Last time, I left off with us getting a (chilly) dinner at Planet Marfa and then heading back to the AirB&B. We got there, put the g’kids to bed, and then the four of us stayed up and had a long talk.
Honestly I can’t remember a heck of a lot about what we said. We were all sleepy, and it had been a very long day, with much driving involved, and so we were alternatively chatting and snoring, as you will do in such situations. But, whatever, we had a good time, and eventually we all went to bed and slept very soundly indeed.
In the morning, we arose to face the world. Once again, we had plans. Or, rather the kids did, and we were following their lead. Specifically, today was the day we would visit ...tah-dah!... The Chinati Foundation.
What’s that? Well, you remember that I said the town’s unlikely savior was Donald Judd, the minimalist artist. I also said that he had gotten grants to buy a significant portion of the old Army base that had been in town,
This area Judd and his friends turned into a vast sculpture garden and a museum. This museum, and the organization that maintains it, is called The Chinati Foundation.(1) It highlights Judd’s work, and also that of several other artists, most of them following in the minimalist tradition.(2)
About the photos: A bunch today. Here we a few views of Donald Judd’s monumental works at the Foundation. Then we have the rabbit who’d take up residence under one of them. And, finally, Martha, David, and Emily walking among the monoliths.
There are multiple parts to the Foundation, but I roughly divide it into “outside,” which is where you find Judd’s concrete work, and “inside” (meaning inside the refurbished buildings of the old Fort) where you find his work in metal. The other artists’ work shows up sometimes in one, and sometimes in the other.
We had breakfast and then headed out with the kids and g’kids in their car and us following. Pretty soon, we were at the Foundation. There was a reception building, and, nearby, we could see Judd’s work in the fields beyond. We went into the reception building, bought tickets, and then headed into the open spaces.
We moved along a path into the Outside exhibit area, or what the Foundation calls on its website, “Open Viewing.” The website adds that there are fifteen works by Donald Judd in this space, and that “the fifteen concrete works by Donald Judd that run along the eastern border of Chinati’s property were the first works installed by Judd. They were cast and assembled on-site over a four-year period, from 1980 to 1984. The works sit along a one-kilometer axis that runs north-south.”(3)
How to describe them? Well, the fifteen untitled works are large concrete structures, like empty blocks, each the size of a small room. They have great smooth, clean lines...which is to say that they are, indeed, very, very minimalist. They are impressive...powerful...interesting.
The kids walked on the path, speaking softly and respectfully, as you might in any art gallery or sculpture garden. Which is what you would expect of them. They are, after all, artists themselves, and artists who have long admired Judd and the Minimalists, if they haven’t always been Minimalist in their own artworks.
The grandchildren, meanwhile, as one would expect of a four-year old girl and a two-year old boy, were far less impressed by the art, and much more excited by the discovery of a rabbit who had taken up housekeeping under one of the concrete cubicles. And, to give the rabbit his (or her) due, he was a cute wee beast, and seemed to understand that we were no threat to him. If he wasn’t exactly fearless, he did regard us with a certain rabbity insolence.
As for Martha and me? Well, we were impressed, that was for sure. It was hard not to be. The great blocks of concrete out in the wilderness were imposing to say the least.
On the other hand, did they speak to us aesthetically, as they so clearly spoke to David and Emily? Honestly...honestly...perhaps not so much.
That is not a judgment of Donald Judd, or a rejection of David and Emily’s taste...which is exquisite. It is a simple statement of fact. The reality is that we came of age in the 1960s and 1970s. Our tastes were set just as Minimalists were only gaining wide-spread recognition. Thus, we were influenced by the Minimalists, but more by the painting than their sculpture. For me, it was people like Frank Stella (1936-2024) [4] and Jasper Johns (b. 1930) [5] who were the Minimalists (or sort of Minimalists) that mattered.
And then there was Pop Art (6), which really influenced us a great deal more than Minimalism -- Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and so on. Finally, for me personally, there was the whole Psychedelic Art scene(7), with which I didn’t have a lot to do, but I did know about it. And I’ve got to confess, George Dunning’s Beatles film, _Yellow Submarine_, hit me big time.
So...maybe...we weren’t the best audience for Donald Judd at that moment. But...but...we did our best...poor Baby Boomers that we are...and, I think, we did all right.
About then, we came to the end of the trail, and we followed David and Emily...and grandchildren... as they wheeled about. Now that we had seen the Outside, it was time for us to enter the In.
After a moment, we headed off...toward a Quonset hut...
Full of metal...as polished and shining as a mirror.
More to come.
Footnotes:
1. The Chinati Foundation has its own webpage here: https://chinati.org/. However, its Wikipedia entry is also useful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinati_Foundation
2. For a listing of some of the artists represented, see the Foundation’s webpage “artists” here: https://chinati.org/collection/
3. “Open Viewing,” https://chinati.org/visit-chinati/open-viewing/
4. Frank Stella, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Stella. See also this article in Moma, https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/1080. I am particularly fond of his piece, Harran II, which you can see here: https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/4003
5. Jasper Johns, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasper_Johns. See in particular his work, “Three Flags,” https://whitney.org/collection/works/1060
6. Pop Art, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_art
7. Psychedelic Art, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_art
Copyright©2024 Michael Jay Tucker
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