Finnegan Shannon

rage hug solidarity, 2025 - ongoing

rage hug solidarity

A bench painted in an red-orange color sits in the middle of an outdoor patio, with a yellow wall behind it and a wall with a large window nearby.
Two kids and an adult make rubbings on a red-orange bench with engraved text. The rubbings are shown on the papers held by the adult and kid.
The back corner of a bench painted in an orange-red color sits on an outdoor patio floor. Words are engraved into the bench, such as “no no to stairs” and “refusal seating”.

  • About: This bench is a collaboration with Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo. We both have a shared love and appreciation of seating. In 2023, Lukaza made a series of dremeled stools as part of a project of theirs, called Rituals Here. Each stool held words that described forms of collectivity, inviting participants to be a part of an active archiving process of making rubbings. I fell in love with this idea, made many rubbings from the stools, and we’ve been dreaming about making a rubbings-bench ever since. Together we crafted a long list of over one hundred words and carefully placed them into a beautiful poem list to draw from. The words on this bench combine access tools and liberation strategies/solidarity forms. It’s a mix of our writing and a mix of our handwriting. Each rubbing sets our words into action. 

    Commissioned for Healing: Art and Institutional Care at La Trobe Art Institute, Victoria, Australia

  • Year: 2025 - ongoing

  • Materials:  Wood, paint, crayons, newsprint, an edition of 2 + 2 APS

  • Fabrication: Jensen Tjhung

  • Collaborator: Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo

  • Photos by: Christo Crocker