This has always been a bit of a sore spot with me. Let's face it, we're all artists in one form or another. Cars aren't our only accomplishments for the most of us. Aside from cars and bikes, I also sculpt and work leather. My Dad having carpentry as his hobby and my Mom doing painting, I can understand where these three guys were coming from in 1974. But I still cant get past what they used as their pieces to their sculpture. I find myself torn between appreciating what they were doing and hating what they were doing it with. I'm talking about the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo,TX. The cars range from 1949 to 1963, all Caddy's. As a 'saving grace' to this piece, I have to take solace in seeing where some car buffs have sneaked in and taken doors, trunk lids and bumpers off these cars to hopefully live on going down the road on another Cad. Here is a pic in 1974 when it was created: And here it is at present (look close and notice doors,trunks,etc missing): Mind you, like I said, I do appreciate what the fellas were doing, but I think most of you can see why I'm so 'on the fence' about it. Any opinions?
It might be tacky, but at the same time it's cool, I mean COOL!!! I've been there twice, but I'll stop next time I p*** Amarillo! Oh! Wasn't it in 1976????
From what I've read-up on it, all say '74. I've been there too, and one side of me totally agrees, it's WAY cool. I just love them old caddies...
-Yep. The first big Oil Crunch, and those old gas-guzzlers were hardly worth $200 (in 1974 money) even if they ran. Also keep in mind the newest of 'em were only ten years old- it's like somebody burying an engineless 1995 Ford Explorer today. But just think, in another ten or fifteen years, all those mid-seventies Pacers and mid-eighties Caprices that we're s****ping as fast as we can, today, because "nobody wants 'em", will see some nostalgic resurgence and become a hot collectors' item. That's the way it's worked for years. My dad recalls when he could buy all the Model T's he wanted for five bucks each- about $100 in today's money. As teens, he and his friends would buy one, drive the wheels off of it, and when something exploded or fell off, they'd basically leave it where it lay and walk home. Doc.
I think its damn cool myself but like all good to great art there will always be a range of responses - all of which are worth exactly the same.
Funny you say that, I just got the new Hemmings Cl***ic Car magazine, and there was an article saying that the Chrysler Town & Country minivan has just reached "Cl***ic Status"
I just lost all respect for Hemmings........... although, if you cut 'em off just behind the seats and close in the front they make great trailers.
i remember seeing Carhenge when i was like 8. my parents tooj us out there on some vacation we were on. i've always thought it was cool as ****.
Call it art, or s**** iron, it's still theft to remove anything without permission. The guy had something to say, and agree or disagree, it's private property.
I can respect it as art, but another part of me rails at what I see as defacement. I know a lot of people have signed their name or professed their love over the years, but I think the overall effect is lost on some level, at least for me, to see those poor cars covered in graffiti. It was bad enough to bury them, but one has to admit it is quite a trip to behold ... but now, instead of looking like some cosmic prank and a speed bump in the mind, it looks like a ratty attempt at modern art. Why couldn't well enough be left alone? I kind of see it as vandals spray painting a bronze statue ... but I suppose the original artist(s) kind of see it as an evolving piece of art. **** it, my opinion matters as much as the next guy's, which is jack.
I've never been to Cadillac Ranch, but I have been here many years ago. I still remember that 1960 Ford sticking out of the ground.
To preface this, I think this is a cool piece of art, but it sure isn't my favorite... ... that said, I have read in several places that Sam Marsh intended this as 'performance art', even before that term was coined. It was always supposed to change, via nature or viewer. I don't think that Marsh ever expected the cars to remain in one piece. The Cadillacs have even been painted pink to honor breast cancer victims, and he would kind of know about that one. One thing he is not supportive of though, are people taking the signage that promotes it. He supposedly has had several run ins with the law on his 'interesting' approaches to teaching those folks a lesson.
Don't be too hard on Hemmings. They weren't declaring the mini van a cl***ic, they were merely stating the fact that, as they've reached a 25 year run, they'll qualify as cl***ics. I used the Cadillac ranch as a graphic for the rear quarters on a drawing I did in High school. I'll have to try and dig it up even though it's a lousy drawing.
After reading about it for all these years I got to see it a few years ago. It was kind of exciting. Oh look... the Cadillac ranch!! There are lot more cars than that rotting away in private junk yards that no body gets to see. I always thought of it as an off beat way of celebrating the beauty of the automobile designs. When I first saw the pictures all those years ago, I did want to go dig up the sedanette though.
Stanley Marsh, the prankster and art lover who had this done, says it's OK about the spray painting and parts removal. It's "Evolving Art," he says. My opinion? I think it's cool as can be.....
i just wish some ***hats had'nt decided to graffiti the damn things or STEEL parts off of it. THAT pisses me off.... but i do understand your feelings.
i have been out at the cadillac ranch in the early evening when one of texas' famous summer time hail storms was on it's way in, and let me tell you, seeing those cars under that HUGE grey-clouded sky was a religious experience. i was the only person there my last visit, and i just stood there and thought about all those countless hot rodders who have been there before me and what their stories are. it was rad being there! i felt so small and insignificant in the 'big picture'... and as far as it being "art", art is a success only if it moves the viewer in one direction or the other (a positive reaction or a negative reaction), if the viewer is indifferent, it's a failure as art. according to that logic, this is a successful piece of art.
I was one of the unlucky *******s that got to move it. Not all of the parts were stolen, some of them simply fell off, and were removed via mother nature (Picture one of thos big *** trunks opening up during a storm.) Cool factiod...The state helped pay to move them. There are Many other examples of Stanley's art around Amarillo. Though I like the Caddy ranch, My favorite is still the Floating Mesa. The Blue rocks are a close second. when the sky is the right color, it works.
My Name is Ozymandias,King of Kings. Look on My works, Ye Mighty, and Despair! Clearly, this is a work in Irony.
Back at the same time,a row of old cars was completely covered in Macadam at the Hamden Plaza Shopping Center in Hamden, CT. That was stranger than this.
I love Cadillac Ranch and I am a big Cadillac guy. Here are some of my favorite shots from when I went.
This is the best part of the piece to me... it is what makes it ephemeral art, ever changing. My son and I stopped there last June on our way to the Buried Belvedere event in Tulsa, and it was the highlight of the trip for my son. He painted to his hearts content for about an hour. Everything we painted there was painted over when we came back three days later. The spray paint is 1/2" thick in some places, it's the only thing holding the cars together now... Pete
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