Archaeology: BRICK + GOLD
Catherine Wagner’s “Archaeology: BRICK + GOLD” explores our studio, a historic San Francisco firehouse, through what she calls “archaeology in reverse,” treating construction as both process and metaphor for change. The installation reimagines an exposed brick wall with gold leaf, carved recesses, and light to reveal the building’s layered past alongside its present architectural use.
Catherine Wagner, a highly lauded fine artist based in San Francisco, has always been interested in the cultural histories enshrined by our built environment. Wagner has spent her life working both in California and as an active international artist in photography, installation, and site-specific public art, lecturing extensively at museums and universities. In her series entitled "Moscone Center," she introduces the idea of "archaeology in reverse" or the act of "investigating construction as process and as metaphor for change."
When her longtime friend Jonathan approached her with an opportunity to make a piece in Feldman Architecture's newly expanded headquarters, a San Francisco landmark building and fire station, she started her archaeological investigation. Engine Company No 8, built in 1916, originally functioned as a three-level firehouse, the ground floor serving as a double doored engine room. The upper floors were the fireman’s headquarters, connected to the garage beneath by three brass firepoles. The structure was designed by the city architect John Reid, a consulting architect for San Francisco’s City Hall and Civic Center.
Feldman Architecture, having recently expanded to the lower level of the old fire house, greets guests with a swath of old brick from the original engine room - which, for better or for worse, puts its history and imperfections on display. Catherine became particularly interested in this wall, specifically in the context of how historic buildings collide with the 21st century - most obviously a modernist architecture firm setting up shop in a historic landmark building.
"I was immediately drawn to a wall of exposed brick that placed the building's history. Within the wall there were existing excavations, natural deterioration, and recesses that accommodated ancient plumbing and structural interventions. I made further excavations and recesses that resemble gold bricks as well as a shelving system to accommodate the architect’s 3D models. I chose to work with the existing conditions and celebrated these cracks and indentations with pointed illuminations and gold leaf. The final piece is punctuated by an existing pipe that painted fire-engine red and disappears into the floor," writes Catherine Wagner.
Archaeology: BRICK + GOLD is a future ruin that allows both the building's history and materiality to have its own voice. In its foreground, the architectural and construction processes carry on, and light shifts and catches on both the golden and weathered bricks alike.
