Marfa Texas

The abandoned Ozona Hotel  in the creepy town of Ozona the night before we went to Marfa.

Lily at Squeeze Marfa

Hotel at Marfa

Hotel at Marfa a perfect restoration

The viewing area for the Marfa Lights

Lily doing home work on the road to Marfa

Today we made a stop in Marfa, Texas. It is a town of 2212 people next to the middle of nowhere. For many years this little spot was known for the “Marfa Lights>” About 20 times a year (or so) basketball size spheres of light hover about 5 feet off the ground and slowly move laterally. They appear in numerous colors and have been photographed and video taped many times. The town has set up a viewing station for the possible viewing of the nighttime apparitions. We are not in town for the lights, though I would like to see them but we are here because this is the town that was re envisioned through Minimal Art.

The short story is that New York artist Donald Judd (1928-1994) visited in the early 1970’s and found the space and quiet what he needed to realize his sculptural vision (and he had one.) By the mid 70’s he moved to Marfa, bought the 60,000 Chinati ranch and that was the start of the Chinati foundation. The DIA foundation (Rothko chapel) helped him to refurbish some US Army buildings and turn them into museum spaces for his friends. Dan Flavin, John Chamberlin etc. People came, people saw and some people stayed. The foundation brought out interns and many of them stayed. The hotel in town has been renovated to a very high level; there are good restaurants, art galleries and  the feeling that Andrea and I experienced was inspirational. The place is a cultural oasis. We had lunch at Squeeze Marfa, a courtyard restaurant run by a Swiss guy and his mom and dad. We sat in the patio and had really good food (really good!) we talked with the owner who had been a resident at the Chinati Foundation and stayed on. He introduced his uncles Swiss chocolate and showed me articles in Gourmet about the company. The uncle’s shop happens to be across the road from a Museum that has two of my sculptures and is now thinking about a third. Mean while Andrea is talking to the couple at the next table that have come down from Austin to see the Judd studio and museum. The place was very friendly and we both felt at home. Art changed this town. Modern art of a rather difficult nature changed this town (the power of contemporary art is so often trivialized.)

Many years ago I surrendered myself to art. I guess some people give it up for God; I gave it up for art. My moment was in 1964 in a survey art history class. The Professor was very good and when he described Kurt Schwitters W poem I saw the light and heard horn. I understood this thing and moved toward it from that day.  When I experience the transcendent power that art can have, it re-exposes the protective place where I protect my belief and lets me experience it again in full. The other thing that I have mentioned before is that it sets Andrea and I on dream mode. This is our bond. To be able to dream with someone is big stuff.

Marfa was good to us and we had the best espresso’s we have had on this trip. My espresso would rank in the top 10 of all time for me.