When I left off, we were in Marfa, Texas, and we had just had lunch at the Sentinel restaurant...which is also the office of the local newspaper, and sort of a book store, and sort of an art gallery/shop. More about which in due time. Which is when our food arrived that day. After a lot of due time. Or, maybe, some of it was due, and the rest of it was overdue. By a mile. (But it was good when it got there.)
Anyway, after that we went back to the Air B&B and had a rest, the g’kids got a quiet time and a nap respectively, and then we were off again to yet another art gallery. This one was also owned by the Chinati Foundation, but it was in the center of town rather than out on the old military base. Specifically, it was at the Marfa Wool and Mohair Building in the center of Marfa.
I don’t suppose anything says as much about the economic and social changes underway in Marfa than that name. At one time, obviously this building was where the Marfa Wool and Mohair company had its offices and warehouse. It was here that local sheepherders brought their wool, and goatherds brought their mohair for purchase and subsequent resale.(1)
But, Marfa Wool and Mohair Company faded from view, and its building turned into a ruin...until Judd and his Foundation purchased it, rebuilt it, and re-christened it “The Chamberlain Building.”
It’s named after John Chamberlain (1927–2011), who was a “renowned” metal sculptor and film maker.(2) Chamberlain was one of the earliest and most forceful advocates of abstraction in sculpture. He is known in particular for his works using automobile parts, frequently crushed together, as though they were the results of uniquely energetic collisions.
Donald Judd was a fan of Chamberlain, and wrote about him extensively. Maybe I should have said before that Judd was as much an art critic as he was an artist, and may have had a greater impact as a writer and a theorist than he had as a practitioner.
Be that as it may, Judd set out to create a gallery devoted to Chamberlain, one of his favorite artists. The Dia Foundation (which, you’ll recall, also donated money for the purchase of the land and buildings of the military base) obtained a number of Chamberlain’s works and donated them to the Chinati Foundation in 1986, and today the Chamberlain Building contains 25 of Chamberlain’s works.(3)
BTW, I’m making it sound like that all went so easily. But these are artists and foundations at play here. Believe me, nothing goes smoothly when you have artists and foundations anywhere near each other. See the following news stories.(4)
About the photos: Just three today. First, a couple of shots I got of structures on the Chinati Foundation grounds. These are buildings that either don’t (yet) contain art or which have simply been left as they were. I rather like the photo of the door.
And, finally, one of Martha looking smashing at lunch. As per norm, nothing to do with the story. Just like the picture.
Anyway, we found ourselves at the Chamberlain (nee Wool and Mohair) building. It was divided into two sections. In the front was a *very* large cushion covered with a sheet. This was, I learned from ArtDesk magazine, “a monumental urethane foam and cotton canvas sculpture titled Barge Marfa (1983).”(5) In front of that, was a TV screen which was looping one of Chamberlain’s short films, ““The Secret Life of Hernando Cortez.” (6) As importantly for us, the g’kids were allowed to climb and run on the cushion. We were grateful for that, and we ended up taking turns watching them while the rest of our party toured the back of the museum.
The rest of the building contained, of course, Chamberlain’s metal pieces. You can find photos of them on Chinati’s website, and I suggest you give them a glance. They’re hard to describe, and I guess I won’t try.(7)
When I drifted back into the front room to join the rest of the group (I’d been the last to make the tour), David asked what I thought of Chamberlain’s work. I thought a moment,”Interesting...” I said, which I instantly regretted because I knew it would irritate him, so I quickly added, “...powerful. Very powerful.” And that was true. The works are powerful.
Do I like them? Ah, there things get a bit complex, and for non-rational, personal reasons. I understand what Mr. Chamberlain was doing. I feel the emotional and intellectual content of his work. They often have playful titles referencing the places in which he’s worked or lived. Moreover, he mixed crushed metal with paint coatings of startling primary colors which give his works remarkable vibrancy.
But...well...honestly, they looked a bit like car wrecks. (8) And I have a thing about car wrecks. I’m frightened of them. Always have been. I have become more so now that we live in Texas. Bluntly, Texas is an easy place in which to die in the car wreck. A combination of very high speed limits, a culture of drinking and driving, and the fact that so many, many people ...particularly young men, or men who wish they were still young...own enormous pickup trucks...trucks never meant for doing real work, but rather for being intimidating on a highway...makes roadway travel here different, from what I’m used to. (9)
And so, and I have to admit this, Chamberlain’s work frightened me, in ways I’m sure the artist himself never intended.
But, anyway...
Eventually, we finished up, and we were off to explore the town of Marfa a bit more...this time, on foot. And that would include a visit to a Ballroom...and a magical bus.
More to come.
Footnotes:
1. Wool and Mohair have long been a big part of West Texas animal husbandry. Mohair, by the way, is the hair of the Angora goat. According to its Wikipedia entry, it is one of the oldest fibers in use. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohair
2. John Chamberlain’s Wikipedia page is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chamberlain_(sculptor)
3. John Chamberlain, Various works, 1968–1983, Chinati Foundation, https://chinati.org/collection/john-chamberlain/
4. “ The Marfa Art War: In an obscure corner of West Texas, a world-class sculptor and a secretive, fabulously rich patron are slugging it out over a landscape covered with million-dollar boxes,” by Michael Ennis, Texas Monthly, August 1984, https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/the-marfa-art-war/
The following is also a fascinating article, though it has less to do with the clashes of Judd and Dia and more to do with the current tensions in the town. I’ll reference it again in future, but in the meantime, “A Battle for the Soul of Marfa: What happens when a wealthy patron wears out his welcome?” by Mimi Swartz, Texas Monthly, February 2020, https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/battle-soul-marfa/
6. “Marfa Revival: The Chamberlain Building shines anew in downtown Marfa,” by Leigh Arnold, ArtDesk, Summer 2022, https://readartdesk.com/feature/marfa-revival
As an aside, I’m not too clear on how many films Chamberlain did over the course of his career. Some sources say just one. Others, including his Wikipedia entry, mention two or even three. As a second aside, if you find yourself with children at the Chamberlain Building, be aware that “The Secret Life of Hernando Cortez” is rather erotic -- something we discovered just a little too late. Fortunately, at two and five years old respectively, the g’kids could care less about eros. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Life_of_Hernando_Cortez
7. See here: https://chinati.org/collection/john-chamberlain/
8. Apparently, John Chamberlain insisted his works weren’t meant to looks like wrecks. But, even some of his defenders suggest that they do. See “The Staying Power of John Chamberlain’s Crushed Car Sculptures,” Jackson Arn, Nov 29, 2019 7:00AM, https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-staying-power-john-chamberlains-crushed-car-sculptures
9. To give you an idea, California has a much larger population than Texas, and many, many more drivers. Yet according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Texas had almost the same number of traffic fatalities as California in 2020. See here, “What state has the most car accidents?” by Susan Meyer, The Zebra, Updated August 30, 2024. https://www.thezebra.com/resources/driving/car-accidents-by-state/
Note, the Zebra is a commercial site selling car insurance, but the statistics seem correct.
Copyright©2024 Michael Jay Tucker
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