A WORD FOR TODAY, May 25, 2023
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, May 25, 2023
“Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Behold, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship, to devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of workmanship. Behold, I myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all who are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you: the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furniture of the Tent, the table and its vessels, the pure lamp stand with all its vessels, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, the basin and its base, 10 the finely worked garments - the holy garments for Aaron the priest, the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office - the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded you they shall do.’” Exodus 31:1-11, WEB
One of the joys of driving on Route 66 is the silly roadside attractions. Some of them have been around for a while with history, and some have seemed to appear out of nowhere. The creators just wanted to leave their mark on the world. And of course, since we spent much of our time in Texas, everything was bigger than life.
One of the most famous sites we visited was Cadillac Ranch. Much of the credit for the ranch goes to Stanley Marsh 3 who was an American artist, businessman, philanthropist, and prankster from Amarillo, Texas. He sponsored the creation of Cadillac Ranch in 1974, collaborating with a group of art-hippies from San Francisco that called themselves the Ant Farm. They claim to have contacted multiple millionaires to sponsor their efforts, including Marsh. When asked about sponsoring the art, Marsh answered, “It’s going to take me awhile to get used to the idea of the Cadillac Ranch. I’ll answer you by April Fool’s Day. It's such an irrelevant and silly proposition that I want to give it all my time and attention so I can make a casual judgment of it.”
He agreed because he wanted a piece of public art that would baffle the locals, and the hippies came up with a tribute to the evolution of the Cadillac tail fin. Ten Caddies were driven into one of Stanley Marsh 3’s fields. In a documentary video, Marsh described digging the holes, lifting the rears so that the noses were buried in the holes, and then cementing them in so that they would stay at a 45-degree angle, just like the Great Pyramid of Giza. They faced west in a line, from the 1949 Club Sedan to the 1963 Sedan de Ville, their tail fins in the air to be easily seen from the road.
It was a monument to the American Dream. In that day everyone wanted a Cadillac, or at least a car, because they represented money and freedom. We still do, I suppose. One of the postcards I purchased at a gift shop down the street showed the cars before years of visits from passers-by. It didn’t take long before people were defacing the cars, tearing off pieces to keep for souvenirs. At first the artists were tolerant of the public destruction of their art, which destroyed the tail fins, but they eventually came to encourage it. You can buy spray paint from a guy right at the gate and at the gift shop down the street. Or you can take your own. Sometimes you can even find cans left behind by other visitors that still have paint in them. But take a picture, because whatever you paint will be gone in a few hours or days after other visitors leave their mark. The cars are now barely recognizable as automobiles, time and weather wearing them down. After all, Cadillac Ranch will be fifty years old next year! Perhaps the layers of spray paint are protecting what’s left of the cars from rust. Some people did not like Cadillac Ranch, calling the cars eyesores with little or no artistic value. Marsh’s response to the criticism was, “Art is a legalized form of insanity, and I do it very well.”
Stanley Marsh 3 was an interesting man. He preferred using the Latin 3 rather than the Roman III on his name because he deemed the Roman as too pretentious. He believed that art should not be held captive in mausoleum type museums with silent viewers and perfect frames. Instead, he insisted that art be everywhere so everyone could see it, especially in unexpected places. He lived his ideas by sponsoring other public art, like a statue of giant half legs that are found in a field south of Amarillo. The statue comes with a legend, based on a poem that Percy Shelley (Mary Shelley’s husband) explores the worldly fate of history and the ravages of time: even the greatest men and the empires they forge are impermanent, their legacies fated to decay into oblivion. To Marsh, the statue represents the futility of building monuments because they will eventually be little more than ruins on a plain.
I am an artist and I enjoy visiting those mausoleum type museums with silent viewers and perfect frames, but I also enjoyed being part of the public art we found on our trip. I suppose sometimes I agree with the criticizers who thought Cadillac Ranch were eyesores with no artistic value. I cringe at some public art, but then I cringe at some of the pristine paintings in the museums, too. Art is subjective and sometimes the purpose gets lost in the opinions of the viewers. I have dabbled in abstract art which has been criticized by those to whom it made no sense. Art is not appreciated by everyone; some would even suggest that art is wasteful, perhaps even sinful. After all, the Bible warns us against creating idols, graven images. Yet, God loves beauty. He gave gifts to men to make His Tabernacle and eventually the Temple beautiful. He made mankind in His image, in the image of a creator. We may not always think that the art we see is beautiful or valuable, but we can appreciate the creators even if their ideas seem strange to us, because they are made in God’s image and could have God given gifts and purposes that we may not always understand.
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