To focus on local culture, and to celebrate its
uniqueness. The “Storyteller” bench was commissioned by Phil
Redmond CBE as a one off, to celebrate Liverpools success as
Capital of Culture 2008. The design uses elements of the
capital of culture 08 logo to create recesses within which people
will sit, so that they may be literally immersed in the cities
culture as the stories of the people and the place surround them in
print.
The typeface was custom designed by the studio
with the letters purposely varying in scale for emphasis and to
assist the mind to absorb the story consisting of sections from
"The Liverpool Saga" written by infamous local poet Roger Mc Gough.
An 800 line poem written by people from across Merseyside to
celebrate Liverpool's 800th birthday.
Every person has a story to tell and scousers
tell them best, some of our most reflective moments are shared with
another on public seating, our accent and language is unique and
gives us a great sense of identity, language is part of our
culture, the way we have developed ours to express ourselves and
our experiences is part of what makes us worthy of the title -
capital of culture 2008. Storyteller provides somewhere to sit, to
remember and to create new memories and culture.
FULL BENCH
TEXT
From the first tentative scratch of the pen To
the keyboard’s final breathless amen, One poem. A patchwork of
laughter and tears. Eight hundred lines. Eight hundred
years.
seven streets a pool and a castle that’s how
it began jesters jongleurs troubadours scouse sharp wit was
forged born entertainers nobody’s fools a city haunted by her
past lies dreaming of her future the ferry waits but not the tide
wondrous river full of power and might heritage site our
forebears sinned to gather wealth badly treated many slaves one
river two liver birds three graces four mop topped singers world
famous faces tocky crocky walton-on-the-hill dockers rockers
flying pickets snotty nosed kids with dirty necks no shoes on
their feet no arse in their kecks.
Eight hundred different stories, eight hundred
different songs Eight hundred different cultures, eight hundred
different tongues Eight hundred different rhythms in eight
hundred different streets Eight hundred hundred different hearts
all dancing to one beat.
mersey tunnel in my liverpool home jam
butties pan of scouse meccano and football refinery some might
say from lyle to modern tate liverpool echo laid on the
floorboards a great underlay city divided by colours red and
blue but when it matters we stick like glue nationalities in a
giant melting pot conundrum of cultures this city is great how
do I know nowhere on earth I’d rather go we can come back but
not go back what more do you need from a city like this two
football teams, two cathedrals and pop stars with hits you name
it we’ve got it we do it in style you can always tell a
scouser but you can’t tell him much
One poem. A patchwork of laughter and tears.
Eight hundred lines. Eight hundred years. From the first tentative
scratch of the pen To the keyboards final breathless
amen.
One of the things we wanted from this project
was for the bench to be a legacy of 2008 and to be around for years
and years to come. The whole concept was about creating a bench
that could be anything to anybody at any time. I believe Ilsas
design achieves this.