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Before the Texas/Mexico premieres of Vidas Perfectas – an all new Spanish-language version of Robert Ashley’s Perfect Lives – in El Paso, Ciudad Juárez, and Marfa, we wanted to present you with a quick primer on some of the important aspects of the piece. The new work, directed by Alex Waterman, has been in development since 2009 and replaces not only the language but the location of the original work, moving from the American Midwest to the Far West Texas desert.

Vidas Perfectas is presented by Ballroom Marfa in conjunction with the El Paso Opera, Whitney Museum of American Art, ISSUE Project Room and Irondale Brooklyn.

Vidas is the realization of years of hard work, rehearsal, and research by the cast and crew, and will be an exciting tribute to Ashley, who passed away earlier this year.

Waterman, who is a founding member of the Plus Minus Ensemble and performs with the Either/Or Ensemble, has been engaging with Ashley and his work for over a decade. He is currently co-writing a book on the composer’s notational scores entitled Robert Ashley: Yes, But is it Edible? and working on his PhD in musicology.

Vidas Perfectas will premiere in El Paso on July 12 and then move to Juaréz (July 13) and Marfa (July 18-19). All the details are on the Vidas Perfectas page.

Who was Robert Ashley?

Guitarist Marisa Anderson played an intimate candlelit performance behind the Ballroom Marfa office on April 21, 2014 at 8pm. In case you missed the show, you can listen to her music on her Bandcamp page, and enjoy these photos courtesy of Lesley Brown and Alex Marks …

Installation view of the Main Gallery, “Art of Its Own Making,”The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, 2014
Image courtesy of The Pulitzer, photographer David Johnson

Nancy Fowler for St. Louis Public Radio discusses how Marfa Dialogues/St. Louis came about, as well as how it is developing, and its end goal which “extends beyond getting people to talk about climate change.”

As Kristin Fleischmann Brewer, the Pulitzer’s manager of programs, explains:

“We hope it will produce action, where people will say, ‘OK, as an individual, how does my daily routine impact climate change and what can I do to change that on the smallest scale?’”

The deadline to enter the Marfa Dialogues competition and become a part of the events, which will run from July 30th until August 3rd, is this Monday, April 21st. Winners will not only receive $2,500, but also the opportunity to share their ideas and projects with a large audience.

For additional information and to apply,

Giant.
Image by Fredrik Nilsen.

During the second month of Hubbard/Birchler’s exhibition, Sound Speed Marker, Ballroom Marfa’s intern, Francesca Altamura, spoke with the artist duo about the works featured in the exhibition, comprising of three films, nine photographs and an installation located in the courtyard.

Teresa Hubbard, born in Dublin, Ireland 1965 and and Alexander Birchler, born in Baden, Switzerland 1962 have been working collaboratively in video, photography and sculpture since 1990. The exhibition Sound Speed Marker will be on view at Ballroom Marfa until July 31, 2014, traveling next to the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland in December 2014 and the Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston, Texas in May 2015.

Francesca Altamura: How would you describe the three featured video works, Grand Paris Texas (2009), Movie Mountain (Méliès) (2011) and Giant (2014) to viewers who may not have been introduced to your work before?

Alexander Birchler: There are three video installations, a trilogy, presented at Ballroom, including the premiere of Giant which was commissioned by Ballroom Marfa. All three works explore, in different ways, the physical and social traces that movies and movie making leaves behind.

FA: How has living in Austin, influenced the direction of your current, and future, works?

Teresa Hubbard: We’ve lived and worked in many places and we’ve moved around a lot over the time we’ve known each other — different cities and towns in Canada, Switzerland, Germany and the United States. During the past decade that we’ve been primarily based in Austin, we’ve gotten close to a number of people who are also based in Austin, and they work with us during the research phase, on location and in post production. These are long-term relationships which we really appreciate and have become such an important part of our community.

FA: What was your initial intrigue with the films Paris, Texas and Giant (1956)? Do these films evoke a sense of nostalgic reminiscence for you both?

In light of recent developments, we’ve updated our Prada Marfa Explainer with new information about our conversations with the Texas Department of Transportation, and with some clarification about how and why we maintain the site.

Why is there any maintenance of Prada Marfa? Isn’t it supposed to become a ruin?

When Elmgreen & Dragset erected Prada Marfa in 2005, they, along with the producers Art Production Fund and Ballroom Marfa, proposed that the public art project would exist at the mercy of the elements and visitors. As Art Production Fund’s Yvonne Force Villareal told the New York Times before its opening, “We loved the idea of the piece being born on Oct. 1 and that it will never again be maintained. If someone spray-paints graffiti or a cowboy decides to use it as target practice or maybe a mouse or a muskrat makes a home in it, 50 years from now it will be a ruin that is a reflection of the time it was made.”

The reality of leaving Prada Marfa completely untouched is a complicated and multifaceted issue. The site is far from pristine, as visitors will already know; however, all parties realized that if the structure were allowed to fully decay, it would become both a hazard and an eyesore. With the blessing of Elmgreen & Dragset, the work’s original plan was modified shortly after it was constructed in 2005. Since it is a public installation, Art Production Fund and Ballroom Marfa are required by law to perform a certain level of repairs in the interest of safety. And out of respect to the residents of Valentine, we paint over graffiti and clean up trash at the site as needed. Performing this minimal maintenance remains true to the spirit of Elmgreen & Dragset’s original proposal, and it also allows us to keep the installation accessible to the public.

In addition to our efforts to maintain the site, we organize semi-annual cleanups of the mile-long stretch of US Highway 90 adjacent to Prada Marfa as part of the Texas Department of Transportation’s Adopt-a-Highway program. As we saw in the aftermath of the 2014 site defacement, residents of Valentine also voluntarily removed detritus left behind by visitors in an effort to protect the site.

While we invite commentary, critique, and interaction with the site, the recent aggressive act of vandalism resulted in significant damage and leaves little room for further engagement about its intention.
The large-scale defacement of the structure overwhelms this forum and shuts down dialogue. We do not endorse the defacement of Prada Marfa, as it limits this thoughtful public discourse.

UPDATE 3/17/2014: Is the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) trying to remove Prada Marfa?

As of March 2014 we are currently in productive talks with TxDOT and are close to resolving the issues around Prada Marfa.

Highlights from the premiere of Vidas Perfectas, a Spanish-language version of Robert Ashley’s opera Perfect Lives

It’s a testament to the timelessness Robert Ashley’s work that so many artists and musicians from across a broad range of disciplines are marking his passing by pointing out his profound impact on an entire universe of challenging and inspirational work. Remembrances are pouring in from NPR, Frieze, Bomb, Fader, Pitchfork and Hyperallergic plus a new generation of sound composers — C. Spencer Yeh, Daniel Lopatin, M. Geddes Gengras, Sun Araw, Amen Dunes et al — all citing Ashley’s influence.

For those not yet familiar with Ashley, we point you to Ubu Web’s Twitter feed, which has become a steady flow of links to his magnificent works.

Ballroom Marfa is also grateful to join Ashley’s friend and collaborator Alex Waterman in continuing work on Vidas Perfectas, a Spanish-language adaptation of Ashley’s Perfect Lives, to debut at the 2014 Whitney Biennial.

Long live the avant-garde, indeed …

We're deeply saddened by Robert Ashley's passing but we are going to celebrate his life and his genius at the Biennial! We love you Bob.

— Alex Waterman (@AlexWaterman) March 4, 2014

In addition to the opening of Hubbard/Birchler’s Sound Speed Marker and the Tish Hinojosa concert on Saturday, Ballroom Marfa has organized an open studio event with many of the local artists and galleries around town.

Over 25 artists, galleries, and institutions will be open on Saturday March 1st from 2-5pm, so be sure to support your local artists (and friends!) by taking a jaunt around Marfa on a beautiful sunny Saturday.

Check out the map and information about who’s participating here.

C’est notre adresse préféréeIt offers spacious open plan living areas, 3 double bedrooms all with built ins plus walk in and ensuite to main, a huge main bathroom and gorgeous polyurethane kitchen with loads of cupboards. Depth among the bigs was injury riddled while, aside from Marcus, the guards drop off after Chasson and Anthony was telling. They mowed the grass as low as possible to maximize attention on Mr. Jamestown, at 1035 Burlington Ave. It showed with me and Caris (LeVert) the other year, and hopefully I can have those same results if I really commit myself. Schmidt has challenged the city on how much it spent to clean up her father’s property and why the city paid to tear down a tree,

Giant, 2014
Production still
High definition video with sound

Sound Speed Marker
Teresa Hubbard / Alexander Birchler
28 de Febrero de 2014 – 31 de Julio de 2014

Inauguración: 28 de febrero, 6–8 pm
Con tacos hechos por Fat Lyle´s y cerveza de Big Bend Brewing Company

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A Ballroom Marfa le complace presentar Sound Speed Marker, de Teresa Hubbard y Alexander Birchler. Las tres instalaciones de video y las fotografías relacionadas, cubren un periodo de cinco años de trabajo, exploran la relación de la filmación con un lugar en concreto y los rastros que dejan la realización de películas. La exposición incluye el estreno de Giant (2014), una obra comisionada por Ballroom Marfa. Se podrá ver la exposición en Ballroom Marfa hasta el 31 de julio de 2014, que será acompañada por un catálogo integral que se publicará en diciembre de 2014. Sound Speed Marker viajará al Museo Irlandés de Arte Moderno en diciembre de 2014 y luego al Museo de Arte Blaffer en la Universidad de Houston en mayo de 2015.

Grand Paris Texas (2009) toma en consideración el espacio físico y social de un cine muerto, una canción olvidada y los habitantes de una pequeña ciudad. El Gran Teatro, un cine abandonado y lleno de palomas en el centro de París, sirve como protagonista de una narrativa que explora París como una metalocalización construida a través del celuloide y las bandas sonoras. Grand Paris Texas conecta tres películas seminales del sudoeste: Paris, Texas (1984) de Wim Wenders; Tender Mercies (1983) de Bruce Beresford; y la memorable película muda de King Baggot, Tumbleweeds (1925).

En Movie Mountain (Méliès) (2011), Hubbard/Birchler exploran el emplazamiento de una montaña en el Desierto Chihuahuense cerca de la ciudad de Sierra Blanca. El proyecto genera varios hilos narrativos que entremezclan la memoria y el olvido. Movie Mountain (Méliès) presenta a un vaquero que escribe guiones así como a residentes cuyos familiares actuaron en una película muda original rodada en la montaña. El proyecto también encuentra un posible vínculo entre Movie Mountain y Gaston Méliès, hermano del famoso cineasta Georges Méliès.

Giant (2014) entreteje las señales de vida y las vistas de un plató cinematográfico en decadencia construido en las afueras de Marfa: la Mansión Reata de la película de 1956 de la Warner Bros., Giant, protagonizado por Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson y James Dean. Tras la finalización del rodaje se dejó en el paisaje la fachada de tres lados. Hubbard/Birchler exploran los restos esqueléticos del plató a medida que cambian las estaciones, el día se transforma en noche y partes de la estructura se balancean y caen desprendidas. Unas escenas de un equipo de rodaje que graba las actuales condiciones aparecen yuxtapuestas con un despacho de la Warner Bros. en 1955, en el que una secretaria mecanografía el contrato de localización para la película que aún no ha sido creada.

Teresa Hubbard, nacida en Dublín, Irlanda, en 1965, y Alexander Birchler, nacido en Baden, Suiza, en 1962, llevan desde 1990 trabajando en colaboración en el video, la fotografía y la escultura. Su obra se encuentra en numerosas colecciones privadas y públicas incluyendo el Museo de Arte Contemporáneo en Los Ángeles; el Museo Hirshhorn y Jardín de Esculturas en Washington DC; el Kunstmuseum en Basilea; el Kunsthaus en Zurich; el Museo de Arte Moderno en Fort Worth; el Museo de Bellas Artes en Houston; el Museo de Arte en Yokohama; y la Pinakothek der Moderne en Munich. La obra en esta exposición aparece por cortesía de la Galería Tanya Bonakdar en Nueva York y la Galería Lora Reynolds en Austin.

Forma parte de la misión de Ballroom Marfa hacer posible la creación de obras de arte que en otro lugar serían imposibles de realizar. Este proyecto –con sus raíces en el paisaje que nosotros llamamos hogar– cierra la trilogía de Hubbard/Birchler y esclarece el papel de Ballroom Marfa como una organización comprometida con el encargo de nuevas obras.

Photo courtesy of Nigel Richardson

Friends of Ballroom, Kaycee Dougherty and Ricardo Fernandez, recently served as guides to journalist Nigel Richardson as he explored Juarez, Mexico. With their help, Richardson, discovers a bustling city filled with culture and beauty.

An excerpt:

“Visiting Juarez is an object lesson in overcoming assumptions. Four years ago it was a narco-hell of daily shootings and reprisal beheadings but violence has abated and security improved to the point that the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office no longer advises against all but essential travel there.

The people are indeed back on the streets – there is a bustle entirely lacking in El Paso, where no one walks. Children in school uniforms walk past shops selling wedding dresses. Vaqueros in cowboy hats loaf about with squeezeboxes and guitars. And everywhere there are signs of construction, rejuvenation.

At the cone-shaped Museum of Art the director, Rosa Elva Vazquez Ruiz, tells me that the museum was a refuge and consolation for many people at the height of the street violence. ‘To come here was the best thing they could do in the week,’ she says.

As part of our ongoing feature “Who’s At Ballroom Marfa This Week?”, I had the pleasure of speaking with K. Brandt Knapp and her boyfriend, Ash Kamel. K. Brandt and Ash were visiting Marfa from New York as part of (what has to be) the greatest holiday party. They were originally drawn to the Drive-In project space, because of K. Brandt’s relationship with MOS — she studied with Hilary Sample of the company in college — but ended up exploring the rest of our Comic Future exhibition. It had been a dreary and quiet Saturday, but they helped liven up the day, telling me about their impressions of Marfa, what they had done so far in town, and what they were up to next. In turn, they allowed me to gush about my favorite places in town (including a particularly long monologue about the boots at Cobra Rock) and provide some advice on what to explore during their final hours in town.

Ballroom Marfa: Is this your first time in Marfa?
K. Brandt Knapp: It is!

BM: Where are you guys from?
KBK: New York. Harlem, New York.

BM: You’ve been around Marfa today, so what was the highlight of your day?
KBK: Highlight… hmmm. We just came from the Block, where Judd had lived, so that was really exciting.
Ash Kamel: I liked the Block.
AK: I guess everything that we’ve done we’ve had a different experience, I don’t necessarily know that I would say there was a favorite… We did the sunrise tour at Chinati and then we saw the Flavin work as well, so it’s been a big day that I still need to process. There’s a lot here to see, as you know.

BM: I totally understand. It took me a few days for everything to really hit me… but I’m still processing it all four months later.
KBK: Yeah, I know it’s a lot to go through. Especially when you’ve seen pictures for so long, my first project ever in studio was based off of the concrete blocks, those works. That’s probably 13 years ago, so I’ve seen images and that was a founding thing for me in my education so to actually go and experience it and see what was directly in relation to it, for instance, I had no idea there would be a street behind it. I just thought it would be in the middle of nowhere.