Finnegan Shannon

Do you want us here or not, 2018–ongoing

A series of benches for museum spaces.

Do you want us here or not

 

  • Year: 2024

  • Materials: Painted plywood

  • Size: 90 x 186 x 70 cm

  • 5 furniture pieces commissioned for A Model, MUDAM, Luxembourg

  • Fabrication by Anton Haberl GmbH, Die Schreiner, Leo Schmidt

  • Photos by Mareike Tocha

 
Two blue benches sit against a white wall on a polished concrete floor. Each bench has Korean text in white handwriting.

  • Year: 2024

  • Materials: Painted plywood, silkscreen

  • Size: 86.6 x 150 x 41 cm 

  • 4 furniture pieces commissioned for Asynchronous Singing, Arko Art Center, Seoul, Korea 

  • Collaborated with and produced by laumkon

  • Photos courtesy of Arko Art Center

 
A blue bench in a gallery space with white text reading, “I wish this museum was more hospitable to my body’s needs. Rest here if you agree,” the same message is translated in Dutch on the floor.

  • Year: 2023

  • Materials: Plywood, paint, vinyl

  • Size: 187 x 42 cm 

  • Commissioned for The Space Between Us, at Van Abbe Museum, Netherlands

  • Photos by Peter Cox

 
A blue metal bench sits on a green gras lawn. It has a rounded back with perforated inexact circle holes. In white handwritten text, the bench reads “I want time with the sky & the breeze. Sit if you agree.”

  • Year: 2023

  • Materials: Stainless steel, lacquer

  • Size: 89 x 184 x 66.5 cm 

  • 6 furniture pieces commissioned for Interactions at Bundeskunstalle, Bonn, Germany

  • Photos by David Ertl

 
A blue chair and footstool sit in the corner of a white room. The chair has text in white handwritten letters, “I would rather be sitting. Sit if you agree.” The footstool text in the same style, “I need a break. Rest if you agree.”

  • Year: 2020

  • Materials: MDF, acrylic paint, and laminate

  • Size:
    Chair:73.5  x 27 x 35.5 in
    Foot rest: 25 x 27 x 35.5 in

  • 10 furniture pieces commissioned for Citizenship: A Practice of Society at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver

  • Fabrication by Joshua Bemelen

  • Photos courtesy of Museum of Contemporary Art Denver

 
A blue padded bench with a velvet-like texture. White handwritten text reads "It Was Hard to Get Here. Rest here if you agree."

  • Year: 2021

  • Materials: Plywood, paint, foam, fabric, fabric paint

  • Size: 35.4 H × 78.7 L × 26.4 D inches; height of the seat:  17.7 inches

  • Commissioned for Crip Time at The Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany

  • Production with Jack Brennon, Julia Eichler, Mikael Fransson, Patrick Keaveney, Zabotka S. Palm, Daniel Sarvari

  • Photos by Axel Schneider

 
A matching bench that reads, "Museum visits are hard on my body. Rest here if you agree." It's positioned at a slight angle, facing a wall of the gallery.

  • Year: 2020

  • Materials: Baltic birch, poplar wood, plastic laminate

  • Size: 73.5 x 27 x 35.5 in

  • 5 commissioned furniture pieces for Lone Proponent of Wall-to-Wall Carpet at Carleton University Art Gallery.

  • Fabrication by Walter Zanetti, Anthony Dewar, Paul Durocher, School of Industrial Design, and Brant Lucuik, School of Architecture, of Carleton University.

  • Photos by Justin Wonnacott.

 
A blue bench with hand-painted text that reads, “This exhibition has asked me to stand for too long. Sit if you agree.”

  • Year: 2018

  • Materials: MDO, paint

  • Size: 72 x 26 x 36 in

  • Designed in consultation with Charles Mathis and Chat Travieso, fabrication by Charles Mathis.