November 13, 2019 451 PM
MARFA – The Judd Foundation released Donald Judd Interviews on Tuesday, adding a second volume to a suite of publications about Donald Judd and his work. The 1024-page collection, co-edited by Judd Foundation’s Director of Archives & Programs Caitlin Murray and Artistic Director Flavin Judd, chronologically encompasses over 60 interviews with Judd over the span of his career, in conversation with artists, historians, journalists and even an interview with eighth-grade students from Marfa Junior High School in November 1978.
It has been a long-standing goal of the foundation to provide access to Judd’s work and the wealth of Judd Foundation’s archival holdings, and Donald Judd Interviews offers new insights into the artist. That’s because many of the book’s interviews sat untranscribed in various archives across the country, making the new collection a singular resource for scholars of Judd, minimalism and contemporary art, as well as a good read for fans of Marfa’s best known artist.
Donald Judd Interviews took a number of years to compile, and Murray herself spent time transcribing or re-transcribing interviews, often from badly damaged recordings.
As an archivist, Murray said, “I was interested in making history accessible and available to the public, and I think that, on a small and very particular scale, this is what we have accomplished through these publications.”
During the Marfa Junior High interview, “Judd provides measured and thoughtful answers to eighth-grade reporters, art historians, critics, curators, journalists, and artists alike,” Murray said. Students curiously ask Judd about his three dimensional works in Marfa, how his career began and why he often turned down interviews at that point in his career.
In another interview from the book, for Chris Felver’s film Donald Judd’s Marfa, Texas, “Judd provides a particularly compelling account of the necessity and importance of what he accomplished through his living and working spaces at Judd Foundation and the large-scale installations at the Chinati Foundation,” Murray explained.
Judd tells the interviewer at one point, “I think that the art that’s done now should be installed more or less as the artist wants, or in what I consider normal circumstances, which could be abnormal for the public, but normal for the artist, and should remain that way – and that things should not be constantly moved around and made into some sort of entertainment business. I don’t think art is show business, and it’s not commerce.”
It’s an insight into the philosophy that still drives the Chinati Foundation and Judd Foundation, one that is deeply tied to permanence and the desires of the artists who chose to install their work in Marfa. And in a time where the art world has exploded into a multibillion dollar industry, the remark is a refreshing reminder of art for art’s – or artist’s – sake.
“As we continue to process the archive, we discover records, like the interviews, that we believe are of great importance to the understanding of Judd’s life and work,” Murray said. The foundation has worked hard to preserve more than just Judd’s art, and Donald Judd Writings and Donald Judd Interviews are proof of that mission, giving more insight into Judd as a three dimensional person.
“Judd was an artist, but moreover he was someone who was deeply engaged in environmental activities, philosophy, architecture, and politics, amongst other interests,” Murray said. The foundation’s public programs, like its Ranch Day and Star Party events, strive to present his art, as well as his life and passions. “We hope that this diversity of interests comes across, both because it’s more engaging and also because it’s more accurate,” she said. As time passes and fewer individuals are around who knew Judd personally in Marfa, New York and beyond, the foundation’s publications and events will carry his legacy forward.
A release party in Marfa tonight at 6 p.m. will include remarks, film footage of interviews with Judd and a tequila toast at the Crowley Theater.
Judd Foundation previously released Donald Judd Writings in 2016, and has a forthcoming addition, Donald Judd Spaces, due out in Spring 2020.
