missing padres

i miss lone star beer, playing shuffle board with the intern posse, and trying to avoid cover charges for bands i didnt want to hear. photo by leigh arnold.

when in texas...

...photograph a roadside virgin mary altar.

for a this and a that, roni horn

This is my favorite work at the Chinati Foundation. These identical solid copper forms and the space they are housed in are amazing. Just another example of why the foundation is like no other contemporary art museum Ive ever visited.

favorite images that i didnt take

I think these images start to sum up my Marfa experience and just how much fun my time here has been. Id like to pretend that most of our nights didnt involve drinking, but good company and alcohol were abundant in Marfa. The photos above are by Rachel Hillery, and the one below is by Leigh Arnold.

These ladies simultaneously trying to jump off the high-dive at Balmorhea, with the board straining under their combined weight, has to probably be one of the most priceless moments from Marfa. They stood on the board together for what had to be ten minutes, while the line behind them grew, demanding they jump. The swimmers at the deep end erupted into cheers when the ladies finally jumped [fell] off the diving board. These are the kinds of interactions we had with the west texas locals, both shocking and captivating.

marfa project, dan flavin

me standing in front of stuff

Standing in front of what we believed was the Rio Grande. Im not sure if we were really looking into Mexico, but we can just pretend it was Mexico.

We drove to Terlingua Ghost Town. Apparently mining for mercury isn't good for ones health.

I can't even begin to explain how far in the middle of nowhere we were when we found this sign.

artist in residence show

Bill Saylor: working to blur the line between art, trash art, and trash. I think the trash was winning.

The intern reactions to the show.

to marfa

driving in west texas

I had to drive to El Paso this morning, a fellow intern and a friend of the museum director were leaving and it was my turn to drive. El Paso is about three hours from Marfa, and while its a stunning scenic drive, it can be epically boring when no one talks and all the radio picks up is fuzzy mexican music. Luckily, I knew where the Chick-fila was located in El Paso [basically the only one in west texas], and that was my sole motivation to get them to the airport as fast as possible and make it in time to still get breakfast. At least fast food was available when I was studying abroad in Prague if we wanted it [and we wanted it alot], but Marfa only has a Dairy Queen and that just doesn't cut it for me.

On the return trip, I was able to stop a number of times and take a few photographs, including the Prada Marfa installation outside of Valentine, TX. It really is as desolately located as it appears. I personally like the security camera on the facade, as if its capable of preventing someone from breaking in and stealing what look to be real Prada merchandise. Unfortunately, I think the store only has the left shoe available for each style displayed.

who sends postcards anymore?

So I got my first piece of postal mail today... a wedding invitation, all the women in the office [which is basically everyone] wanted to admire the design. Apparently thats sort of a big deal. Otherwise, I'm kind of disappointed in the lack of mail I've received so far. The other interns get BOXES of stuff, and I get one letter in the two weeks I've been here... awesome.

I guess technically I'm the one who should be sending out postcards from my 'travels' because as much as I love Raleigh, I don't need postcard reminders, but feel free to send brownies. And maybe you'll get a Marfa postcard in return.

the bike diet

This is my apartment, which I love, but I assume has seen little renovation since about the Great War when these were barracks for german prisoners of war. I'm still not quite sure what short straw those prisoners drew to end up in west texas, but I give it a month and I may start sympathizing with their desert plight. I had the day off, so it was time for grocery shopping. When you have to carry all your groceries back on a bike, you start to prioritize the food essentials... clearly, i needed TWO boxes of cereal and salsa chips [obviously, when in texas].

All the door knobs in my apartment are like this, and it just bugs the hell out of me. Where do you even buy two tone door knobs? or is this the work of some bored and sick former intern.

the locals

The cats outnumber the interns at the Chinati Foundation. And get treated better.

McJunkin Homes

Today was my first day primarily working in the office. I was responsible for logging in all the contact information from visitors for the past week, and one guest was Mary McJunkin, her email being mary@mcjunkinhomes.com. Even if you thought McJunkin was a decent sounding last name, why would you ever name your company McJunkin Homes. Though, I can imagine that to be an accurate description of their homes in Houston.

http://www.mcjunkinhomes.com/

i was right.

monument to the last horse, claes oldenburg

15 multi-part works in concrete, donald judd

Animals love donald judd.

chinati barracks

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The dan flavin installation occupies six of the chinati foundation barracks.

artillery shed