Akademik

n.

The surreptitious and unauthorized installation of a bench in a public space.

—guerrilla bencher n.

In his book, Reynolds describes a group of London anarchists who engaged in 'guerrilla benching,' installing their own wooden benches on sidewalks when a local government began removing benches from public space. In France, guerrilla repairmen built a clandestine workshop under the dome of the Pantheon and, over the next year, refurbished its clock. Recently, guerrilla knitters in New York and elsewhere have been wrapping traffic light poles in colorful, leg-warmer-like cozies.

—Jon Mooallem, "Guerrilla Gardening," The New York Times, June 8, 2008

Staged across two towns, this show questions what it means to be English. In Sunderland Immo Klink's photographs (work, pictured) deal with surveillance, The Agents Of Change propose recycled furniture and The Space Hijackers go in for "Guerrilla Benching".

—Robert Clark, "The Guide," The Guardian, July 7, 2007

The Space Hijackers is an inventive and subversive group of London 'Anarchitects' who specialise in reclaiming public spaces — usually without permission. Projects have ranged from 'guerrilla benching' (taking benches to sites where they had recently been removed by Camden Council, and bolting them to the pavement) to organising a midnight game of cricket in the middle of the City.

—"New scenes — More secret subcultures," Time Out, September 13, 2006