REAL NEWS on Campus REAL NEWS began as a monthly broadsheet in September 2012, written and distributed in Marfa, TX by two (now expat) Marfa residents Rosa McElheny and Hilary duPont. McElheny and duPont are back this spring to write, edit, design, produce and distribute their fourteenth issue during Marfa Myths. Combining journalistic intrigue, grass-roots reporting, idiosyncratic graphic design and a for-us-by-us approach to local gossip, Real News is regarded by its readership as brilliant, and by its West Texas audience as genius. They turn their distinctive editorial voice towards subjects including popular culture, internet phenomena, local events, and the weather. In an age of digital media, Real News thrives as an exclusively non-commercial, print-only publication, available for free at local venues, or by complimentary subscription. McElheny and duPont, who collectively resided in Marfa for 9 years, were lovingly described by Ballroom Marfa’s communication director Daniel Chamberlin as “a chill tribe of high desert hedonist cognoscenti intent on pursuing the good life of mind-expanding art, dank-ass nugs, frosty brews and drama-free make-out sessions.” Obviously, we could think of no better candidates for the Marfa Myths artist residency. A brief interview with the duo: 1. how old are you?
H: i am 30, which is apparently still old enough to live like a college kid.
R: haha im 28 but im very mature 2. where do you live now?
H: West Philadelphia. a cool new place for me with the best cheap food ever.
R: New Yawk City– 3. how long did you live in marfa?
H: almost 7 years, which was a cool way to spend most of my 20s (except for that the desert definitely advanced my wrinkles y’all.)
R: 1 year, 8 months. long enough to completely embrace the idea that you should drive as fast as possible. 4. who do you miss most in marfa?
H: this is a tricky question to answer because some of my best friends on earth live there (not gunna list because the fear of leaving someone off, but i trust YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE (Riley Ooo), but also I miss EVERYONE. (sometimes even the people who annoyed me when I lived there!)
Sometimes it is so cool to go to the grocery store and buy my mac & cheese without seeing anyone i know, but sometimes its good to see someone and feel guilty so you have that accountability to prevent you from buying the mac & cheese PLUS the ice cream. ya know?
R: but in new york you can get mac &cheese cream at any time of day, delivered! 5. are you happy to be coming back?
H: so happy and excited and scared. where’s the secret lunch spot ppl???
R: so happy– the experience of time that you feel– in marfa time moves fast and slow, in new york it moves mostly fast, but in a pretty minute way. im ready for that to get fucked with, for my clock to go backward, to feel a sense of the infinite 6. any marfa crushes?
H: at least one for every year i lived there probably. no, more than that actually…i just counted. but i still know some of these people, so can’t admit it in print until one of us is dead i guess.
…but i guess we can make a list of all-stars:
-paint boy from true value (where’d he go y’all? college?)
-sleepy eyed guy from west side stripes
-whatever dude is currently sporting the long locks
-bucho who used to be postmaster, now you can find him at paisano sometimes. #myhero
R: Little Levi!! but i only see him on the internet and all the new baby faces out there 7. marfa enemies???????
H: yes – most publicly the woman who bought the identical car to mine, the silver volvo 240. uncool.
R: I’ll say it: ______ the deputy. can you piblishthat? “@&$;!/- the police. 8. what’s so real about real news?
H: real news is real because we are allowed do whatever we want (until we get a pro sponsorship from nike or someone. we are so ready for that moneysss) 9. what’s the realest thing that’s ever happened?
H: when jayz, bruce springsteen and obama were all in a room together once (really happened ppl!!!!!). 10. where would you hot air balloon if you could?
H: a private island in the Caribbean please
R: yeah but im getting off in jamaica! 11. do you miss anthony, at all?
H: oh yea. he made me a whole jar of pickled green beans for my road trip back east and i ate them all within an hour.