At first sight there is no indication in the wide landscape, the small
town with its unspectacular houses, that this is a special part of Texas.
In his photo series, Albrecht Kunkel has documented the place where Donald
Judd, the renowned representative of American Minimal Art has lived and
created his artwork. The City of Marfa in the Texan prairie became a cultural
site as Donald Judd left his traces here: art theoretician, sculptor and
architect that he was, he had various means of letting art and locations
interfere.
As in former series, Albrecht Kunkel has photographed single buildings
in the city of Marfa to document the cultural impact on cities. Houses
which Judd used as studios are photographed from different angles. They
almost disappear behind trees and bushes, reflecting the barren landscape.
Other buildings are photographed from different angles revealing but their
architecture. Kunkel points out that it is impossible to render a precise
image of the place of creation which is hidden behind a wall or in a landscape.
He considers his photography as an approach of a phenomenon: the creation
of culture. Always seeking sites where traces of cultural development
can be found.
His early works show a first development and production of culture through
cave drawings in prehistoric sites, abstract images which are explaining
and reflecting the world. The archeological site of Troja represents the
ultimate union of myth and science and is part of Albrecht Kunkel’s
artistic strategy. In his more recent work, TV and film studios are the
modern counterpart of a cultural production site.
Donald Judd refuses a figurative presentation. The principle of refusal
is visible in Albrecht Kunkel’s work through his aerial photographs
of Marfa as an oasis in the middle of a desert-like surrounding which
characterizes the actual place.
Some pictures barely display any urban structures. The landscape is almost
undefined. Finding Marfa, the oasis in the desert, has had a certain metaphysical
impact on Albrecht Kunkel. The process of becoming and meaning is not
only of rational origin but mystique and inexplicable.
In this context a number of panoramic photographs of Marfa seem absurd.
The view lets the eye wander over streets and typical houses of the Texan
City into the endless sky. There are no mountains or other landscapes
to be seen and thus no manifestation of a site. Neither the site itself
nor the landscape allows the recognition of Marfa’s geographical
location or structure.
Albrecht Kunkel’s photographic documentaries can be seen as an approach
of the phenomenon of culture under all its various aspects. The outer
space is a particularly important criterion in finding sites. His photography
never illustrates the phenomenon – it only approaches it. The experiment
includes failure through limiting walls or empty horizons.
The wall in front of Judd’s house seems invincible. The world in its wholeness cannot be captured.
