Most recently I found myself in Marfa, Texas. An art town if ever there was one. The people who have been there know exactly what I'm talking about, while the far larger group of people who haven't been there and don't know what I'm talking about, frequently have never even heard of the place. 3 hours from El Paso in the middle of nowhere west Texas, Marfa is a sanctuary of the weird. An oasis of creativity. An outpost of hope. Artist/author/architect Donald Judd led the charge in the 70’s buying up land and installing installations, and for awhile others followed along, protecting what he'd done and adding to it but the city never "blew up" having peaked in the 1930's. Today with just over 1,700 residents It's tiny, but people keep going there for one reason or another so it persists. To give better context, imagine what a town of 1,700 people might include and then consider that Marfa has a dozen art galleries, just as many boutique coffee shops, several vintage clothing shops, and also 7 or 8 churches that I personally saw. There might be more. There's no movie theater, though there is a stage theater which has the ability to screen movies. One grocery store and one Whole Foods-like market. One gas station (and several ex-gas stations which have been converted into other things - like a coffee shop). No stop lights in the whole town, and street lights only on two main cross roads. There's bookstores and electric bike rental companies, but only one pharmacy/drs office which shared a store front. The city hall, sheriffs office and various other city services all shared space in small strip mall type building. You get the idea, the proportions lead heavily towards the arty and cool.

For the last 5 years jpg aficionado and blockchain enjoyers have descended on the beautifully baron landscape to celebrate Artblocks weekend. I’ve been disappointed that preexisting/inflexible plans conflicted with my ability to attend in previous years but I committed early to going this year and held myself to that. It was worth it. I hate to do the "you just have to be there to understand" because I've been hearing that for years and it's annoying, but after being there I kind of get it - and you just have to be there to experience it. There's a reason that everyone there either drove 3+ hours (some drover 10+) or in one case I know of chartered a private jet to the tune of $30k to get there. There's a feeling of community, of possibility, and of hope. Will next year be the same? Yes and no. I gathered that this year was somewhat different than last year, which is to be expected - things grow and change or they wilt and die. So that's just part of the process. What that means remains to be seen. But I'll be there to see it.

One criticism I heard was that in previous years everyone was "equal" and this year it felt like there were classes. There were private dinners and gated events. Some because of small capacity and early RSVPs, and others just because. With only a few hundred people those didn't happen, but the more people who go the more likely there will be more of that. It's not good or bad, it just is, as well as the likelihood of conflicting events where previous years had only one thing at a time. Call it the price of success, but I do think this means there's increasing opportunities for more people to do more cool things, and I can't wait to see them. Or to hear about them later because I couldn't get on the list to see them myself.

Before Marfa I was in London. A very different experience in every way. Besides the obvious scale, London was a family trip disguised as art tourism. The impetus of the trip was the opening of the "Triple Trouble" exhibition at Damien Hirst's Newport Street gallery. Hirst teamed up with my longtime friends Shepard Fairey and Space Invader for a 3 artist collab show that I about lost my mind when I first heard it was being put together. All three are known to be opinionated, have focused visions, decades of work refining their own distinct styles and unique messages they are putting out there. How would these fit together? Turns out, beautifully. While visually they are very different, there's a shared ethos that becomes immediately apparent. Maybe it's punk rock, maybe it's DIY, maybe it's a hope for the future, maybe it's all those things - but these pieces work better than anticipated and the artists compliment each other in the most thoughtful way. There's clear respect and appreciation of each other, while also room for each to do their thing in the best way they could. I'm so happy for my friends, so moved by the work, and delighted that so many others are getting to experience it as well. If you find yourself in London before the end of March 2026, don't miss this.

The opening was on day one, so we spent the next few days visiting friends (local and otherwise) we hadn't seen in a while, sampling London's finest vegan treats (Mallow was incredible), paying our respects to the TATE(s) and the beautiful art work housed there, walking around, taking an Uber Boat, getting fucked by Uber Eats and generally enjoying a European vacation which we hadn't done in far too long. Painful GBP to CAD conversion rate aside, it was a super fun trip which felt too short meaning it was probably the perfect length. We never hit the "I just wish I was home already" wall, and left wanting more. I don't know when we'll be back, but I'm looking forward to it whenever it is.

Of course travels like these make you think about people and places, and what you want to be surrounded by. At least that's what I always end up chewing on in the days following. Inspiration is so important, and we craft the world we experience by both who and what we surround ourselves with. Today shapes tomorrow, informed by yesterday. Always a good thing to remember.

Until next time friends.

-s

The Crowd: Planes, Trains & Artimobiles [280]