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.Who but Marsh 3 would careenough about seeing two trunkless legs of stone to createthem for all to see as Shelley himself saw them in his mind seye? Who but a man with the imagination of Picasso, whotook a bicycle seat and a pair of handlebars and created theskull of a longhorn steer?And who would see the winged animal statue created eonsago by the ancient Assyrians, suddenly recognize a creativeopportunity, and tattoo wings on a pet Pigasus, hilariouslymixing metaphors and historic periods with gleeful abandon?By allowing himself to see beyond the mundane and toallow the common everyday shapes to tilt and twist in imagi-native ways, Marsh 3 has in a sense set himself free.Detractorsdecry his work, saying things like, If that s what it takes forAmarillo to be famous, God help us. While the Cadillac Ranch is known nationwide, Marsh 3 sefforts to create affordable art for the masses are well-known,mostly in his hometown.For three years he created his RoadSigns. The idea began out of his quirky sense of humor.TheTexas Highway Department installed a road sign adjacent tothe private road onto Marsh 3 s ranch property.It warned: Road Ends. The prankster s immediate impulse was to con-tradict the state of Texas with his own philosophy of life, time,and metaphysical distance.He had the local sign painter pro-duce another sign, which he put up beside the first: RoadDoes Not End. Within days he fell afoul of the highway department.Texaslaw forbids anyone from defacing, covering, or removing offi-cial road signs.Local law enforcement took that to mean thatmaking philosophical jokes about them was illegal. Those72 outrageous texans 08_147_04_Ch03.qxd 5/13/08 5:59 AM Page 73signs are to be taken seriously, they told him. That could bedangerous.Suppose someone read that and kept on driving. But many citizens of Amarillo saw the joke.Soon peoplewanted signs for their own yards.The signs were fun.Theycertainly helped personalize the property.They made theirhouses easy to find.An art teacher wanted one that read ART s exalted char-acter clears my brain. A former marine wanted to express his own attitude: NoDishonor before Death Semper Fi. Within days of the initial requests, Marsh 3 organized agroup of artists he named the Dynamite Museum.They werestrictly for the purpose of creating commissioned non-adver-tising art.If a person wanted a sign but didn t know what hewanted, the Dynamite Museum would help him to bring outhis ideas or conceptualize an idea for him.They pulled ideasfrom books, television, and their own zany imaginations.Theperson who lived on Monroe Street got a picture of whoelse? the legendary Marilyn.Some signs seem rather ordinary as if the person weresimply making a reflective statement.Some reflect a simplephilosophy or a favorite joke.Some are simply op art.Onereads, My youth is spent and yet I am not old. On the other hand, another announces, When everyonegoes to other planets I will stay in the abandoned city. I ll be right out Ma! For crying out loud, a thirdprotested.In one yard a black and sapphire-blue cat lounges inremarkable contentment on a bright red sign.His name is TomCat.The Bride of Frankenstein as portrayed by Elsa Lanchesteris seen on one.Another features The Naughty Lady of ShadyLane. Quite priceless is the sign that reads, What is a villagewithout village idiots? a sign this writer wishes she had forher very own. art is.insanity, and i do it very well 73 08_147_04_Ch03.qxd 5/13/08 5:59 AM Page 74Because the signs cost relatively little, they are seen in frontof mansions, middle-class homes, and trailers in mobile homeparks.If people want the signs removed, all they have to do iscall.The Dynamite Museum does it at no cost.When some people sell their homes, they take their signswith them.They have been spotted in Austin, Lubbock, andon the New Mexico border
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