White Sands

Driving back from Marfa we went a little bit past El Paso, to White Sands National Monument* in Alamogordo, New Mexico: the world's largest gypsum dune field, covering 275 square miles of desert. If you're ever in the area I highly recommend the stop--it was definitely the highlight of our day (and perhaps one of the highlights of the trip in general).

There's an eight mile drive you can take, with various stopping off points along the way. Above is the farthest point you can take. I was kind of obsessed with all of the covered picnic tables scattered throughout the parking area. I love the shapes and the random placement.

We had a lot of fun running up and down the dunes in our bare feet. I just wish there'd been an ocean to run into--it's kind of like a beach with no water.

These crazy looking plants were everywhere. Apparently they're soaptree yuccas.

A gypsum plant stand off in the distance.

Another one up close--it looks like some kind of weird Muppet creature.

I noticed a lot of these clusters of seeds gathered in indentations in the sand. I don't know if they naturally formed with the wind or if some animal has been doing some organizing. (Note the little footprints in the center.)

This tree is so creepy looking, I love it.

A steep incline--someone actually ran down this, as evidenced by the footprints.

The trail back to the car.

*If you've ever seen the Errol Morris movie Vernon Florida, you may recall the couple with the jar of New Mexican sand who claim that the sand grows. They most certainly collected that sand from this place, as the gypsum absorbs moisture (and back in their humid home state, there would be a lot of moisture to absorb)--thus the sand in fact does "grow".

Afternoon at the Chinati Foundation

While I think overall I enjoyed the morning tour at the Chinati Foundation a little more than the afternoon, the later tour had its highlights. First on the agenda was Dan Flavin's large-scale fluorescent light works.

I really liked these, especially the visual effect they created when standing up close to the lights.

Although after awhile it did start to get repetitive--it's essentially the same thing over and over spread throughout six identically-shaped buildings.

Another really interesting building is this mess hall, in which glass frames were placed around original paintings from the 1930s found on the walls in order to preserve them just as they were.

The last things we saw were Donald Judd's 15 concrete boxes that run along the border of the property, which was technically after the tour was over--we were given the option of checking them out before the place closed, and I think only one other group of people chose to do it. I guess they'd had it with minimalist art for one day (admittedly about halfway through the boxes I started to get a little tired myself).

They're pretty awesome though. And there's no tour guide to tell you not to touch them.

More pictures around Marfa

My trip to Marfa feels like it happened ages ago, even though it's only been a few weeks. But I still have so many photos left to share (ha)! Here are some random photos from around town.

The hammock grove at El Cosmico. We spent a little while Monday afternoon reading (as there is not much else to do on a Monday in Marfa).

Outside Padres, quite possibly the only bar and music venue in town. It gets pretty hopping on the weekends but it was pretty quiet on Monday at 4 (I don't know why we were so hungry so early) while we ate rice and beans and listened to Willie Nelson.

Great sidewalk art.

Dave told me that Robert Frank already took this photo.

The Chinati Foundation owns a castle too. They own everything.

The listings in the window at this real estate agency were all several years old and covered in dust. I don't think it's a working business anymore.

Orange shell chairs in the waiting room at the local clinic.

The keys to the Royal Mansion. When I look at this photo I just picture myself laying on the couch with the breeze coming through the windows. It was such a peaceful vacation!

That time of year again

I've still got a lot of pictures from our trip that I want to post on here but I'm going to take a break to mention the Renegade craft fair last weekend in Brooklyn, which we came home just in time for. I always find great stuff every year, even though it's often the same sellers (and a lot of the same products and designs).

Every year I manage to come home with a new T-shirt. This one was from M. Carter (my own shirt is currently in the dirty laundry pile so I took this image from their website). I didn't remember seeing them at the last couple of fairs (could be wrong though) but I really liked a lot of their designs.

And of course the obligatory necklaces. The middle one I actually bought in Marfa at Fancy Pony Land--the woman who makes them puts pennies on the railroad track in town and then retrieves the squashed coins to create these necklaces. That story totally sold me on them--even though I could probably make them myself if I had a drill, I love the thought of these pennies sitting out on the tracks in Marfa with a train thundering overhead.

Anyway, the one on the left is from Brooklyn Rehab, and the one on the right is from Species by the Thousands. I don't know if either of them have any good stories behind their creation but that's okay because I just like how they look.

I really wanted to buy something a little out of the ordinary this year--I always seem to come home with T-shirts and necklaces, not that I'm complaining--which I found in the form of this geometric terra cotta planter. I can't find the business card for this seller, nor can I find her on the list of artists on the Renegade fair website, so I'm afraid I can't tell you where to get one of your own.

After the fair we dropped by Sprout Home and picked up this cactus to put in our new planter. I think it suits it pretty well.

Morning tour at the Chinati Foundation

While in Marfa we toured the Chinati Foundation, an art museum based upon the ideas of its founder, the artist Donald Judd, located on 340 acres of land on the site of a former military fort. Different installations and exhibits are housed in various buildings around "the compound," as they call it. Per the Foundation's website, "The specific intention of Chinati is to preserve and present to the public permanent large-scale installations by a limited number of artists. The emphasis is on works in which art and the surrounding landscape are inextricably linked."

For me, one of the highlights of the morning tour was School No. 6 by Russian artist Ilya Kabakov, which is an entire building designed to resemble an abandoned schoolhouse from the former Soviet Union.

The space is filled with detritus of another time--faded posters, toys, and papers scattered around. It makes you feel like you're in Prypiat (one of the Ukrainian towns evacuated after the Chernobyl disaster). Not that I've ever been there.

The objects tell a story of the imaginary children who once spent their days within these walls--in some cases quite literally, via index card captions.

Everything is a little bit askew, with furniture turned on its side, random boards leaning against walls, so that at times you have to climb over it (being careful not to knock it over, as the tour guide constantly reminds you not to touch anything).

One corner of the overgrown courtyard.

The peeling walls are painted an institutional green and white.

The other highlight was Donald Judd's 100 aluminum boxes. Each one has the same dimensions, but the interior is unique in every piece.

This one casts such amazing shadows.

All over Marfa they warn you that "snakes are part of nature." So are giant spiders. We saw at least three inside the buildings at Chinati, one actually inside one of the aluminum boxes. I don't care if tarantulas are supposedly gentle creatures--I don't want to run into one in a dark alley (or anywhere).

Pictures of Marfa

Most of Marfa consists of former (or current) feed stores, gas stations, buildings owned by the Judd Foundation, dumpy looking houses, and galleries. I kind of like it though.







The building in the background is the El Paisano Hotel, whose claim to fame is that the film crew of the movie Giant stayed there.

We saw a lot of signs like this outside of businesses. This one might just be a joke though (it's on the door of a gallery). Then again, maybe not.

There was a group of tables underneath a tent-like structure right across from the train tracks. We sat at one of the tables for a minute and then realized that there were footprints on it, as though someone had been dancing on it not too long ago. That's how they roll here...there's not much else to do besides dancing on tables.

El Cosmico (or, our new home)

Much like our stay in Bisbee last year, while in Marfa we've been staying in a kind of RV park full of renovated campers called El Cosmico. Our camper, the Royal Mansion, is pictured above.

And compared to the one we slept in at the Shady Dell, it kind of is a mansion. Note the (extremely comfy) leather couch.

The view going the other way. It actually has a working stove and oven.

The equally comfy bed (I really like the orange quilt).

These lights get really hot.

We have an outdoor shower right next to the camper, which we can access via a side door. It's kind of like being naked outside because there are only three walls.

A view of some other campers. Note the colorful array of tents in the background. The girl who took us to our camper commented that it looked like a "refugee camp."

Anyway, despite the fact that I have to sit in the communal lounge to access the internet, shower outside, and sleep in close proximity to hippies, I love our camper. I kind of want to just live in it. Dave has said multiple times, possibly half jokingly, that we should just buy one of our own. Although we might need to buy a second one to fit our records and books.