Dynamite Museum: Madman or Poet?

When I'm driving around Amarillo, the Dynamite Museum signs always make me laugh out loud. They are truly a treasure and unique to this city. The project was funded by Stanley Marsh 3. Marsh is also responsible for "Cadillac Ranch" (a collaboration with the art group - Ant Farm), "Floating Mesa" (a mesa with a sky colored band of plywood sheets wrapped around it which makes the top of the mesa appear to float), and the statue of "Ozymandias" (a giant pair of legs based on a poem by Percy Shelley).

There are over 200 hundred Dynamite Museum signs in Amarillo. The signs are in front of houses and businesses and can be found in every part of the city. The project is a collection of traffic signs painted in a variety of ways. The messages can be informative or a non sequitur phrase; the text can be big letters with short phrases, or tiny letters with sayings that ramble on forever; some signs are little works of art and may be figurative, landscape,  folk art, abstract, or even minimalist compositions; some are threatening and some just make a person wonder.

Naturally not everyone in town likes the signs, and when Stanley Marsh is mentioned their body language alone will tell you if they love his eccentricities or not. In response Marsh once quipped, "Art is a legalized form of insanity, and I do it very well."

Personally, after almost two years in this town they still delight me. I've started taking pictures of them and plan to feature a sign on Wednesdays. So check back often for a dose of dynamite.

Photo Credit: Rene' West, © 2010