“I like the shape of bathtubs,” he says. “But you can see, this fountain idea is very different from ‘Fine Balance.’”
Goggin lists some of the notable pieces he’s designed, some incorporating suitcases, books and piles of paper. In one famous San Francisco installation, he suspended a dozen glowing piano forms in midair. In a piece titled “Defenestration,” a bathtub appeared to be escaping through a bathroom window, joining a whole flock of couches, tables, clocks and beds, all making a similar escape.
“Why am I attracted to these objects? I don’t exactly know,” he says. “But those projects are not all the same design, just because they feature some of the same objects. Cristo used fabric in many of his designs. Just because he wraps one thing in fabric doesn’t mean that by wrapping something else in a different place it’s the same piece of art.”
Petaluma connections
Goggin’s thoughts and ideas flow out of him in a stream of words that sometimes tilt toward the philosophical. That’s certainly the case when explaining the many inspirations behind “Fine Balance.”
“Part of my inspiration for creating this was related to the idea that, in society, we are in a tenuous moment, teetering out of balance with nature. The title ‘Fine Balance’ is related to that,” he says. “In a piece of public art, there are spatial connections, conceptual connections, aesthetic connections and material connections.”
Goggin points out that cast iron products ‒ including Victorian-era bathtubs and the metal used in Petaluma Boulevard’s iron front buildings ‒ once traveled up the Petaluma River in commercial exchange for eggs, chickens, produce and other Petaluma products. Once “Fine Balance” is installed, the river will be as much a part of the piece as the tubs and the stilts.
“When exploring the idea of creating a piece for Petaluma, I did a lot of research, with help from the Petaluma Historical Society,” he says. “I spent a lot of time studying the history of the wharf, where the flat-bottomed scows would sail in from San Francisco. I found that appealing, that connection between Petaluma and San Francisco through trade.”
Moving up close to one of the sculpted bathtub legs, Goggin says, “I created these legs so that they are ambiguous. They might be related to chickens, or they might be related to eagles. The intention isn’t to convey a single meaning, but to offer different hints of ideas so people can find their own relevance, which may even shift over time.”
Bending in close, he looks up at the thin strip of LED lighting tucked up under the rim of the tubs. When installed, Fine Balance will be lit at night using solar powered lamps, with lights shining upward to meet the LED light coming down at the edge of the river.
“I‘m very excited to see what this is going to look like there,” he says, “and I’m working very hard to make sure that it looks very beautiful.”
‘Something new’
Goggin believes that one advantage to his art piece’s new location on H Street is that it will stand directly across the river from where the annual Rivertown Revival takes place.
“In Rivertown Revival, there’s also a whimsical relationship with Victorian aesthetics,” he says, making a clear connection between the festival’s steampunk vibe and “Fine Balance.” “I feel like I’m working with that same kind of ethos. ‘Fine Balance’ is not about taking a bath. It’s about creating something new out of something familiar.”
Which leads to another primary connection between Goggin’s work and Petaluma. Its embrace of such events as the Rivertown Revival shows that many locals have a heightened taste for whimsy and delight.
“I’m an artist who’s explored the possibilities of conceptual work that also have a sense of humor and levity,” he says. “I liked the idea of a piece that has physical levity, too. I was imagining that the citizens of Petaluma and its visitors might embrace and appreciate something that lifts their spirits, at the same time that it lifts these replica bathtubs.“
Goggin has one more thing to share.
Beyond the surfboard table rests the basic shape of yet another tub. “I had originally planned to have five, and I started making them,” he says. “Someday I’d like to finish the other three. Who knows, maybe someone in Petaluma will want to sponsor the others, so they could be set up all around town. Maybe these first two will end up being part of a herd.”
As for those first two, Goggin is already preparing himself to let go of the almost-alive creations he’s been dreaming of and living with for years. He clearly hopes they will come to be as loved by others as they are by him.
“They need to be taken care of, and I do hope people take of them,” he says. “My hope is that people’s minds will remain open, and they will be able to experience ‘Fine Balance’ afresh, and see it for what it is, not what they’ve been imagining it to be.”
