2025
Flowers all gone. The nettles have been ruthlessly mown down to the ground. Short dry straw is all that remains. There is half a brick and a stone under the bench and a few cigarette stubs.
26/JULY/2025
The nettles have made a quick recovery and regained the right leg. Cigarette butts and pistachio shells on the floor.
21/SEPTEMBER/2025
Two months later. Even more pistachio shells.
26/OCTOBER/2025
An abandoned sofa, overturned, in front of the bench. Base ripped. A new tag has been added; looks like it says Demps.
11/JANUARY/2026
The sofa has been moved. The nettles have been cleared revealing a lot of bottles and cans. Pistachio nuts are still popular; or maybe these are the same old shells.
11/JANUARY/2026
The bench viewed from further back. The sofa moved away under a bush.
08/FEBRUARY/2026
Black plastic material placed on the bench, perhaps to shield from the wet seat. A different distribution of pistachio shells over the floor would suggest they are still being eaten here.
05/MARCH/2026
Night. A black stick, like a wand, on the floor in front of the bench.
18/APRIL/2026
Nettles growing back. Empty packet of biscuits.
25/APRIL/2026
White flowers on the trees. Cow parsley in the back.