the replaces in the world they're
considered thin places and that's where
the spiritual in the physical world get
very close there's very little
separating them this is a thin place I
don't want to first come out here I
didn't know that Texas went eight
thousand feet in the air it's so big
it's just overwhelming at first now I
can't picture any livable place being
anything but that
Marfa definitely has an independent
spirit it's always seemed at least and
kind of folklore about the area to be a
sort of rogue place I think something
that continues to draw people here is
this notion of independence being able
to make your own vision reality I was a
professional commercial photographer all
my life so I did annual reports and
corporate brochures and very quickly got
really tired of it I just hated it I
said enough of this and I'm gonna do
something else and then I ended up in
Marfa it kind of redefined for me what
an artist community is
Donald Judd was an American artist he
was born in 1928 and Excelsior Springs
Missouri Judd had initially come out to
the West Texas area in the 40s when he
was in the army it felt like this was
the place where he wanted to live and to
work and so he moved here in the early
70s
in Judds workspace is very important he
really felt like these objects related
not only to the other objects in the
room but also to the architecture and to
the landscape outside so in that way
there is a site-specific quality and
that's something that's quite counter to
general museum practice it's not a
sterile environment it's very much still
a living environment that has a unity to
it throughout the year we have lots of
artists and architects coming through
Marfa to see the spaces and sometimes
those people stay for an artist to move
here it's not that they're trying to
recreate Donald Judd's work or even work
within his particular aesthetic but I
think Judds work sets a standard for
behavior as an artist that sort of
ability to have solitude in nature and
also to kind of chart your own course
here you get to really make your own
rules for how you want to live
they still cowboy the old way out here
you still dragging Cavs up with a horse
you don't fence a whole lot of your
property because it's just too big and
use the mountains in the valleys and the
terrain I can go down to that ranch in I
can see her miles into Mexico for me the
landscape out here it's large its vast
it's open
you are pretty exposed and I think that
that kind of openness also relates to
how you behave as a person when I first
arrived here I knew nothing of course
and I had started to photograph the
landscape and quite unknown to me were
the trespassing laws of Texas I was
shooting and the truck went by and then
quickly reversed back up and this guy
got out
he said well you can't do this unless
you get permission and I said well who
should I get permission he said well you
can start with me so I sent some
pictures after that and from that
blossomed the relationship but I ended
up getting invited out to do some
branding no we've spent Thanksgivings
together that's great
five years ago when I first opened this
bar it was like a standoff he's like in
high school these three crowds just all
in different spots
you got the local guys they've been here
for three or four or five generations
then you've got the cowboys and you've
got cowboys it come from Montana Wyoming
all over Texas and then you get the art
crowd comes in and then all three of
them are in your saloon at the same
night and it's just entertaining as hell
to watch but I wanted a place where
everybody felt comfortable
this seems like it all got worked out
here in this bar most of the people I
can think of didn't come here because
they were looking for this they came
here because they were just looking for
something and lo and behold look what we
found
I live in a trailer park in West Texas
every time I say that I can see my
mother just rolling in her grave but
I've never felt more at home in a place
than that for here
you