Bear's Blog

Texas is like the US – huge in size, encompassing areas vastly different in geography, climate, history, and culture. I just visited Marfa, a little town with an outsized reputation in the southwestern desert. It’s charming and hip, but also real and run-down; too far from a city to be completely gentrified, it sees tourist action a few days a week (posted business hours - “maybe”). It’s most famous for its human footprints, the movie “Giant” and the avant-garde, minimalist artist Donald Judd.  

The first and last days of this family trip were spent strolling through Marfa and watching “Giant”. Made in 1955, it’s a lumbering, old style Hollywood movie (3 ½ hrs!) with big stars and a bigger budget. The cast and crew of 300 parked themselves at the classic Hotel Paisano; along with the grand county courthouse, it gives the town of 1,700 a substantial feeling. The film centers around the conflict between cattle ranching and the oil boom, wealth born of two different but equally opportunistic cultures. “Giant” is a larger-than-life film that has a surprising end, making it relevant even today.

This part of Texas is defined by space; it had a starring role in the movie and also in Judd’s work. Like many artists coming from NYC, he celebrated the spaciousness of the American West but in a more profound way. He directed us toward an internal experience of space and the illusory nature of reality. A former military hangar from WWII, the main “gallery” houses over 100 metal boxes identical on the outside. Various angled configurations within the boxes are experienced as different and constantly changing. Depending on your viewpoint, shapes are distorted by the play of light, space and reflection. The walls have floor to ceiling windows (Judd’s other major work is literally outside.)

I was stunned by the way the exhibit challenged my sense of perception and reminded me of the mutability of personal perspective. Two other exhibits (by Dan Flavin and Robert Irwin) did the same thing. Afterwards my sense of balance was affected – it was like being in a carnival funhouse but with a deeper impact.

Judd’s outsider aesthetic is very much alive in this iconic little town (he died in 1994). Irony as a cultural statement is what’s celebrated here. The Marfa Ballroom, created in 2000, is an artist’s showcase and a modern reinvention of the Marfa mystique. It created the “Marfa Prada” homage to the irrelevant on the outskirts of town. One evening we attended guitar performances in a barn dubbed the “Marfa Bullroom”.

Exploring the natural world at Big Bend National Park I was still seeing how perspective defined my “knowing” of a place. That was also true at the McDonald Observatory. The night sky and its constellations are a way to navigate our place in the universe with a common language, told in images and stories. This area of Texas has one of the darkest skies in America. Even so, human objects still intruded; we saw a string of Starlink satellites being launched, to be de-coupled like train cars later.

Back in town I met an indecisive artist who created in many mediums, but couldn't choose just one (way of seeing?). A 3rd generation rancher who told me the secret to decoding and cracking open geodes. A caretaker of the Historical Society who had just been out helping clear a long-neglected graveyard. A fancy celebration meal was had at Margaret’s; the rest of the time food was Tex-Mex all the way, and I tasted new “specialties” of the region.

The last night we saw the rest of “Giant”. It blows up the myth of wealth as a means of happiness, defining love and loyalty – to people and place – as what makes for a successful life. An elite Easterner (played by Elizabeth Taylor) made Texas her own, bringing DEI values into the picture and changing the human landscape. A theme for modern times!

Hope you enjoyed hearing about my adventure into the wilds of Texas… we all need a break now and then!

Peace, love and healing -

Bear