Benched

by

Tink Flaherty

A photo compositing people together in a public space. In the centre Tink is laying on a bench.
 
 

Date: Friday 31st March
Time: 16:00 - 17:00 *Please note this time has recently changed
TICKET BOOKING REQUIRED (Statement Here)
Venue: CCA | Theatre
Accessibility Info: BSL (Access Guide)
Age Rating: All ages


My friend Sherry Lee once said to me,
“Tink, why do you treat strangers so much better than your own friends and family?”

Since 2018, Tink has been taking their bench out to public locations across the country & inviting strangers to sit with them, in quest to find authentic forms of connection.

Benched is a unique exploration of human relationships, the formative and defining relationships with those close to us, and the incidental meetings with strangers that have the potential to stop us in our tracks. Created from a queer autistic perspective, the work aims to expand performance tropes and work against compulsory neuronormativity.

Skipping effortlessly between rawness and impulsion, and softness and attentive consideration, Tink is direct yet gentle in their confrontations with intersecting issues of class, gender, neurodivergence and marginalisation. The work is a tender and humorous multi-sensory experience, engaging touch, texture and smell, in order to understand Tink’s world and the people in it.

Credits: Commissioned by Cambridge Junction and Artsadmin