Defenestration
1997-present
Help support the restoration
“Defenestration,” a unique San Francisco art landmark, was originally expected to be up for only a year; it has now weathered the elements for nearly thirteen. Although the piece continues to draw considerable artistic and popular attention from both locals and visitors to the city, it has fallen into unfortunate disrepair even as the neighborhood around it has begun to transform. The building that forms the foundation of the work, the vacant Hugo Hotel, is now the last remaining unoccupied and un-restored building in the neighborhood. Defenestration has twice undergone basic maintenance, but is now in need of extensive reconstruction if it is to remain a fixture of the city for the foreseeable future.
Through Operation Restore Defenestration, artist Brian Goggin and his team are restoring and improving the artwork to make it cohesive, safe and beautiful again during the day, and vibrant and illuminated at night. Goggin has begun working with a structural engineer to insure continued structural integrity. He has worked on his own and with volunteers to repair and rebuild the installation. Operation Restore Defenestration will also add something new to the neighborhood. For the first time, Defenestration will link with the ground-level street art through an integrated mural. Goggin is designing the mural to be created and installed with the assistance of many of the same artists who have been painting on the site at street level since 1997. As part of the restoration Goggin and his collaborators would also like to create a unique celebration to welcome the next period of the project’s existence.
Plan for the future:
Defenestration is a large work and has weathered the elements for a long time. Goggin estimates that it will take approximately $75,000 to restore the work today, and we are hoping to raise the money entirely through donation. While the money is being raised, Goggin and his team of volunteers have begun to restore “Defenestration,” including the sculptural furniture on the façade of the 1908 Hugo Hotel. They are in the middle of removing and rebuilding many of the sculptures.
A Progress Report from the Office of the Hugo Refurbistrators:
The on-site restoration of Defenestration moves on steadily. All structural supports have been thoroughly examined and reinforced where necessary. Much aesthetic restoration has been completed as well. Most visibly, the lamps are again lighting up the streets at night. The television has been restored and placed back on its perch on the roof, and madly flashes its snowy screen when people pass beneath.
All of the small appliances have been restored and are ready to reinstall; these include a telephone, a fan, a heater, a radio, a toaster, and a flying hair clipper. The splitting seams of the rooftop couch have been sewn up, it’s been cleaned, and it’s ready for paint. We have rebuilt the damaged chairs out of new more durable materials and they are ready to go back on the wall; we have removed the leaping table group from the southeast corner of the roof and are rebuilding them from stronger materials. Larger objects, such as the grandfather clock and the telephone table, have been rebuilt in place whilst Goggin hangs from ropes, and they are primed for painting.
The chest of drawers has been rebuilt and is being prepped for painting and installation with a crane. We require funding to help rent a boom lift so that we may reinstall the finished items and work on others that are inaccessible or too dangerous via ropes. We are looking to raise $2,500 urgently for this purpose.
There are many ways you can help restore Defenestration. Your tax-deductible donation is by far the easiest. No amount is too small.
History:
Defenestration
1997-present
(Site-specific installation on the corner of 6th and Howard St. in San Francisco)
This multi-disciplinary sculptural mural involves seemingly animated furniture; tables, chairs, lamps, grandfather clocks, a refrigerator, and couches, their bodies bent like centipedes, fastened to the walls and window-sills, their insect-like legs seeming to grasp the surfaces. Against society’s expectations, these everyday objects flood out of windows like escapees, out onto available ledges, up and down the walls, onto the fire escapes and off the roof. “DEFENESTRATION” was created by Brian Goggin with the help of over 100 volunteers.
The concept of “DEFENESTRATION”, a word literally meaning “to throw out of a window,” is embodied by both the site and staging of this installation. Located at the corner of Sixth and Howard Streets in San Francisco in an abandoned four-story tenement building, the site is part of a neighborhood that historically has faced economic challenges and has often endured the stigma of skid row status. Reflecting the harsh experience of many members of the community, the furniture is of the streets, cast-off and unappreciated. The simple, unpretentious beauty and humanity of these downtrodden objects is reawakened through the action of the piece. The act of “throwing out” becomes an uplifting gesture of release, inviting reflection on the spirit of the people we live with, the objects we encounter, and the places in which we live.
The ground level has served as a rotating gallery for the vibrant artwork of street muralists. This unconventional gallery, along with the “Defenestration” sculpture, has been a cultural draw to the neighborhood.
Defenestration and the Community:
“Defenestration” has served San Francisco and the neighborhood. First it brought a whole community together and inspired them to rise together to overcome incredible difficulties to create it. Then it brought needed attention to one of the most blighted neighborhoods in San Francisco. Since its installation, it has been recognized by press from around the world, won numerous awards including one from San Francisco Beautiful. An art gallery has opened across the street and several neighboring buildings have been upgraded or replaced. A good case could be made that Defenestration was a turning point for a neighborhood – and an example for others who seeks ways to inspire positive change.
John Voldal, one of the members of the local community who originally helped Goggin create the piece writes: “Defenestration shows every sign of withstanding the test of time and is no less relevant or interesting than it was on the day it was completed. In a town famous for short attention spans, people’s enthusiasm for this piece has only grown over the years. Everyone loves Defenestration. It’s one of the things that make us glad we live in San Francisco, and makes visitors glad they came. Its good for San Francisco, and it should be preserved.”
Redevelopment plans:
The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency is looking for a developer to build low income housing on the site. The Agency has agreed to keep Defenestration alive for a minimum of 18 months, or until a developer is found.
Where did the idea for Defenestration come from?
It took over a year and a half to create Defenestration from the time Goggin received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to the time he completed the piece. “I came up with the inspiration for the piece while walking the streets in Paris. There on one of these walks I noticed the incomplete sidewalls of a 17th century building that had been demolished. On these walls I could see where the different rooms were. Old wallpaper, paint, tile work and elements from dismantled staircases remained where the now missing building shared a wall with the still standing structure. From there I imagined the missing building and all the contents of its now mostly dematerialized presence. There in that pondering, furniture appeared climbing on the surface of the wall. The building’s inside was outside, moving, swarming, with its own intensions” Goggin said.
Defenestration Sponsorship:
The Defenestration sculptural installation was originally made possible with the help of over 100 volunteers, donations from many local businesses and through funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Presenting and Commissioning Program, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the San Francisco Publicity and Advertising Fund’s Hotel Tax/Grants for the Arts, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. This program is administered by New Langton Arts. These grants support projects which push the boundaries of contemporary art, challenge traditional formats and reflect the cultural and aesthetic diversity of the San Francisco Bay Area. In Kind contributors include: Degenkolb Engineers, Gregory Paul Wallace Engineers, Standard Plumbing and Hardware, Littmann Educational Fund, Harrison and Bonini, Future Farmer Design, Douglass and Sturgess, Cole Hardware, Cell Space, Bayshore Metals, All-Right Sign Company, Bruce Shirley, Melting Point Gallery, Red Nose Unlimited, Stinkfish Printing.
Awards:
Winner of a San Francisco Beautiful Award – 1997
Winner of The Guardian best of the Bay, Best Art Funk Project – 1997-99
Winner of best Mural Precita Eyes Mural Awards 1997
Winner of SF Weekly, Best Sculptural Mural – 1997
Recent Press:
Upholstering Defenestration SF Bay Guardian, April 30, 2010
Gallery Hopes to Restore Landmark – Golden Gate [X] Press, March 15, 2010
Artist Starts Campaign to Rescue Hugo Hotel’s Furniture Art – Curbed SF – Monday, March 8, 2010
NBC BayArea – Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Save Defenestration – by Ben Wa for Vimeo – March 8, 2010
Operation Restore Defenestration at 1:AM Gallery – Laughingsquid.com, March 6, 2010
Artist seeks public’s help in restoring building artwork – ABC7News.com
Iconic SF Public Art Piece – Defenestration – Saved – Daily KOS, Friday, March 5, 2010
Brian Goggin seeks to revive ‘Defenestration’ – SFGate – Friday, March 5, 2010
Still defying gravity: Defenestration Project could get a bright new life before its looming death
San Francisco Bay Guardian – March 2, 2010
Save Defenestration, Iconic Community-Grown Art
by Simone Davalos for Laughing Squid – Monday, February 22, 2010
Local Artist Raising Money To Save SOMA Furniture-Strewn Building Sculpture
SFWeekly – Tuesday, February 16, 2010
San Francisco Diary — Journal Of An Exile – Commentarama – Friday, December 4, 2009
Additional Defenestration Documentation:
Cyberbuss Virtual Trip to The Defenestration Ceremony & Urban Circus