Recycling As Art - To The Extreme
There are many ways to dispose, or otherwise get rid of old things like appliances, televisions, or bathtubs. But, these days we all want to do so in a more "green" way, so as not to further disturb our Mother, Earth. There is an artist in San Francisco who not only knows how to give new life to these old pieces of furniture and the like, he does it as only a true artist can.
Brian Goggin's installation, Defenestration, has been up at the corner of 6th and Howard Streets in San Francisco for many years now (since 1997). I have been by it and marveled at it for almost as many years now and took some photos of it a few years back.
Defenestration means "the act of throwing something or someone out a window" and that is just what is happening at this abandoned tenement building. (I don't know if any person was thrown out these windows, but art is art...)
There are sofas, chairs, lamps, bathtubs, grandfather clocks, televisions, and even a side table complete with telephone fastened to the outside of this building. Coincidentally, this intersection of San Francisco is close to where the epicenter of the "big one" in 1906 was located. Not one piece of this installation has fallen yet (I don't think) and it's still a marvel. I've never walked on the sidewalks underneath the installation, however, and I don't think I will anytime soon.
I understand that the Defenestration Project is in dire straits and may have to be removed if some funds aren't raised. Go to Brian's site for more information. Another great San Francisco organization, The Institute for Unpopular Culture, is the fiscal sponsor. They support all sorts of art and cultural projects that may not fit the "norm". Yours truly has been lucky enough to work with them on an SF Silent Film Festival project.
On Brian's Metaphorm site, there are also links to other art installations he has done in the Bay Area and West Coast. One of my favorites, other than Defenestration, is the Body of Urban Myth, in Palo Alto.
So, if you have some old sofas, end tables, refrigerators, or washing machines that you'd like to showcase as art, all you have to do is find an abandoned building and start affixing.
Wow!....It looks great....I love the painting on the building...I work for printing material company....