Air To The Throne

Belonging to my '(Host)ile' project

From Latin thronus, from Greek thronos "elevated seat, chair, throne" from suffixed form of PIE root dher- "to hold firmly, support" (source also of Latin firmus "firm, steadfast, strong, stable”).

With this sculpture, I felt the need to hang it, not only to play on the etymology of the word throne for it's origins in elevation, but I also thought, if rough sleepers can't sit or sleep on a bench, then no one can, hence why I also made it upside down. It's spray-painted gold and fake gold leafed to reference the colour and material of gold in regards to wealth and royalty, this isn't to take away from the inspiration of this piece however. The use of spray paint and imitation gold leaf and the fact that it's crudely done on a plastic garden chair is a joke, because whenever you start noticing hostile architecture pieces, they're always painted in positive colours and usually badly, which made me think that it's so obviously a bad cover up of what the councils and government are doing.

The Ashanti people of Ghana have a golden stool, where the sacred stool has its own throne. Fascinated with this history, I began seeing benches symbolising a throne to people without homes.

Thrones represent wealth, financial stability and comfort, whilst also being synonymous with royalty. Hostile architecture, however, is implemented to deter "loitering" and people who sleep rough.

The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and the coronation of King Charles III was paid for by the taxpayer, whilst 14.5 million people in the UK are currently living in poverty. (Source: www.bigissue.com)