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Bitter Bench

Bitter Bench was a public intervention protesting the harassment of homeless people sleeping rough in Brisbane’s inner city.

Under Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, Brisbane City Council introduced discriminatory police move-on powers, cut funding to homelessness programs, and removed key public furnishings where the homeless sought refuge.

A collaboration with Michael Candy and local community (as the pseudonymous collective Dirty Work), Bitter Bench was a tilting seat fitted with a solar powered proximity activated audio system that, as pedestrians approached, triggered the recorded voices of homeless men and women telling their stories. The bench then tilted forward when anyone attempted to sit on it.

Engraved in large letters on the seat’s wooden slats was the phrase “BITTER BRISBANE” (from the City Council’s official slogan “Dedicated to a better Brisbane”). An official looking Council plaque accompanied the seat with a quote from The Lord Mayor’s repentant alter ego. It was installed without permission on the prominent site of a recently removed bus shelter that was a popular respite for the homeless sleeping rough in the city.

The intervention only lasted 3 days, but forced the Council to publicly defend its abysmal response to homelessness, as well as replace removed street furniture, and with rare media focus on the issues, helped draw attention to a side of Brisbane airbrushed away in the interests of commercial priorities.

Brisbane CBD, installed 31 January – removed 2 February, 2012