miss_betty2012
Prada_6143
Prada Marfa - It's a quite famous art piece literally in the middle of nowhere. Marfa, Texas is a tiny town in the high desert in far West Texas between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park. The 2010 population was 1,981. This exhibit is not even in the town of Marfa. It sits alone 26 miles NW of Marfa on US Highway 90 - literally out in the cow pasture. Even though small, Marfa is a tourist destination and a major center for Minimalist art.
Prada Marfa is a permanently installed sculpture by artists Elmgreen and Dragset, The artists called the work a "pop architectural land art project."
Designed to resemble a Prada store, the building is made of adobe bricks, The door is nonfunctional. On the front of the structure there are two large windows displaying actual Prada wares, shoes and handbags, picked out and provided by Miuccia Prada herself from the fall/winter 2005 collection; Prada allowed Elmgreen and Dragset to use the Prada trademark for this work. The sculpture was financed by the Art Production Fund (APF) and Ballroom Marfa, a center of contemporary art and culture.
The night after Prada Marfa officially debuted, the installation was vandalized. The building was broken into, its contents (six handbags and 14 right footed shoes) were stolen. The new Prada purses do not have bottoms and instead hide parts of a security system that alerts authorities if the bags are moved.
This exhibit sits by itself with only country fence lines and a railroad track across the street (2-lane highway). The horizontal foreground at the bottom of the photo is the highway. As I was standing facing the "store" the railroad track was parallel to the road behind me. You would pass right by it without realizing it if you were not looking for it.
The site-specific of Prada Marfa invites for a comparison with other art movements such as minimalism and land art, which are equally dependent on the site where they are placed. Prada Marfa relies almost entirely on its context for its critical effect. The "sculptural Intervention" can be interpreted as criticism of consumerism, luxury branding and gentrification, but whether intentionally or not, it reinforces the capitalist values it criticizes.
...Wikipedia (search Prada Marfa, and Marfa, Texas)
I was only there one time and definitely wanted to capture this place. There are hundreds of photos of this place for comparison. It was already late evening at this time, though still daylight. One other guy had stopped by for photos as well. I stayed a couple of hours and got a few photos with a different perspective with the occasional car trail as it got dark which I'll be working on to post next. The location is so remote that I had to wait for long periods of time for another car or truck to come by. I wanted to post this one first to give the history and general setup of this exhibit.
I would love to go back to Marfa. This small town has attracted artists from all over, including Europe, and has a thriving community.
Prada_6143
Prada Marfa - It's a quite famous art piece literally in the middle of nowhere. Marfa, Texas is a tiny town in the high desert in far West Texas between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park. The 2010 population was 1,981. This exhibit is not even in the town of Marfa. It sits alone 26 miles NW of Marfa on US Highway 90 - literally out in the cow pasture. Even though small, Marfa is a tourist destination and a major center for Minimalist art.
Prada Marfa is a permanently installed sculpture by artists Elmgreen and Dragset, The artists called the work a "pop architectural land art project."
Designed to resemble a Prada store, the building is made of adobe bricks, The door is nonfunctional. On the front of the structure there are two large windows displaying actual Prada wares, shoes and handbags, picked out and provided by Miuccia Prada herself from the fall/winter 2005 collection; Prada allowed Elmgreen and Dragset to use the Prada trademark for this work. The sculpture was financed by the Art Production Fund (APF) and Ballroom Marfa, a center of contemporary art and culture.
The night after Prada Marfa officially debuted, the installation was vandalized. The building was broken into, its contents (six handbags and 14 right footed shoes) were stolen. The new Prada purses do not have bottoms and instead hide parts of a security system that alerts authorities if the bags are moved.
This exhibit sits by itself with only country fence lines and a railroad track across the street (2-lane highway). The horizontal foreground at the bottom of the photo is the highway. As I was standing facing the "store" the railroad track was parallel to the road behind me. You would pass right by it without realizing it if you were not looking for it.
The site-specific of Prada Marfa invites for a comparison with other art movements such as minimalism and land art, which are equally dependent on the site where they are placed. Prada Marfa relies almost entirely on its context for its critical effect. The "sculptural Intervention" can be interpreted as criticism of consumerism, luxury branding and gentrification, but whether intentionally or not, it reinforces the capitalist values it criticizes.
...Wikipedia (search Prada Marfa, and Marfa, Texas)
I was only there one time and definitely wanted to capture this place. There are hundreds of photos of this place for comparison. It was already late evening at this time, though still daylight. One other guy had stopped by for photos as well. I stayed a couple of hours and got a few photos with a different perspective with the occasional car trail as it got dark which I'll be working on to post next. The location is so remote that I had to wait for long periods of time for another car or truck to come by. I wanted to post this one first to give the history and general setup of this exhibit.
I would love to go back to Marfa. This small town has attracted artists from all over, including Europe, and has a thriving community.