Thursday, December 14, 2017

This, is Playboy Marfa. Yeah, I never heard of it either, but Larry L knew exactly what it was! How? No idea! A 40-foot tall neon Playboy bunny sign and a black 1972 Charger


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/7713463-post24006.html



Jalopnik ran a story on it 6 years ago, it seems Playboy's marketing team commissioned the piece as part of their attempts to "reviv(e) the brand for a younger generation" who probably don't have much use for the magazine thanks to the wide array of free Internet porn readily available to them.

Well, they pissed off the locals, who got the idea that it's as much an advertising piece for Playboy as it is art, and that hurt the feelings of all the delicate sensibilities of the tender artists.

Not only were the local water lillies all in a tizzy, the great state of Texas couldn't handle the magazine symbol, and ordered Playboy to remove its sign. Yeah, Waco happened, twice, but a bunny? Hell no.  The Texas Department of Transportation said it’s considered an advertisement and can’t be placed by a U.S. highway.

It was moved to the Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art, where it was to be located for one year of display, but was so appreciated for some reason, it stayed for 3, despite... and get a load of this...

 here’s Peter Simek on Playboy Marfa-

 There is something frivolous and frustrating about this piece. If you take a step back from the dry intellectual pat-a-cakes over the nature of the work of art, you see it as merely a trite, depressingly idiotic piece of consumer kitsch, a muscle car on a tilted pedestal facing a neon bunny. At best the piece is itself an example of art-parody, a self-effacing admittance of art’s own branded triviality, pandering consumer cool with a nihilistic swagger. It’s a conversation piece, but a dreadful and depressing work of art.

Who the hell is Peter Simek? Among other things he's written, he did an article on the culinary epicures of the California coast.  Yes, I had to look up wtf that means. Epicure? = Perfect gift. Seriously, great food was not a phrase he could use? SMH

Somehow, they missed the Prada Marfa "art" and couldn't establish a link to the advertising nature of



this consumer centric pop stand, if you can believe that!

This is a permanently installed sculpture by artists Elmgreen and Dragset, by Valentine Texas, and not, ironically? Marfa.

https://www.dmagazine.com/arts-entertainment/2017/03/farewell-playboy-bunny-at-the-dallas-contemporary/
https://jalopnik.com/how-playboy-pissed-off-an-artsy-west-texas-town-1167416685
https://jalopnik.com/playboy-marfa-may-be-the-next-great-car-geek-roadside-530413149

8 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. marfa? What the hell is Marfa?

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    2. holy shit... how in the hell did you know playboy marfa? Wow! I'm stunned anyone has ever heard of, or been there, or taken a photo of it!
      You rock!

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    3. "That's what I do. I drink and I know things".

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    4. That... that is my quote of the week! Fantastic reply!

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  2. Was in Dallas for a while.

    See: https://www.dmagazine.com/arts-entertainment/2017/03/farewell-playboy-bunny-at-the-dallas-contemporary/

    Any idea where it is now?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! No, I went web surfing to flesh out the post, and didn't read where it went after the Dallas MOCA

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