"Books Do Furnish a Room"

I encountered Lawrence Weiner's bookmark referencing Donald Judd's library online a couple weeks ago (both images via). With the greatest of intentions, I began a book inventory in 2013 and finally finished it before moving in January. Despite this fact, I had never counted all of them.

Knowing about the bookmark, however, convinced me to do so. I am very happy to report that I am no Donald Judd, coming in at a few under 600 (= one large wall). If ever I reach 1000, that will be a problem. I couldn't agree more with the sentiment - books do furnish a room especially if you haven't had a television since 2006.

Earthworks Road Trip Through the Binoculars

The theme that keeps on giving...

Two versions of the Ant Farm's Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas.

Chinati Foundation, Donald Judd's Concrete Sculptures (so blurry it hurts)

Marfa Lights Observation Building at Sunset (these are the only Marfa Lights we saw and they were photographed from a telescope)

Imagine Walter De Maria's Lightning Field at sunset here.

Very Large Array, Socorro, New Mexico

South Kaibob Trail, South Rim of the Grand Canyon

Wupatki National Monument, Arizona

Michael Heizer's Double Negative with and without scale reference.

Nancy Holt's Sun Tunnels (ideal for the format)

Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty

Clear Water Sample: Donald Judd's "Tank"

Here I am, collecting water from dead artist's swimming pools. No need to answer what that means (because I don't know yet either).

Donald Judd's pool is officially called a "tank." It does not have a filtration system nor can it be drained (in other words... yuck).  This evening, I pulled out my Chinati manual and this is what Judd wrote about it in the Selected Texts section:

After Nate and Marni sent me a mason jar full of water from Robert Rauschenberg's pool earlier this summer, it was fitting to do the same in Marfa.

A thunderstorm storm, fortunately, forced everyone on the tour to stand under the arbor not in the rain, so it wasn't difficult to pull the jar out of my bag and slide it into the water on the 8' side.

 I couldn't fly back with it in my luggage so a trip to the Alpine post office was in order. Luckily, the water sample arrived without breaking and now I have two large containers to contend with.

Judd Foundation Block Tour (Belated Post)

This was my second trip on the Judd Foundation's Block Tour (featuring his living quarters, library and "studios" which resembled galleries). There were many differences from the past visit, primarily the weather. It was rainy and cool and the buildings were not faint inducing hot as they were previously.

This time I counted all of Judd's beds and the other dominant feature that I began to look for was his use of orange and cadmium.

Our tour guide, the estimable Eugene Binder, allowed us into the library where seven us stood in the doorway looking at the books curl in the heat and gradually yellow with age. One of my favorites was a college algebra book that was so warped it couldn't stand on it's own. The books displayed on the main table (focusing on architecture and the pyramids of Mexico) were placed in the same position Judd left them in November 1993. In between the book piles was a hat, carabiners, stones, and brushes (to sweep away the dust?). Rocks were commonly featured on the shelves both as display and functional book ends.

[Image via]

Judd undoubtedly had the best prosciutto cutting set in Marfa in full view in his kitchen. The ten person dining table, at the right angle, allowed one to see wax spilled on the wood from twenty years earlier. Three armored knights (2/3rds size) were suspended from the stairway, watching over those that dined with Judd and his family.

I continually marvel at the limited storage space in Judd's buildings. Everything is in sight. Kitchen utensils, bowls, plates, etc. are in full view. Arrowhead collections reside on tables within the living space. He was a minimalist that likes clutter (though it's neatly arranged). I would grow weary of this and want to clear off spaces for breathing room.

The Southwest Studio featured a lot of cadmium and Swimming Pool in the back right [Image via]

It was not difficult to imagine Judd's day-to-day existence, moving from one space to the next, arranging a pile here, taking a nap on a bed there. He had so many of these rooms and in today's age of leaving a smaller environmental footprint, it felt wasteful.

A dominant theme of the artwork in the studios was the presentation of sculptures that Judd did not want in public view. I love the idea of Judd living with the problematic works, not well conceived ones. I wonder what my walls would look like if I hung all the art that was unresolved and how that would change my working process (?).

Brainstorming

In Europe earlier this summer, I made a list of the most important bodies of water that inform who I am (artistically and personally). There are twelve: eleven I know well and one I strive to visit one day. It is my hope that the removal of the fake dessert from the water and simply studying the location, the form, and the feeling will resolve many of the questions I ask but neglect to answer.

I packed art supplies (including the transformation of a Mason jar into a carry-on airplane snack receptacle perfect for cashews and green beans) and headed to two on the list: the Thunderbird Hotel in Marfa, Texas where my vision of floating a fake dessert first materialized in 2009 and Balmorhea State Park an hour to the north.

It is not a typical summer in West Texas as the desert was nearly as green as the Thunderbird Hotel's swimming pool. I battled many clouds, at first willingly but later with disappointment.

No visit to Marfa is complete without visiting the Chinati and Judd Foundation. More on that later including the purchase of my first performance art piece. In the meantime, I am researching, making notations, writing and thinking, and with any hope, there will be developments this week before my summer comes crashing to an end, enveloped by school for the first 17 days of August.

Dia:Beacon with Colleen

Saturday I hung out with my friend Colleen who recently moved to Red Hook, NY. We went to Dia:Beacon and saw some Richard Serras, the Blinky Palermo retrospective, and my favorite Donald Judd plywood pieces.



Richard Serra, Union of the Torus and the Sphere, 2001 (image from Dia)


Richard Serra, Torqued Ellipses, 1996-2000 (Image from Dia with a "real camera")


More Torqued Ellipses via my iPhone


Leopard spots on a Torqued Ellipse (shortly before hearing a woman loudly vocalizing sounds as she moved through one of the ellipses).


Donald Judd, Untitled, 1976 (a perfect installation in an old Nabisco factory)


Lunch at the Peekskill Marina, NY

The Artist's Studio

Francis Bacon's Studio, 1992


Robert Rauschenberg in his studio, 1953


Donald Judd's Studio, Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas


Nick Cave's Studio with Assistants


Willem de Kooning in his studio, 1989


Allan McCollum, 1989




Bruce Nauman, On Mapping the Studio, 2001


James Luckett's studio #3N, 2010

Although this video makes me ill with the handheld camera movement, here's Alec Soth's studio.


The studio where I grew up that encompasses most things I think of when I dream of my own space: scale, light, the couch and chair, drafting table, sink, and oddly enough, the pencil sharpener (which i now own). Thinking heavily about the feasibility of getting my own studio outside the spare bedroom these days.

Donald Judd's Library Online

The 13,000 books in Donald Judd's Library in Marfa, Texas are available to browse online here. It is more of an upclose and personal look than the Judd Foundation tour which only allows you to look inside the windows. I like the objects sitting on the shelves and underneath - stones lined up in order and even a pair of wooden Dutch shoes. It becomes more about organization - what is vertical, horizontal, how the blank spaces inform the groupings, etc.

In some ways, it reminds me of Ed Ruscha's Information Man (yes, I am still trying to finish Ed Ruscha and Los Angeles - not for lack of interest but mainly lack of time). Information Man can account for all of his books (hypothetically of course):

"of all the books of mine that are out in the public that only 17 are actually placed face up with nothing covering them. 2026 are in vertical positions in libraries, while 2715 are under books in stacks… 58 have been lost; 14 totally destroyed by water or fire; while 216 could be considered badly worn. A whopping 319 books are in positions between 40 and 50 degrees and most of these are probably in bookshelves with the stacks leaning at odd angles. 18 of the books have been deliberately thrown away or purposely destroyed. A surprising 53 books have never been opened….”