Comfort Stations, Edwards Air Force Base, California Possibly 1983 - 1997

Richard Misrach made 'Comfort Stations, Edwards Air Force Base, California' with a camera. Can you imagine being there with Misrach, in that super-flat, empty landscape? The light here is so delicate, almost too much. It reminds me of those washed-out colors you get in old Polaroids. What do you think he was looking for? I bet he was intrigued by the structures in this image. They look a bit like Donald Judd sculptures, placed in the middle of nowhere, or even like minimalist stage sets. The colors, like those on the left, add an element of surprise. I imagine Misrach seeing these structures and thinking, "Wow, they're kinda beautiful, in their own weird way." It's all about finding something interesting in the ordinary, or maybe even the desolate. That's what us artists do, isn’t it? We look around, find something, and say, "Hey, look at this!" Maybe this piece is a reminder to find beauty in unexpected places.