Nancy and Mark - Please Move to Marfa

So I can come visit you there.

An article in the NY Times today.... makes me miss the Thunderbird Hotel and swimming pools Ed Ruscha and Wayne Thiebaud style and of course the food!!


Todd Eberle's photograph of Donald Judd's studio


Sophie Calle from "The Chromatic Diet" - eating food all one color.

Food Shark - Marfa, Texas

I just found this commercial for the Food Shark in Marfa after trying to find a link to post with the photograph below (how cool is the Food Shark? This is the change I received after purchasing my Marfalafel).



Of special interest, Takako Tanabe provides the vocals (she works at Chinati and assisted us with our self-guided tour).

This is not the end...

We survived! It wasn't until eating dinner at a chain restaurant in Amarillo did we realize that we did indeed see all we set out to do these last three weeks. Last year Nancy and I decided to make our own residency and do something that neither one of us would do on our own. Check this off the "Before I Die List!" We feel a great sense of accomplishment. Now that our trip is coming to a close, we also can't help but feel melancholy. While driving from Marfa to El Paso today, we inventoried everything we've done and realize that we have months of work to complete ahead. As we wrote a week before starting this journey, this blog does not end with the trip. We will continue to hash out ideas and see where we can take the artwork we create from this project. In many ways, I feel our work has just begun. This is the beginning of something far bigger than the act of taking this road trip. We will not be writing daily but will continue this blog with periodic updates. We have Polaroids to scan, maps and photographs to print, videos to edit, objects, artist's booklets, and text pieces to make. This is indeed the never ending search for the center and all that falls between. Thanks for joining the ride... it's not over yet.





Nancy & Jacinda at Balmorhea State Park, Texas

Photographs from the Dan Flavin Installation at Chinati

Blue Bear Performance Stills at Chinati

Final Burial at Chinati

I have intentionally not revealed anything about the objects that were buried at each earthwork, preferring to keep silent on the issue. I planned one object for each space hoping they would reveal themselves as to which one would be buried where. One did not feel right the night before and the thought kept nagging at me as I was digging the hole. After the photo shoot, I unearthed it and brought it to Marfa and buried it near this location with only these two photographs to show. Nancy filmed a video which will be included with the series later. This was the hardest one - the object I was least willing to let go but now that they are all gone, there is relief in knowing that I left them all in a very memorable place.

Videos at Chinati Foundation

No more guided tours. We have the keys!! Thanks Fredericka, Rob and Takako!



Sound recording of door slamming in Artillery Shed 1.



Sound Recording in Artillery Shed 1.





Readings: Carl Andre

Chinati Foundation - Marfa, Texas

As far as we are concerned, the best way to view Donald Judd's work is in both of the Artillery Sheds on the grounds of Chinati. The reflections of the outdoors (including the concrete sculptures in the distance) make this experience unforgettable. The sculptures themselves are amazing but the sound of the space is nearly as powerful - from doors slamming, to voices reverberating, to the scuffing of our feet across the floor.







Our favorite John Chamberlain sculpture (besides the couch) in the Chamberlain Building downtown. Thanks self-guided tour!!!

The Best Part of the Thunderbird Hotel, Marfa, Texas

9 feet deep with a shelf on the deep end to sit on and no one in sight the two times Mark, Nancy, and I went swimming in this 97 degree West Texas weather. One of the best parts is rising out of the water seeing the ocotillos that surround the perimeter reaching toward the blue sky. Tomorrow we are shooting for three separate swimming pool jumps- morning, afternoon and evening. Fake doughnuts will be involved.


(What do you know... we've acquired a tan).

PRADA MARFA - I MEAN PRADA OUTSIDE OF VALENTINE

For anyone looking for this installation, the exact location is nowhere near the outskirts of Marfa. It can be found two miles West of Valentine, Texas on Highway 90 about 37 miles west of Marfa.



When we arrived, we were surprised to find an outline of rocks around the building holding down business cards. Some looked like they had been there for several months or years, deteriorating in the elements. We decided to finally use our business cards, a handwritten, simple light blue card with our blog address and names.









Expecting the interior to be lit, we returned six hours later. We had seen images of the store glowing from within and wanted to see it in the darkness of the Marfa night. Again our researched information came up short; the store was nowhere to be found in the middle of the night as it stood camouflaged in the dark. It wasn't the night-light we had seen in photographs.



Upon our arrival we quickly noticed, as we went to photograph our business card on the left side of the building, that it was gone along with all the other cards that had been there that afternoon at 4:00. It seemed tragic in that brief moment of discovery but seconds later we turned away from the store just in time to witness the moonrise on the Northeast horizon. This unexpected moment ultimately became the thing that we drove out there to see.

Take the Whole Family to Marfa, Texas - Checking off the List

See Donald Judd's Bed... Check



Eat Food all the Same Color... Check



Pretend to See the Marfa Lights (I've been doing that for years)

Next up... Scare the Locals! (shouldn't be too difficult - Nancy needs to break out the Tammy Faye Fisher fringe wearing lipstick character and we're set!)

At Last. Marfa, Texas!!!

Today featured a very long drive with very little blogging photographs (we won't bore you with another Amarillo Ramp bell ringing episode that incidentally, we placed it in a prominent location in the "phone bank" and used it the moment we saw the passenger's eyes closing to sleep). It has been indeed helpful.

We also don't really need to mention Jacinda waving a bag of glazed doughnut holes at the police officer that pulled Nancy over either but Nancy feels like Jacinda hasn't had her share of humiliating moments on this blog (despite Nancy being more embarrassed about the incident than Jacinda). For the record, the overweight police officer was turning around, heading back to his car and did not see any of this. Also, Nancy was clocked only going 87 MPH in a 70 just outside Plainview, Texas. We had no response to his question of whether or not "we had a medical emergency."

We arrived in time to meet Mark at the Hotel Thunderbird (= AMAZING) and off to dinner at Maiya's. I have always thought the Marfa court house and town square were the prettiest I've ever seen and seven years after last visiting, I still believe that is true.



The next couple days are booked solid so stay tuned!

We love NYT

Marfa here we come. Or better yet, Thunderbird Motel...



and this looks pretty great too:
"Michelle Teague, a New York-based costume designer came to Marfa to work on the set of “There Will Be Blood” and decided to move here permanently when she became pregnant. With her business partner Ginger Griffins, she’s opened JM Dry Goods (203 East San Antonio Street), which sells a mix of Mexican textiles, vintage cowboy boots, beach hats, handmade soap and books about deadly insects."

More on the Ballroom Marfa show.

I have one word for you Nancy...

GEODOME.



Artillery Shed, Chinati Foundation after removal of original garage doors in 1980 and with Quonset roof, c. 1984.

19 Days to Go: Boxes - Woodshop Update & Donald Judd's Chinati Foundation

Woodshop: We are plugging away at the Nesting Boxes. There are six, one for each earthwork, all made from different wood and the best part of it all - four of the six have finger notches to hold them together. We have yet to use the wood burning tool to carve the names into them (with "branding font" = just kidding) so you might see one other photo after they are completely finished.

And now for some aluminum boxes:



Donald Judd, 100 Untitled Works, 1982-6

This will be my third trip to Chinati, one of my favorite places in the world, and Nancy's first. It will also be where we end our trip after three weeks of travel. We intentionally chose to stop here for personal reflection on the whole endeavor, the most ideal location of them all.

Some facts about the Chinati Foundation:

1) Judd never forgot Western Texas when passing through this area in 1946, as a soldier on the way from Alabama to California where he was to be shipped to Korea. He settled in the town of Marfa in the early 1970s, escaping NYC.

2) Marfa originated as a water stop on the Galveston and San Antonio Railroad. The name Marfa is that of a heroine from a Russian novel, Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, which made a deep impression on the wife of one of the railway’s executives. When Judd rented a small house, as an initial base, it was still a prosperous cattle town. With Dia's help, he bought the former Fort D.A. Russell and formed the Chinati Foundation named after the nearby mountain range.

3) Between 1982 and 1986, Judd installed 100 identical aluminum boxes in two former military artillery sheds. Each box is unique, reflecting the changing sunlight and weather.



4) The Chinati Foundation is one of the largest visible installations of contemporary art in the world. The art is meant to be permanently installed and maintained in a space suitable to it (most of it made for the existing buildings which were slowly renovated).

Here are some photographs by Todd Eberle from Donald Judd: Architect and additional images from the Dia Foundation.


One of the barracks holding Dan Flavin's installation before renovation.


The Arena with Richard Long's Sea Lava Circles.


The Chamberlain Building


The Whyte Building (located across the street from the Chamberlain Building in downtown Marfa)


Architectural Studio, First floor, Main Hall


Pool at La Mansana de Chinati, Marfa, Texas (AKA the "Block")
Oh la la! There will be several entries on swimming pools this trip - this just happens to be the second at Judd's abode in downtown Marfa.


...and another view because you can't get enough swimming pools in West Texas.


Las Casas of Ayala de Chinati, view of the ranch to the SE


Landscape with Mesa del Mimbres de Sierra Chinati seen from Las Casas de Ayala de Chinati, Donald Judd’s Ranch


Pool with Concentric Circular Walls Built From Rock at Las Casas della Valle de Tinaja Blanca de Ayala de Chinati, Donald Judd’s Ranch

Judd’s ranch is in the mountains, 50 miles to the SW near the Mexican border, in the direction of the Rio Grande. After thirty miles the paved road ends and a rocky road leads into the mountains. The small house, twenty miles further on, is in a valley, overgrown with thorn bushes and cacti. It is the most remote of his three ranches which Judd collectively called Ayala de Chinati. It's a three hour drive in a four wheel drive vehicle. There are four buildings: the main house, the guest house, the studio, and the bunkhouse. In addition there are ranch structures like the water tank that Judd surrounded with concentric circles.