Prada Marfa
Shoutout! To Gina and Amale who told me about this interesting town in Texas.
Artist Elmgreen and Dragset
Year 2005
Type Adobe, plaster, paint, glass panes, aluminum frames, MDF, carpet
Location US 90, Valentine, Texas
Prada Marfa is a permanently installed sculpture by artists Elmgreen and Dragset. The artists called the work a “pop architectural land art project. The sculpture, realized with the assistance of American architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello, cost US$80,000 and was intended to never be repaired, so it might slowly degrade back into the natural landscape.This plan was deviated from when, three days after the sculpture was completed, vandals graffitied the exterior, and broke into the building stealing handbags and shoes.
Sculpture
Designed to resemble a Prada store, the building is made of “adobe bricks, plaster, paint, glass pane, aluminum frame, MDF, and carpet.The installation’s door is nonfunctional. On the front of the structure there are two large windows displaying actual Prada wares, shoes and handbags, picked out and provided by Miuccia Prada herself from the fall/winter 2005 collection; Prada allowed Elmgreen and Dragset to use the Prada trademark for this work. Prada had already collaborated with Elmgreen and Dragset in 2001 when the artists attached signage to the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in New York City with the (false) message “Opening soon – PRADA”. Prada Marfa is located relatively close to Donald Judd’s Chinati Foundation. The minimalism of Prada’s usual displays that are mimicked in this work play off the minimalism that Judd is known for as an artist. The sculpture was financed by the Art Production Fund and Ballroom Marfa, a center of contemporary art and culture.
Along a ledge that runs around the base of the building, hundreds of people have left business cards, weighed down by small rocks.
