During a research project on the liaison between art and fashion, I bumped into this art project Marfa Texas, located along U.S. Route 90 in Jeff Davis County, Texas, United States. A fake Prada store in the middle of the Texas desert that obviously has become an attraction for visitors but also recently to vandals.
This is not a new project, as I prefer to bring in this feed but I liked the thought behind it and the relevance it still has today.
The project, a permanent sculptural art installation, is called Prada Marfa and was created in 2005 by artists Elmgreen and Dragset and commissioned by Art Production Fund and Ballroom Marfa. As you can see, it was designed to look like a Prada store with 2 large windows displaying actual Prada products. Was Prada partner in this stunt project? Yes indeed. Prada even allowed Elmgreen and Dragset to use the Prada trademark for the work.
While doing some research on this land art project, I bumped into this great article about the The history of Prada Marfa by NSS Magazine and author Cecilia Caruso
In this article Cecilia Caruso states “Elmgreen & Dragset’s work was conceived as an accusation against American consumerism, retail tourism, gentrification, standing out as an ironic provocation towards Western materialism. However, it should be emphasized that in 2005, when the work was made, Instagram and Facebook and consequently the selfie culture they originated, did not exist. Over the years, Prada Marfa has become a must-see destination for every blogger, influencer and social media star, becoming the perfect backdrop for selfies with viral potential. Paradoxically, the thousands of images of people jumping in front of the fake store are the most accurate representation of the type of society that the work wanted to strike and criticize. The artwork itself has become a consumerist act, a place to be used only with an eye towards social media, thus becoming a means and thus losing its (enormous) communicative potential.”
Wanna know more. Do read the full article here.
Later! Kate
