Cadillac Ranch

Last updated

Posterior view of Cadillac Ranch, all in a row in 2008 Cadillac Ranch.jpg
Posterior view of Cadillac Ranch, all in a row in 2008
Aerial view of Cadillac Ranch Cadillac Ranch aerial 2020.jpg
Aerial view of Cadillac Ranch
Anterior view of Cadillac Ranch, all in a row in 2021 Anterior view of Cadillac ranch.jpg
Anterior view of Cadillac Ranch, all in a row in 2021
Posterior close up view of a Cadillac Underside of Cadillac - Cadillac Ranch.jpg
Posterior close up view of a Cadillac

Cadillac Ranch is a public art installation and sculpture in Amarillo, Texas, US. It was created in 1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels, who were a part of the art group Ant Farm.

Contents

The installation consists of 10 Cadillacs (1949–1963) buried nose-first in the ground. Installed in 1974, the cars were either older running, used or junk cars – together spanning the successive generations of the car line – and the defining evolution of their tailfins. [1] According to Visit Amarillo the cars are inclined at the same angle as the pyramids of Giza. [2]

History

Chip Lord and Doug Michels were architects; Marquez was an art student at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. According to Lord, "Ant Farm was founded as an alternative architectural practice, kind of an experiment in an attempt to subvert normal corporate ways of doing architecture." [3]

According to Marquez, "Chip and I were living in the mountains north of San Francisco, and there was a book meant for kids left in a bar near where we lived. It was called 'The Look of Cars,' [4] and there was something on the rise and fall of the tail fin. I didn't have a lot to do, so I just sorta drew it up. I've always loved the Cadillacs." [3]

The group claims to have been given a list of eccentric millionaires in 1972 in San Francisco, identifying Stanley Marsh 3 of Amarillo amongst those who might be able to fund one of their projects and submitted it to him. Marsh's response began "It's going to take me awhile [sic] 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." [5]

Relocation

Cadillac Ranch was originally located in a wheat field, but in 1997, the installation was quietly moved by a local contractor to a location two miles (three kilometers) to the west, to a cow pasture along Interstate 40, in order to place it farther from the limits of the growing city. [6] Both sites belonged to Stanley Marsh 3. [7] Marsh was well known in the city for his longtime patronage of artistic endeavors including the Cadillac Ranch; Floating Mesa; Amarillo Ramp, a work by land artist Robert Smithson; and a series of fake traffic signs throughout the city known collectively as the Dynamite Museum. [8] As of 2013, Stanley Marsh 3 did not own the Cadillac Ranch; [9] ownership appears to have been transferred to a family trust some time before his June 2014 death.

Cadillac Ranch is visible from the highway, and though located on private land, visiting it (by driving along a frontage road and entering the pasture by walking through an unlocked gate) is tacitly encouraged. In addition, writing graffiti on or otherwise spray-painting the vehicles is now encouraged, and the vehicles, which have long since lost their original colors, are wildly decorated. Ant Farm artists have encouraged this kind of public interaction with the cars.

The cars are periodically repainted various colors (once white for the filming of a television commercial, another time pink in honor of Stanley's wife Wendy's birthday, and again all 10 cars were painted flat black to mark the passing of Ant Farm artist Doug Michels, or simply to provide a fresh canvas for future visitors). In 2012 they were painted rainbow colors to commemorate gay pride day. The cars were briefly "restored" to their original colors by the motel chain Hampton Inn in a public relations-sponsored series of Route 66 landmark restoration projects. The new paint jobs and even the plaque commemorating the project lasted less than 24 hours without fresh graffiti.[ citation needed ] The cars were painted solid black with the words "Black Lives Matter" in June 2020 to protest police brutality and the murder of George Floyd. [10]

2019 fire

On September 8, 2019, the oldest of the Cadillacs was reportedly damaged by an arson fire. [11] [12]

Disney California Adventure's "Cadillac Range" Radiator Springs Racers landscape.jpg
Disney California Adventure's "Cadillac Range"

"Cadillac Ranch" is the name of a Bruce Springsteen song on his 1980 album The River , later covered by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Status Quo. [1]

The music video for the 1985 song "Living in America" by James Brown [13] and the music video for the 2008 song "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" by Cage the Elephant [14] both feature imagery of the Cadillac Ranch. The Cadillac Ranch is also featured on the cover of singer/songwriter Russell Christian's first EP "Chassis". [15]

In the 1990 book 12 Days on the Road: The Sex Pistols and America, the Sex Pistols pass by Cadillac Ranch on their way to New Mexico during their only American tour. Johnny Rotten sneered and sarcastically described it as "a stirring work."

The 1996 film Cadillac Ranch directed by Lisa Gottlieb and starring Christopher Lloyd and Suzy Amis is set in the Texas Panhandle around its namesake ranch. [16]

Pixar's 2006 animated film Cars depicts a Cadillac Range as a mountain formation; the film's credits directly acknowledge the Ant Farm collective and the Cadillac Ranch. In a case of art-imitating-art-imitating-art, that image from the film Cars has been constructed as a centerpiece of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure.

In the final scene of the King of the Hill episode "Hank Gets Dusted", Hank Hill has his father's Cadillac, which he cherished growing up, pushed front first into a hole along with other Cadillacs to reference the Cadillac Ranch. [17]

Cadillac Ranch serves as the setting for the video for the 2009 song "Honky Tonk Stomp" by country duo Brooks & Dunn, which was the duo's last video. [2]

The band Atomic Tom filmed a video at Cadillac Ranch in November 2011. [18]

In 1992 country music artist Chris LeDoux released a song titled "Cadillac Ranch", written by Chuck Jones and Chris Waters, on his album Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy . It was a duet with Garth Brooks. The song reached #18 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and #16 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart.

Book cover artist David Pelham discusses "Jungian Zeitgeist" and other buried 1974 Cadillacs (his cover painting for JG Ballard's novel, The Drought (Penguin edition, 1974) and Neil Young's On the Beach album cover) in a 2012 interview. [19]

State sign prohibiting graffiti outside of Cadillac Ranch No graffiti sign.jpg
State sign prohibiting graffiti outside of Cadillac Ranch

A scene filmed at the ranch appeared in the 2017 film Bomb City . [20] [21]

In May 2019, photographer/artist George Edward Freeney Jr. photographed the "Cadillac Ranch" inspired by reflecting on his childhood experiences of extending the artistic approach by spray painting on them several times while evading local authorities and his mother in the 1980s, he made "West Texas Street Painter" and "West Texas Street Painted", limited edition imagery. [22]

In August 2020, singer Rihanna took an "art" selfie at the Cadillac Ranch, alongside a message on a car showing disapproval for Donald Trump. [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memphis, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

Memphis is a city and the county seat of Hall County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,290.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amarillo, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

Amarillo is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the most populous city in the Texas panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The estimated population of Amarillo was 200,393 as of April 1, 2020, comprising nearly half of the population of the panhandle. The Amarillo metropolitan area had an estimated population of 308,297 as of 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Big Texan Steak Ranch</span> Restaurant in Texas, United States

The Big Texan Steak Ranch is a steakhouse restaurant and motel located in Amarillo, Texas, United States, which opened on the previous U.S. Route 66 in the 4500 block of East Amarillo Boulevard in 1960. It relocated to its present location on Interstate 40 in 1970. Fire gutted the west wing of the restaurant in 1976 and destroyed $100,000 in antiques. The restaurant reopened as a larger facility in 1977. The building is painted a bright yellow, with blue trim. A large bull statue advertises their "free" 72 oz. steak. The now-closed Texas Tornado Museum resided off in a far corner of the parking lot on the property.

Stanley Marsh 3 was an American artist, businessman, philanthropist, and prankster from Amarillo, Texas. He is perhaps best known for having been the sponsor of the Cadillac Ranch, an unusual public art installation off historic Route 66, now Interstate 40, west of Amarillo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ant Farm (group)</span> American art and architecture collective

Ant Farm was an avant-garde architecture, graphic arts, and environmental design practice, founded in San Francisco in 1968 by Chip Lord and Doug Michels (1943-2003). Ant Farm's work often made use of popular icons in the United States, as a strategy to redefine the way those were conceived within the country's imagination. Their best-known work is the Cadillac Ranch installation outside of Amarillo, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Brian Deneke</span> 1997 hit and run attack in Amarillo, Texas

On December 12, 1997, 19-year-old American punk musician Brian Theodore Deneke was killed in a deliberate hit and run attack in Amarillo, Texas, by 17-year-old Dustin Camp.

KACV-TV, branded on-air as Panhandle PBS, is a PBS member television station in Amarillo, Texas, United States. It is owned by Amarillo College alongside student-operated radio station KACV-FM (89.9). The two outlets share studios at the Gilvin Broadcast Center on Amarillo College's Washington Street campus ; KACV-TV's transmitter is located west of US 87–287 in unincorporated Potter County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KVII-TV</span> TV station in Amarillo, Texas

KVII-TV is a television station in Amarillo, Texas, United States, affiliated with ABC and The CW Plus. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios at One Broadcast Center between South Pierce and South Buchanan streets in downtown Amarillo, and its transmitter is located west of US 87/287, in unincorporated Potter County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KAMR-TV</span> NBC affiliate in Amarillo, Texas

KAMR-TV is a television station in Amarillo, Texas, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside low-power MyNetworkTV affiliate KCPN-LD ; Nexstar also provides certain services to Fox affiliate KCIT under joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA) with Mission Broadcasting. The three stations share studios on Southeast 11th Avenue and South Fillmore Street in downtown Amarillo; KAMR-TV's transmitter is located on Dumas Drive and Reclamation Plant Road in rural unincorporated Potter County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KCIT</span> Fox affiliate in Amarillo, Texas

KCIT is a television station in Amarillo, Texas, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA) with Nexstar Media Group, owner of NBC affiliate KAMR-TV and low-power MyNetworkTV affiliate KCPN-LD, for the provision of certain services. The three stations share studios on Southeast 11th Avenue and South Fillmore Street in downtown Amarillo; KCIT's transmitter is located on Dumas Drive and Reclamation Plant Road in rural unincorporated Potter County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KCPN-LD</span> MyNetworkTV affiliate in Amarillo, Texas

KCPN-LD is a low-power television station in Amarillo, Texas, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside NBC affiliate KAMR-TV ; Nexstar also provides certain services to Fox affiliate KCIT under joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA) with Mission Broadcasting. The three stations share studios on Southeast 11th Avenue and South Fillmore Street in downtown Amarillo; KCPN-LD's transmitter is located on Dumas Drive and Reclamation Plant Road in rural unincorporated Potter County.

Cadillac Ranch may refer to:

The Spring Creek Independent School District (SCISD) was a public school district located in southeastern Hutchinson County, Texas, United States; it stopped operations in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chip Lord</span> American artist

Chip Lord is an American media artist and Professor Emeritus, UC Santa Cruz and residing in San Francisco. He is best known for his work with the alternative architecture and media collective known as Ant Farm, which he co-founded with Doug Michels in 1968. His work generally takes a satirical look at American myths and legends, they are often "nostalgic, but edged with an ironic detachment."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cadillac Ranch (Bruce Springsteen song)</span> 1981 single by Bruce Springsteen

"Cadillac Ranch" is a song written by Bruce Springsteen that was first released on Springsteen's 1980 album The River. In 1981 it was released as a single in Europe, backed by "Be True" in France and by "Wreck on the Highway" in the UK. Although it was not released as a single in the US, it did reach #48 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. A favorite in concert, a live version was included on Live/1975–85. A version was also included on the documentary film Blood Brothers.

Hudson Marquez is a painter, storyteller, writer, and video artist. Marquez' creative practice includes painting, installations with the art collective Ant Farm including the Cadillac Ranch, and TVTV video productions.

Blaise Tobia is a contemporary artist and photographer who lives and works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is married to sculptor, Virginia Maksymowicz. Together they maintain TandM Arts Studio.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Amarillo, Texas, USA.

Douglas Donald Michels known as Doug Michels was an American architect, artist, and designer, co-founder of the collective Ant Farm.

References

  1. 1 2 McBride, Jim. "American Monument to the Dream". Amarillo Globe-News. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2006-08-25.
  2. 1 2 "https://www.visitamarillo.com/listing/cadillac-ranch/625"
  3. 1 2 "Beilue: Cadillac Ranch turns 40". Amarillo Globe-News.
  4. ↑ Lent, Henry B. (1967). The Look of Cars: Yesterday Today Tomorrow. Dutton.
  5. ↑ "Stanley Marsh 3's letter to Ant Farm artists on the Cadillac Ranch proposal". Amarillo Globe-News.
  6. ↑ Curry, Kerry. "Cars make 2-mile trip to new site". Amarillo Globe-News. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2006-08-26.
  7. ↑ Abbey, Kris. "Cadillacs all turn to black in memory of artist". Amarillo Globe-News. Archived from the original on 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2006-08-25.
  8. ↑ Colker, David (2014-6-17) "Stanley Marsh 3 dies at 76; Texas philanthropist created Cadillac Ranch" Los Angeles Times
  9. ↑ McBride, Jim (2013-02-17). "Marsh 3, family, associate settle teen sex lawsuits". Amarillo Globe-News.
  10. ↑ "Cadillac Ranch cars painted to honor George Floyd". KAMR - MyHighPlains.com. 2020-06-07. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  11. ↑ Powell, Drew (2019-09-09). "Tourists at Cadillac Ranch react to damage from fire". ABC7News, KVII-TV. Archived from the original on 2019-09-10. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
  12. ↑ "Oldest Cadillac at Cadillac Ranch set on fire overnight". KAMR/KCIT, KETK. 2019-09-09. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
  13. ↑ JamesBrownVevo (2014-06-13), James Brown - Living in America, archived from the original on 2021-12-22, retrieved 2016-09-14
  14. ↑ CageTheElephantVEVO (2010-10-06), Cage The Elephant - Ain't No Rest For The Wicked, archived from the original on 2021-12-22, retrieved 2016-09-14
  15. ↑ "Chassis by Russell Christian". Amazon .
  16. ↑ Vonler, Veva (2005). The Movie Lover's Tour of Texas: Reel-life Rambles Through the Lone Star State. Taylor Trade Publishing. p. 22. ISBN   978-1589792425.
  17. ↑ ""King of the Hill" Hank Gets Dusted (TV Episode 2007)". IMDb.
  18. ↑ Atomic Tom - "The Moment" (Live from Cadillac Ranch), archived from the original on 2021-12-22, retrieved 2021-06-27
  19. ↑ Pardey, James (2012-02-26). "David Pelham: The Art of Inner Space". Ballardian. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  20. ↑ TREON, RICKY. "'Bomb City,' movie that chronicles local slaying, to be shown in Amarillo". Amarillo Globe-News. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  21. ↑ Lemmons, Larry (2016-06-23). "Bomb City wraps up filming in Amarillo". KVII. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  22. ↑ Jr, George Freeney (2022-03-27). ""Beat Street" volume one | George Freeney Jr". notions. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  23. ↑ Warnick, Ron (August 18, 2020). "Rihanna paints anti-Trump message on Cadillac Ranch; Trump supporters respond". Route 66 News. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2022.

35°11′14″N101°59′13″W / 35.187221°N 101.987041°W / 35.187221; -101.987041

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.