On 3 April 2025, artist Mahtab Hussain unveiled ‘Please Take A Seat’, an interactive art installation as part of the east London public art trail The Line, marking its 10 year anniversary.
The piece is modelled off a Victorian park bench and invites members of the public to sit, ponder and take a photo of themselves using the hashtag #PortraitsOnTheLine.
Artist Mahtab Hussain said: “What I’d love is for people to sit and have their portrait made by someone like their friend or a stranger and we upload it.
“Essentially the audience is going to dictate to us what the artwork means.”
Mahtab described ‘Please Take a Seat’ as an activation piece, essentially a photographic prop wherein members of the public create the digital self portrait of the exhibition.
The Line connects Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to The O2, following the Thames and east London waterways including the Greenwich Meridian line.
The mission of the trail is to allow people to explore art and heritage through a dynamic urban landscape for free.
Other exhibitions on The Line included in this video piece are ‘A Slice of Reality’ (2000) by Richard Wilson and ‘A Bullet From A Shooting Star’ (2015) by Alex Chinneck.
Watch the video to learn more.
Featured image credit: Amelia Young
Join the discussion