Kiefer’s Studio Complex at Barjac in Southern France 2012

These skeletal towers are part of Anselm Kiefer's studio complex in Barjac, Southern France. Can you imagine what it must have been like for Kiefer to make this place? I wonder if he ever felt like he was building a ruin in reverse, like he was excavating a future from the present. Look at the way the containers are stacked, almost haphazardly, defying gravity with a kind of stubborn grace. They remind me of the work of other builders, like Tatlin, Kurt Schwitters, or even Simon Rodia of the Watts Towers, all of whom took scraps and rubble and built a world anew. The artist makes art, but the art also makes the artist. Kiefer built this place, but in a way, it also built him, as it will hopefully build us too. He puts his mark on the landscape, and in return, the landscape marks him.