All About Perspective

Marfa, Texas sits like a mirage in the Chihuahuan Desert. Population 1,800, three hours from the nearest airport, and somehow one of the most polarizing small towns in America. People either love it or hate it.

On our drive back from Christmas in Mexico, my wife and I decided to see what all the fuss was about. This tiny border town has become famous (or infamous) for its minimalist art galleries, unexplained desert lights, and what some call a pretentious "cool factor."

Our Airbnb's walls held the usual desert photographs and local art, but among them hung something unexpected. Framed one-star reviews of Marfa itself. The hosts had turned internet complaints into installation art. It was a brilliant idea.

My wife and I stood there laughing, appreciating how these bitter reviews had been transformed into the very kind of conceptual art their authors probably would have hated. It brought to mind Anaïs Nin's observation that "we don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." Even paradise can look like hell to someone determined to find fault.

Yes, Marfa is pretentious. Yes, it's in the middle of nowhere. And yes, there isn't much to do beyond browsing galleries and hanging at a small number of overpriced coffee shops and restaurants. But those framed complaints on our Airbnb wall became part of our Marfa story. A reminder that sometimes the art isn't just on the walls, but in how we choose to see it.

Those one-star reviews still hang in that Airbnb, reminding visitors that in Marfa – and perhaps everywhere – what you see depends entirely on how you look.

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