It's easy to imagine the conversation on the way to Marfa, as a loaded-with-cash couple heads into Valentine (pop. 207), about 26 miles from their destination. "God, I can't believe that we've come to this god-forsaken place. There's nothing HERE. I mean, there's a Border Patrol van. It's not even SAFE. Next time you want to buy art, I want to go to New York. At least I could go shopp - LOOK!! SLOW DOWN!" "What, darling?" "Sweetie, it's going to be OK. If there's a Prada store in Marfa, then it'll be fine ... I've just seen the sweetest little boutique ...
Only, of course, it's a sham. This booth was erected in 2005 by Berlin artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset - a few days after it opened it was vandalised and the (real) bags and shoes stolen, so now the (real, again) replacement ones have had their bottoms ripped out and conceal motion detectors. But apart from that, the artists just want it to stay there, to decay, to be lived in by mice, to be used as target practice, or whatever (it's quite extraordinary to me that, in fact, it seems pristine).
I couldn't have driven past a better piece of social commentary on the day the Stock Market dived, again.
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