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Texas
| Texas ArtThese
[Shoes] aren't Made for Walkin'PRADA
"OPENS" IN MARFAby
Luke Warm
Photos courtesy Lizette Kapre,
Ballroom Marfa, and the Art
Production Fund
West Texas gets
a Long-Overdue
Infusion of Whimsy by German-based Artists |
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 |
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 |
| 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
See
Prada
Marfa 2007 Update |
 |
Prada
Marfa Texas 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
Book Your Hotel Here & Save
Eagle Pass
Hotels
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| 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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