Prada Marfa

I know the idea here is supposed to be, ooh, how out of place: a high-end boutique isolated in the middle of this desolate farmland. Isn’t that exotic and edgy. But it winds up looking not much out of place at all: it looks more like a utility shed or electrical substation that happens to have some shoes in the window. And I can’t avoid a nasty whiff of ooh, how out of place: the hick farmers around here will never be able to afford genuine Prada, so we’ll give them a fake one. Aren’t we exotic and edgy.

The piece’s website claims it won’t be preserved: “It will eventually become a ruin so that even in a future decayed state it will remain relevant to the time in which it was made”. This might make it a more interesting piece in ten or fifteen years… but they’ve obviously tried to clean up some of the graffiti, and someone’s put a layer of weatherstripping tape around the door to try to keep the insects out.

I don’t know. Mark me down for a “nice try, but… no.”