Day 25 - Marfa, A Covertly Cool Place!

So what is it that makes Marfa cool (besides its name)?

Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor spent time in Marfa when they made the movie Giant here. By the looks of things in the photo on the following page Elizabeth didn’t think Marfa was that cool. But that was before artist Donald Judd, a giant figure in minimalist art, moved here. 

In the 1970s Judd got fed up with the New York art scene and fell in love with the wide open space and freedom that Marfa offered. So he moved here, bought a decommissioned army fort that once housed Nazi POWs and transformed it into a showcase for his not-so-small minimalist art.

Judd wanted his art to become a permanent part of the environment in which it was created. His untitled cubes pictured on the following page exemplify that.

Other artists began to make the pilgrimage to Marfa, which is three hours from the nearest airport, and began to take up residence here. Today the place oozes art to the point that it can be hard to distinguish what is intended to be art and what is not. You have to decide for yourself. 

The skies here are also pretty incredible. Marfa Mystery Lights  https://visitmarfa.com/marfa-lights/ seem like they would be really cool. I didn’t see them, but I did see a very dark sky with amazing stars. Not surprisingly, the McDonald Observatory is not too far from here.

Actor and aspiring politician Matthew McConaughey visits Marfa periodically, as do other celebrities. And the Cohn brothers made the movie No Country for Old Men in Marfa.

I am staying in a safari tent in a place called El Cosmico that hosts a fantastic music festival each September called the Trans-Pesos Festival of zmusic and Love. For a little more money guests can stay in a tee pee or in one of many Art Deco trailers. For a little less they can stay in a hammock. All are welcome to use the clothing optional hot tubs.

Probably the coolest thing about Marfa is how happy everyone here is. I probably spoke to over 5% of Marfa’s 2,000 residents and every one of them came across to me as relaxed and content.

Last night I had dinner with a delightful couple from Connecticut. In a previous life he had managed many of my favorite musical artists from the 1960s and 1970s, including Todd Rundgren, Orleans, Janis Joplin, and The Band. And following college she and a few friends had done a bicycle tour across the country at a time in which no one was crazy enough to do that. We could have talked all night!