Day 11: Marfa

Marfa is a place that has to be seen to be believed. The artist Donald Judd bought a bunch of land here in 1979 after falling in love with it, and it's not hard to see why -- the pure light and wide open spaces are an artist's dream come true.

Judd repurposed the abandoned military barracks and artillery sheds he found to house his work, and invited his friends -- most notably, Dan Flavin and John Chamberlain -- to join him. The land is now owned by the Chinati Foundation, which took over from the Dia. You can view a select part of the collection by tour only.

Being here, I can't imagine seeing Judd again in a gallery or museum -- these fields of golden straw are where his works belong, and in the meeting of nature and Judd's rigorous minimalism, we come close to the sublime.