Thursday, July 8, 2010

Cadillac Ranch












© copyright Linda Swanson all rights reserved





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Just outside and west of Amarillo, Texas is Cadillac Ranch.  Out in the middle of nowhere is an unusual sight.  Ten Cadillacs  buried nose first into the ground.  When you're driving on I-40 in Texas there's not a lot to see on the south side, so when you come up upon this sight it's very noticeable.  Over the years it's become a quirky tourist attraction.  An eccentric millionaire, Stanley Marsh, is a driving force in unusual artistic endeavors in the Amarillo area.  Over the years, the ten Cadillacs comprising the work of art have been ravaged by the elements and covered over with years of ever-changing graffiti.  Every so often some company will do a commercial or they will be used for a movie.  When this happens the Cadillacs might be painted with just one color or possibly with their original colors.  No matter when this happens, within 1 - 2 days of them finishing the project, the graffiti will be put on again.  Visitors come from all over the world to leave their mark and to add to the years of ever-thickening paint, which at this point, may be the only thing keeping the cars together.  It can be difficult to get photographs without people in them as it is usually covered with tourists.  I've included original photographs and copies of the photographs manipulated in Photoshop.

A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament.