Trespass 4416 (Science)

Discussion through works of art encourage how to approach ambiguous and complex ideas, thoughts, and feelings. The MFAH offers a democratic space where students and teachers can develop, practice and articulate these habits of mind. Remember that the quality of the conversation is what is important, not finding the artist’s “answer.” Slow down and take the time to make careful observations. Talk about what you notice, and try to avoid jumping to conclusions and interpretations. Be sure to give enough time for silent looking and thinking.

Work of Art

Painted and raw scrap wood, plastic sheets, metal wires, nails, screws, and other found objects form an egg shaped structure. With a height of 7’ 8” (92 inches) and width and depth of 4’ 3” (51 inches), the scale of the sculpture requires viewers to walk around the form in order to observe the complete structure. Close examination of the object reveals the careful organization of the sculpture, which was required to create a stable structure from this diverse selection of materials with varying sizes and textures. A piece of painted scrap wood placed at approximately eye level for the average height adult prominently displays the numbers 4416.

The title given to the sculpture, Trespass 4416, alludes to the context in which the artists, Dan Havel and Dean Ruck, created this object. The materials and inspiration for this sculpture came from a nineteenth-century wooden bungalow that was being demolished in Houston’s historic Magnolia Grove district near Buffalo Bayou located between downtown and Memorial Park. As demand for centrally located housing in Houston rose in the early 2000s, development and housing prices rapidly increased throughout this small neighborhood south of Washington Avenue. When Havel and Ruck created Trespass 4416 in 2007, more homes were sold in the district that year than in any other year on record between 1997 and 2019.[1] Havel and Ruck scavenged the condemned property to gather wood and other fragments, which they brought back to their studio and used to construct the sculpture. The resulting sculpture documents the erasure of the architectural past of this historic neighborhood and its community.

Trespass 4416 was first exhibited for a group show at Diverseworks, Houston. After the exhibition, the sculpture was returned to the corner of the demolition site as a trash pile where it remained for six weeks without being removed.[2] The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, then acquired the sculpture, which became the first monumental work by the collaborative to enter an encyclopedic museum collection rather than remaining a site-specific or ephemeral project.

The two Houston based sculptors began working on projects together informally in 1994. They formalized their partnership in 2009 by forming the artist collaborative Havel Ruck Projects, LLP.[3] In an interview with Havel and Ruck for Glasstire in 2009, the artists responded about how the setting of Houston and particularly its rapidly changing built environment described as “hyper-impermanence” informed their practice. Havel commented:

“We’re both preservationists. I understand that a built site has an inherent soul or memory. It’s fun to play with that dialogue about houses disappearing. We’re interjecting ourselves in that dialogue, at a point where the house is going to go away and we’re going to give it another chapter.”

While Havel emphasizes how their work acts as a means of preserving the memory of impermanent sites by creating a new form, Ruck’s comments focus on the importance of their process as opposed to the context:

“I think there’s a bit of an applied context, one applied by others. Certainly, we have a sensibility. And I consider myself a preservationist. But the context of that being, the cue or key to the work is not in the forefront of our thinking. For me, it’s more a matter of process. As a formal approach, it’s a three-dimensional formal exercise as a means to a process which is more an element of the work than the context of the Houston environment of tearing things down.”

Throughout the interview, Havel and Ruck’s discussion of their collaborative projects both build upon each other’s ideas while also complicating singular interpretations of their work. Following Ruck’s commentary on the importance of process, Havel describes their interest in creating work that surprises their audiences and poses provocative questions:

“I like any opportunity where I can make art in the path of an unaware public. It’s fun to play with that element of surprise. We’re not really about architecture. It’s more about space, altering space and taking spatial relationships and tweaking it slightly and hopefully getting the audience involved or not. Salvage is closest to what we do. We salvage. One of the things I want to make sure that we don’t get pigeonholed is that we deal with only architecture… I think there’s a self discovery that happens that I’m much more interested in than telling everybody the answers. We’re just asking the questions-what if? What if we do this?”

Trespass 4416 raises innumerable questions deriving from its form, materials, process, and contexts. The provoking title itself prompts questions about the nature of trespassing. Did Havel and Ruck trespass to collect materials from the site being demolished? Or did the builders who transformed the site by destroying the earlier building trespass? By viewing the remains of a demolished building as a sculpture in a museum, are we trespassing?

Conversation

• As you observe the sculpture, what materials can you identify? What types of objects or structures do you associate with these materials?
• Describe the shapes that you observe in the sculpture? How does the shape of the overall form compare to the individual shapes of the materials used to construct the sculpture?

• What other objects have you seen that have similar shapes as this sculpture? Why might the artists have chosen to use this collection of materials to form this particular shape?
• How does the setting in which we see this object impact our interpretation or response to it? How might the experience of looking at this sculpture in a museum gallery be different from seeing it on the street corner of a demolition site?
• How does this sculpture and its title challenge us to think critically about the role of trespassing?

This work of art is open to several interpretations. Since there are no right or wrong answers, students are free to be creative in their thinking. As new information is presented they adjust their thinking strategies and as the teacher reveals the artists’ ideas about Trespass 4416. I found the origin story fascinating and think this piece could easily be a jumping off point for creative writing or art projects. Many stories could be told based on the interpretation of students and based on their personal experiences.

Subject Matter

• In celebration of Global Recycling Day (March 18), demonstrate a deeper understanding of the conservation and recycling of materials by repurposing them.  
• In groups of 4, compose an expository composition detailing what events led up to the creation of this sculpture. Students write the composition on every other line. Elaborate and revise this narrative four successive times with the following facts:
  • The sculpture was created in Houston.
  • The sculpture was created from a condemned 19th-century bungalow in Magnolia Grove.
  • This sculpture was created from a structure that was torn down.
  • This sculpture was created to make new townhouses. 
• Reveal the name of the work of art as, Trespass 4416. How did understanding of Trespass 4416 change as each new fact was learned? How did the revelation of the artwork’s title impact interpretations?
• How might this work of art be used as a visual for the ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ campaign? What role might it play in Global Recycling Day?  Other than in a museum, where might this work of art be placed? Why?
• Construct a sculpture out of recycled materials. Use the scientific method to write  the step-by-step process that was used in creating this sculpture. How might this sculpture play a role in Global Recycling Day?  What might it be entitled? How does it compare with Trespass 4416?

Assessment

This activity gives students a creative way to interact with and build a narrative about the work. After discovering each new fact, the students would most likely change the narrative. This is how science works. You come up with a theory and change your theory based on new information that you collect.

Resources

Resources Available to Order

Check our online collection module for further information.