TOMS Marfa? Elmgreen and Dragset Sculpture Vandalized Yet Again

Artist duo Elmgreen and Dragset’s Prada Marfa sculpture has been vandalized once again, according to multiple sources. This time, the unidentified assailants sprayed blue paint across the hermetically sealed store’s outer walls, pasted logos for TOMS shoes over most of the front-facing windows, and posted a politically charged manifesto on the sculpture, largely about TOMS’ partnerships with luxury brands and a wide range of ideological affiliations the vandal claims the company holds. According to local newspaper, the Big Bend Sentinel an anonymous artist, who goes by the code name 9271977, contacted them in a tacit acknowledgment of responsibility for what he or she claims is a protest and saying to look out for more on their website, www.9271977.com.

After a previous instance of vandalism to Prada Marfa, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset said that it was frequently used as a target by gun-loving locals, aside from more publicized instances of vandalism. In both cases, the artists claimed that such a response by the public was precisely the sculpture’s point.

Prada Marfa was ruled an illegal outdoor advertisement by the Texas DOT last year. No ruling has been made as to whether the sculpture will have to be moved.

Alexander Forbes