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| Courtesy
Lizette Kapre, Ballroom Marfa, and the Art Production Fund
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West
Texas gets a Long-Overdue
Infusion of Whimsy by German-based Artists
Marfa,
Texas |
I
was still bemoaning the disappearance of the Oasis
Gas Station between Valentine
and Fort
Davis, when "our man in West Texas" called to tell me that the
Oasis had "been replaced" by something or someone named Marfa Prada.
When I Googled Marfa Prada, I half-expected to see the girl who sat
behind me in 9th grade science class, but I soon learned it was actually
Prada Marfa - a piece of art. Store as sculpture. Searching images
- it appeared before me - a beautiful lighted-from-within 15 x 25
box with no unsightly utility lines or detracting parking lot. |
| Courtesy
Lizette Kapre, Ballroom Marfa, and the Art Production Fund
|
West
Texas has a history of faux-ruins. Beginning in the 50s, flatcars
arrived from California carrying "Riata."
This huge prop became the plywood-thin mansion of Elizabeth Taylor
and Rock Hudson in Giant. The mansard-roofed prop bravely weathered
the West Texas climate for years. It's last appearance was a cameo
appearance in Fandango.
Then there was the Oasis
Gas Station for the movie Dancer, Texas, pop. 81 and finally Contrabando
- a complete faux-village built just north of the Rio Grande on highway
170 that has appeared in both US and Mexican movies - at least one
of them named Contrabando.
But Prada Marfa takes the proverbial cake. Movie sets are meant to
be art but seldom are they wry statements. Prada Marfa is (was) both.
It's "Grand-opening" / showing occurred on October 1st, 2005. (My
invitation was probably lost in the excitement of hurricane Rita.)
When I first saw the photos of the sculpture - I knew that the glass
windows and doorway probably didn't see the sunrise of October 2nd.
(Actually, the vandals took three days to arrive.) |
| Courtesy Lizette
Kapre, Ballroom Marfa, and the Art Production Fund |
A
time-released time capsule.
The
artists and supporters of this project knew this too. Made of earth-friendly
earth, this biodegradable adobe building will slowly melt back into
the landscape once the looters have removed the merchandise. The slow
fade to oblivion will provide countless hours of conversation for
motorists driving through West Texas. Starting with simple questions
like "What the hell was that?" it's sure to inspire more thoughtful
dialogue - like "When is advertising art?" or "When is art advertising?"
Or (for really long trips) "What is art, anyway?" My question is:
If it wasn't Marfa Prada, then who did sit behind me in 9th grade
science?
Texas' most famous outdoor sculpture is probably the weather-worn,
graffiti-covered "Cadillac Ranch"
outside of Amarillo.
It's been baking and freezing in the Panhandle
for 30-some years now and still going strong. But like the man said
about progress - there's nothing wrong with it - it just went on too
long. Prada Marfa may never outlast those bodies by Fisher, but it's
already become the most talked about sculpture of the 21st Century
- despite the puny traffic count of highway 90. |
| Courtesy
Lizette Kapre, Ballroom Marfa, and the Art Production Fund
|
Tabloid
Theory
Someone
(name withheld by request) has suggested that Prada Marfa isn't a
sculpture at all - but a trap set by aliens wanting to abduct humans.
One has to admit that a desolate West
Texas highway might just be an excellent place for specimen gathering.
There might be a connection with that 24-hour taxidermy shop that
suddenly appeared outside of Toyah,
Texas in 1998 and disappeared about two weeks later. What if that
taxidermy store was to lure male specimens and "they" decided a second
one was needed to lure females? Walk in for a handbag and next thing
you know you're being prodded awake by Clingons. Yikes! |
Cruel Shoes
The
first batch of comments about Prada Marfa that we read (on one of
the 72,000 entries on Google) was thoughtful - and mostly anonymous.
One person called the sculpture "a cruel mirage." I guess if I stopped
and waited an hour for it to open before figuring it out - I might
call it a cruel mirage, too.
As time passes, fewer people will slow down to gawk. My suggestion
would be to do it again as a hologram. Let the vandals come and spray
paint walls that aren't there. Better yet, it could be a convenience
store / gas station hologram with a sign showing $1.85 gasoline. Now
there's a cruel mirage. |
"I
can't take 'em back, honey, I, uh, lost the receipt."
Some
people are concerned with what role Prada played. Was it a simple
blessing or a partial sponsorship? Who cares? A bigger concern should
be the foot problems that will soon arise when local women start walking
around in mismatched pairs of shoes. The shoes in the sculpture were
actual items from the Fall 2005 Prada collection - but from the photos
they appear as solitary shoes.
© John Troesser
"They
shoe horses, don't they?" - November 1, 2005 column |
Border Patrol
at Prada Marfa
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, October 2010 |
The building
windows have been replaced with Lexan.
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, October 2010 |
 |
Prada Marfa
Forum:
Prada
Marfa 2007 Update
›
Subject:
Prada Marfa
Dear TE,I recently went on a family vacation to Fort
Davis, Texas. My kids and I could not believe our eyes when
we saw the Prada Marfa store! It so surprised us that I slammed
the brakes and turned around and took a picture. I am happy to find
out it was art. - Graciela Tercero, August 23, 2007
Prada Marfa
Missing?
Dear TE, Is Prada Marfa even still there? I work in Big Bend National
Park and made a special trip out on Hwy 90 all the way from Marfa
to Valentine to shoot it, and could not find it anywhere. (I did
see the blimp base, however.) Is it right by the side of the road,
or is it off aways? Please advise.
By the way, I'm a former free-lance photographer from Dallas and
have accumulated a storehouse of West Texas images, and am still
at it. While visiting your wonderful site, I noticed there are more
than a few towns in your Texas Towns A-Z that don't have any images
at all, some of which I have. Just let me know if you would you
like me to send you some - Sincerely, Doug Duncan, January 09, 2007
Prada Marfa
and the "Lost Blimp" of Valentine
[Dear TE], I have had two wierd encounters on highway 90 from Marfa
to Van Horn that caused me to stop, then laugh.
My first encounter was when I was driving Hwy 90 for the first time
last December and I noticed the border patrol blimp from the back-end.
It looked like a propeller floating in mid-air - attached to nothing.
The road was so flat and had such little traffic that I was able
to watch it and drive at the same time using my peripheral vision.
At one point I actually got out of the car to study it and try to
figure out what it was. It was not until I got [directly] under
it that I could see the entire thing. Then I wondered all the way
to Van Horn who had lost their blimp. I imagined the Texas winds
placing [it] out in the middle of nowwhere. Someone in Van Horn
clued me in [as to the blimp's function and ownership].
This week I was making the same journey and noticed a small building
out in the middle of nowhere that said something about Marfa. I
had an appointment and couldn't stop at that time. I had evidentally
driven past it the time before but hadn't noticed it as my eyes
were directed up at the blimp. On the way back I had more time so
when I passed by the building again - I turned around to see what
it was. Boy was I surprised! It almost makes you think you might
be on Candid Camera. I think [someone] should film the people that
stop to see it. Both incidents made me chuckle and were welcome
distractions on that lonely drive. I hope there is more to come.
Thanks for the entertainment! - Tammie Riley, Van Horn, Texas, September
08, 2006
Subject:
Prada Marfa
As me and my mom were on our way to Eagle
Pass we passed the shoestore [Prada Marfa] and we were not sure
if it was what we had seen. We wanted to make a U-turn and see if
it was really there. Well, on our way back it was there. We stopped
and took pictures of it. To us it was a store in the middle of nowhere,
but [we] enjoyed it as well. I told my brother about it and he doesn't
belive it's really there. - Marisa Flores, May 11, 2006
Subject:
MARFA STORE
YOUR STORE FRONT GOT OUR ATTENTION THIS LAST FRIDAY NIGHT AS WE
HEADED INTO MARFA TO SEE THE LIGHTS...WE STOPPED IN THE MIDDLE OF
THE ROAD AND TOOK A PICTURE OF YOUR PRADA SHOE STORE..AND THOUGHT
WE SAW ALIENS WEARING YOUR SHOES INSIDE ONE SMALL ALIEN FIGURE LOOKED
TO BE CARRING A PRADA HANDBAG...WHEN I CHECKED MY CAMERA LATER TO
VIEW THOSE PICTURES THEY WERE GONE EXCEPT FOR THE ONE PICTURE OF
THE ENTIRE STORE FROM THE HIGHWAY..YOUR PRODUCTS ARE NOW KNOWN THRU
OUT THE GALAXY....WE LOVED THE STORE AND WONDERED WHERE THE GAS
STATION WENT MAYBE NEXT TRIP WE'LL SHOP YOUR STORE DURING REGULAR
BUSINESS HOURS....THANK YOU THE KLOCK FAMILY FROM FARMINGTON NM,
January 08, 2006
Subject:
Prada Marfa
WE WANT SUCH A SCULPTURE HERE IN OUDTSHOORN - IN THE SEMI DESERT
VALLEY OF THE SWARTBERG MOUNTAINS!!!! - Sunny regards, Petra, Oudtshoorn,
South Africa, December 13, 2005
|
| Our thanks to
the artists, Michael and Ingar, for their prompt personal response
to our request for photos, the producers (Ballroom Marfa, and the
Art Production Fund), The Hall family for the use of their land, Casey
Fremont for her prompt response and to photographer Lizette Kapre
- who I think sat in front of me in 9th grade science class. - LW |
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