Chinati Foundation
In 1973 minimalist artist, Donald Judd, left the congested streets of New York to purchase property in the high Chihuhuan desert town of Marfa, Texas. The vast landscape and relative seclusion seeded his vision for what would later become The Chinati Foundation; an independent, nonprofit museum housing permanent, large-scale installations. Formally the Fort D.A. Russell military base, Chinati’s campus is comprised of 34 army barracks, artillery sheds, and additional industrial structures throughout downtown. The sprawling space is home to a select group of artists with whom Judd closely identified including Dan Flavin, John Chamberlain, Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen, Richard Long, Roni Horn, David Rabinowitch, Ilya Kabakov, Ingólfur Arnarsson, Carl Andre, Robert Irwin and John Wesley.
Judd’s theory on the exhibition of art came from not only a desire to give an object ample space in which to be viewed, but also a place of permanence. In Chinati’s mission statement, Judd is quoted: “The emphasis is on works in which art and the surrounding landscape are inextricably linked (…) It takes a great deal of time and thought to install work carefully. This should not always be thrown away. Most art is fragile, and some should be placed and never moved again. Somewhere a portion of contemporary art has to exist as an example of what the art and its context were meant to be. Somewhere, just as the platinum-iridium meter guarantees the tape measure, a strict measure must exist for the art of this time and place.”[1]Judd’s well documented distain for the “usual and hostile” museum noted the danger of a rotating exhibition. He said: “it was unnatural for the artworks (…) to continually haul them around, to and from exhibitions (…) Artists cannot continue to permit their work to be put in situations which do harm to it; for this reason they themselves must create the circumstances in which their work can be seen according to their norms and wishes.”[2]Here’s the irony: while the Chinati Foundation is dedicated preserving these works of art, free from the threat of human error inherent in packing, unpacking, transportation and installation, there remains the threat of the physical environment where changing climate conditions, temperature, relative humidity, light, and contaminants (dust or pests) causes equal damage. Judd died too young to see these deleterious effects start to take place, and proper conversation efforts were not made a priority.
Marfa is known for its desperately long, hot summers and short, cold winters where the temperature can fall below freezing. It is an arid climate, with wide open spaces inviting high wind speeds to kick up the dust of the desert[3]. In a telephone conversation with the director of conservation at Chinati, Shelley Smith, she stated the main concerns for artwork preservation were rapid temperature change, relative humidity, light, dust and pests.[4]Less than ideal conditions for any work of art. If you look at Chinati’s holdings, the majority of the works are produced from industrial materials. Judd used concrete, stainless steel, plywood, brass, copper, plexi and iron; Chamberlain’s crush cars are constructed from painted and chromium-plated steel; Richard Long’s outdoor sculpture is found volcanic rock collected by the artist in Iceland and Dan Flavin’s florescent light sculptures (who’s work raises an entirely different conversation question whether the original lightbulbs should be replaced with new ones) are not as vulnerable as the other works in the collection.
One contemporary of Judd’s, John Wesley, paints simplistic, flat figures in pinks and blues with a bold graphic clarity. In the Chinati catalogue Marianne Stockenbrand writes: “Judd especially appreciated Wesley’s restricted palette of colors, his recurring motifs, his compression of spaces to an almost total two-dimensionality, the clarity of his lines, and the flawless execution of his paintings. He also liked Wesley’s idiosyncratic humor, as expressed by his characteristic, almost old-fashioned subject matter which Judd saw ‘a cool, psychological oddness.”[5] Judd invited Wesley to Marfa in 1983 where he completed a series of paintings that became the core of Chinati’s holdings. The collection includes approximately 14 paintings made from acrylic on canvas, works on paper and a screen print series titled Panoply.[6]
The building that houses Wesley’s work is a stucco structure with four beautifully minimalist, rotating wood doors along one side to let in the natural West Texas light. The building envelope is considered the first stage of protection against the elements, but it is not climate controlled and only has a UV film on the glass doors to hedge against ambient light. Fading and surface deteriation from light damage is cumulative and irreversible. Acrylic falls under ‘medium sensitivity’ and there is no light level that is considered safe for these delicate materials.[7]Additionally, cracking and “dimensional change” or warping to the canvas structure is a real threat states Smith. It is a “greater factor” than light damage as the drastic changes in temperature and relative humidity are constant throughout the year. Dust and pest excretion are also an issue. There is no blockage against insects entering the building, and while Chianti’s staff does weekly maintenance to remove the dust, constant cleaning is harmful in itself.[8]
Smith went on to say that Chinati has been in ‘emergency mode’ for the last 15 years trying to stabilize water leaks, and other basic building renovations to help buffer the climate. The organization has employed an environmental monitoring system with at least two years’ worth of data documenting the deteriation of all of the artworks on display. Her hope is that this information will help raise awareness for the immediate need for prevention and conservation of the collection. Rotation, Smith notes, would be the first step in mitigation. The artwork needs a rest from exposure; the antithesis of Judd’s intent for the museum.[9] Currently, there is no strategic plan for the long term care of the collection, so we are left with a question: as the Chinati Foundation continues to evolve as an institution, how will it address these very real issues when the primary recommendation challenges the bedrock of Donald Judd’s vision?
[1]https://www.chinati.org/visit/missionhistory
[2]Marianne Stockenbrand. Chinati: The Vision of Donald Judd. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2010. Page 263
[3]https://weatherspark.com/y/3668/Average-Weather-in-Marfa-Texas-United-States-Year-Round
[4]Smith, Shelley. Phone Interview. 3 September 2019
[5]Stockenbrand, Marianne. Chinati: The Vision of Donald Judd. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2010). Page 253
[6]https://www.chinati.org/collection/johnwesley
[7]Barbara Appelbaum. Preserve, Protect, and Defend: A Practical Guide to the Care of Collections. (New York: Barbara Appelbaum Books, 2018). Page 172
[8]Smith, Shelley. Phone Interview. 3 September 2019
[9]Smith, Shelley. Phone Interview. 3 September 2019