New York cultural institution Franklin Furnace, founded in 1976 by pioneering performance artist
Martha Wilson, is dedicated to the presentation and preservation of avant-garde art. Throughout
the late 1970’s and the 1980’s, Franklin Furnace presented performances, installations, and exhibits
in its space on Franklin Street in lower Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood. It began as a bookstore,
where patrons and passersby could peruse wildly disparate published artworks; the concept being
that, unlike most art, this kind could be picked up and handled. Wilson’s goal was to champion art
forms neglected by mainstream arts institutions due to their ephemeral nature or politically
unpopular content. Her priority was to archive artists’ books in their many forms plus other media
and periodicals. Wilson was one of the first to support and advocate for this under-recognized and
under-valued art form.
Watchface first performed House of Jahnke at Franklin Furnace the spring of 1984 as part of an
evening of short performances. The following season Of Little Women was accepted as part of
their regular season. Two years later, Watchface member Iris Rose was asked to sit on the panel
that reviewed and selected the performers for the upcoming season. Nearly 25 years later, she
also served on the Franklin Furnace panel that awards grants to emerging artists.
Franklin Furnace was on the front lines during the “culture wars” of the time. It was accused of
exposing pornography to children by the Morality Action Committee in 1984, and several years
later a program grant it was awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts was rescinded by
the National Council on the Arts. In 1990, the Franklin Street performance space closed, and
Franklin Furnace moved to the Financial District briefly prior to settling on Hanson Place in Brooklyn
for nearly ten years. During its 20th anniversary season, it moved to the campus of Pratt Institute
and reinvented itself as a “virtual institution”, using its website as its public face.
Franklin Furnace has developed a place in art history for artists’ books, along with temporary
installation art and performance art. In 1993, their collection of books was acquired by New
York’s Museum of Modern Art, approximately 13,500 pieces, the largest collection in the United
States. By helping to launch the careers of artists whose work has influenced America’s cultural
discourse, Franklin Furnace has made a permanent impression upon the art world. Such artists as
Eric Bogosian, David Cale, Karen Finley, Murray Hill, Jenny Holzer, Barbara Krueger, Sherrie Levine,
Annie Sprinkle, Paul Zaloom, and many others premiered work at Franklin Furnace.
Watchface performances at Franklin Furnace:
House of Jahnke
Of Little Women
Ralph and Louie’s Bad Habits
Stereotype
Woolworth’s