Marfa’s mystery
Book explores how isolated arts mecca has evolved
Kathleen Shafer has spent most of her life in urban places: Washington, D.C.; New York; Baltimore; Austin. But in 2007, she visited Marfa, and after years of extended visits, she now lives in the small West Texas town full time. She shares her Marfa experiences, observations and insights in “Marfa: The Transformation of a West Texas Town,” which explores how and why this isolated outpost has become a destination for artists and art lovers. Her book touches on the influence of Donald Judd, the minimalist artist who left New York for Marfa and brought in a world-class art collection that changed the town forever. Shafer addresses racial tension in a town where 69 percent of the population is Hispanic but the arts community is mostly white. And she offers theories about the mystery of the Marfa Lights, which were drawing tourists even before the artists came to town.
Shafer spoke with us recently about her book.
Q: What originally interested you in Marfa?
A: I first went there in 2007, when I was working on my thesis, which involved photographing airfields. I wanted to photograph the (abandoned) Marfa (Army) airfields and, as a student of art, I knew about Donald Judd’s work at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa. Later, while working on my Ph.D. (in geography at the University of Texas), I got an internship at Ballroom Marfa (an old dance hall converted into an arts space), and my interest in the community grew.
Q: What took you from that level of interest to the point of writing a book?
A: I looked into what had been written about Marfa, and there are many stories about it in Texas Monthly, Vanity Fair and the New York Times — which seems to be particularly obsessed with Marfa — but you can’t really get to the meat of a topic in an article. And I wanted to tell the story of Marfa — well, maybe not the story but a particular story. Of course, I’m still an outsider in Marfa, but I believe this book is successful in explaining to people what Marfa is.
Q: For a lot of people, the mystery of Marfa involves the lights, which you saw. Tell us about the lights.
A: There is a formal viewing center for the Marfa Lights, but I didn’t actually see them there. The center is a great social space, with a lot of people talking and laughing. I looked for the lights on a ranch in the presence of just one other person. No one else was there. It was quiet and a different experience altogether.
Q: A lot of people still associate Marfa with the filming of “Giant” (1956), and that’s also discussed in your book.
A: Yes, the crew stayed in the Hotel Paisano, but over time, the hotel was converted into apartments and then sat vacant. Then, in 2001, investors purchased the building for $185,000 (the amount owed in back taxes) and reopened it as a hotel. The hotel is a great space, a historic landmark, and the association with “Giant” is strong. There is a space dedicated to photos from the set and filming and, as you say, people still come to Marfa today because of “Giant.”
Q: You discuss the “Marfa Brand” in your book, and you credit Donald Judd with much of the community’s “cultural change.” Can you discuss Judd and his contributions to Marfa?
A: Judd was a complicated, talented artist who got frustrated in New York. He wanted to get away, as far away as he could, and he went to Marfa. I think making a move from the “center of the art world” to West Texas is pretty incredible, and Houston’s Dia Foundation — which supported him — was a huge part of that success. Up until 15 years ago, a young person who came to Marfa was coming because of Donald Judd. Now, people come out and may not know who Judd was, and that’s representative of what changes have happened in Marfa. But Judd and his Chinati Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a lot of Marfa’s development. The Chinati Foundation has a phenomenal collection of art.
Q: Tell us about the peculiar appeal of “Prada Marfa,” the nonoperational Prada store built off Highway 90 as an art installation.
A: When I first saw Prada Marfa, I thought, “This is kind of fun.” But the more time I spent in Marfa, the less I liked it. Interestingly, it’s not actually in Marfa; it’s about 30 miles outside of Marfa. As far as the locals, most of them are indifferent to it. Some like it; some really don’t like it. But it is photographable, and with social media, it helps export Marfa’s “quirkiness” to the rest of the world.
Q: In the book, you relate that the Spanish explorers referred to the area as the “uninhabited place,” and the concept of “place” is important to your book. Can you discuss the place that is Marfa and what it means geographically and culturally?
A: I think what is now the Marfa style or brand ties closely to its connection to Mexico. The influence, for example, of Mexican crafts and pottery. The border is right there, with border issues and a Border Patrol office. The border may not be as intense as in, say, Juarez, but part of the community’s identity is that political and geographic aspect. Also, I think the people in Marfa value privacy and land ownership. That’s part of the story. People are friendly, but you can be a loner and be friendly. After having spent a lot of time visiting and staying in Marfa over the years, I recently moved there. And there’s a certain level of privacy that’s very different to me, having lived in urban areas.
More generally, it’s an amazing place. Every day, you look up, and the sky is doing something amazing. The colors and the clouds are amazing. It’s this great, vast landscape. It’s the West.
‘Marfa: The Transformation of a West Texas Town’ By Kathleen Shafer University of Texas Press, 204 pp., $24.95