Why an artist collective buried ten Cadillacs in the Texas desert – 2oceansvibe News

(Image source: Pexels)

Drivers traveling along old Route 66 near Amarillo, Texas, are often amazed to see ten Cadillacs sticking their tails out of the desert. Strange as their appearance may be, the story of how they ended up up the steep hill is equally interesting.

The now famous Cadillac Range was the brainchild of San Francisco-based architectural collective Ant Farm. For the past 50 years, the facility has been considered the Stonehenge of American car culture and attracts nearly 1.4 million visitors annually.

While Ant Farm spent most of its decade-long career criticizing the “mainstream media,” Cadillac Ranch was quite lucrative for the group, spawning restaurants, spin-offs, and merchandise (an ode to Cadillac Ranch even appeared in the 2006 animated film). Cars) – and they benefit from this because they have protected the “art installation” as a trademark.

Although better known for their “radical politics,” founders Chip Lord and Doug Michels say the idea simply honors the rise and fall of the short-lived but iconic Cadillac tail fin.

“We were crazy about cars, always drawing cars, making collages of cars and making art with cars. I had the idea of ​​making seed packets where you could plant seeds that would grow into cars.”

Legend has it that they made a list of American millionaires who might be interested in funding their crazy idea. Ant Farm contacted eccentric Amarillo millionaire Stanley Marsh III, who asked them to prepare a proposal for Cadillac Ranch. Their proposal called for a simple budget for an excavator and cars. After some deliberation, Marsh offered the funds and a wheat field to house the development.

Ant Farm spent six weeks at Marsh’s property, placing ads in local newspapers looking for used Cadillacs, particularly those with tailfins, from the 1963 Sedan de Ville to the 1949 Club Sedan, the latter proving the most difficult to find.

According to Wyatt McSpadden, who worked on the property, “they finally found one on the east side of town, over on the poor side of town.”

“A guy had restored it and was asking them for a lot more money than they wanted. When they got the title, Michels smashed the front of the car to annoy him. It didn’t matter. That part went into the ground.”

Less than a week later, and just in time for the summer solstice, the caddies were lined up in a chronological row facing west.

But this being Texas, people soon started shooting at the Cadillacs like crazy. Then the graffiti started. Sometimes the cars were painted gray or pink until the cleanup crews just gave up.

In 1997, the Cadillac Ranch moved west of the facility and the attraction became less visited, but then social media and Instagram exploded and interest in the colorful cars increased, along with a new wave of graffiti artists. It has become such a tradition for visitors that the owner even has a truck selling spray paint to visitors.

Today, the Cadillacs and their pretty tail fins are all but destroyed. Some say they should be restored to their former glory, but Ant Farm’s original founder, Chip Lord, says they should be left to decay and rot. After all, that’s all part of the art.

(Source: artnet)