The Daily Dave

(Pro)found Art

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In 1943, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe envisioned a space that would:

… establish the museum as a center for the enjoyment, not the interment, of art … erasing the barrier between the work of art and the living community.

Mies van der Rohe MoMA Exhibition Guide, 1947

Mies never built such a place, but Noah Purifoy did. And while Mies might be considered one of the fathers of modern architecture, he didn’t have the balls to do what Purifoy did.

Get your mind out of the gutter. Purifoy, a groundbreaking visual artist, is best known for sculpting with found objects—like bowling balls. And old tires and dinner trays. Even toilets.

Lots and lots of toilets.

A Gallery Tour, Sans Gallery

The Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum was the last stop on my brief visit to Joshua Tree last month.1 It realizes Mies’ vision of art galleries without boundaries. Actually, it goes a step further, in fact, as Mies was referring to building design and Purifoy didn’t see a need for a building at all.

The museum is a conundrum of a place—an anomalous yet integral part of the desert. I couldn’t help think that it’s something that shouldn’t exist there, yet was always meant to be there.2

Let’s take a look around!

An art installation with a row of toilets.
There are no bathrooms in the museum, but, as I mentioned above, there are lots of toilets. This is part of an installation called The White House.
A sculpture made of aluminum food trays.
This is called 65 Aluminium Trays. There may be more or fewer trays. I didn’t count.
A metal sculpture in the desert.
This is Aku’aba. From a distance, I thought it was the Mercedes symbol and an old car grille.
Folding chairs arranged neatly on a flatbed wagon.
Everyone aboard the Band-Wagon.
A conventional water fountain next to a toilet at drinking height.
Purifoy was born in 1919 in rural Alabama. White/Colored is a powerful and unambiguous commentary on segregation.
David looking at a large gray cylinder.
Who wore it better? Me (in the gray sweatshirt) or this gray cylinder (which I think was part of an installation called Gas Station)? The correct answer is the cylinder.
A round structure made from found materials.
This is Igloo. No, it will not keep your drinks cool.
A wood sculpture that resembles a bridge.
When I saw this in the distance, my first thought was that it looked like the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. I was right. (The official name of the sculpture is San Francisco–Oakland Bridge, though.)
An empty platform overlooking six folded chairs.
I think, but I’m not entirely certain, I’m inside Aurora Borealis. The stage, folding chairs, and aura of desperation reminded me of covering politics many years (and careers) ago.
I promised lots and lots of toilets, remember? I don’t recall the name of this piece, so let’s just call it Bowled Over.
All Aboard The Kirby Express!

Some Parting Thoughts (From People Smarter Than I)

FYI, that header is grammatically correct.3

It’s not where you take things from—it’s where you take them to.

Jean-Luc Godard

I do not wish to be an artist, I only wish that art enables me to be.

Noah Purifoy
You Found the Footnotes
  1. Check out the posts on stargazing and visiting the national park. ↩︎
  2. Like pickles and ranch dressing on pizza. ↩︎
  3. Me fail English? That’s unpossible. ↩︎