Ed van der Elsken

'In the middle of the Mojave Desert, miles and miles from the nearest neighbour, we discovered this brilliantly painted miniature museum, run by Call and Ruby Black. Call is a fantastic self-taught artist, a true, unspoiled, primitive "artiste du dimanche." Among other things he makes wonderful mobiles, which he places on the roof so that they move in the wind. He has built animals - deer, wolves, dogs, "rockhounds" - of stone, wood, and sand; made from jewelry from semiprecious stones; decorated his house with crazy colours and signs. In addition, he is master of the musical saw. Remember them? In his yard is a wishing-well for passing tourists to toss coins into and wish for luck' every evening Ruby hauls out the day's catch. Call was up in the hills when we arrived, but Ruby welcomed us inn the friendliest way. We told her where we were from and what we were doing. She let us camp out overnight on the place, and the next morning Call came around to get acquainted. "Did you make out all right?" he asked. "Oh yes," we said, "it was wonderful. We made a fire to cook supper on - took some wood from that pile over rattlesnakes." Very nice people, Call and Ruby Black. Look how they're standing there, hand in hand - they love each other very much." From: Elsken, Ed van der. Sweet Life, Amsterdam: de Bezige Bij, 1966. "Call and Ruby Black in front of their Museum, Mojava Desert, USA, 1960. Unusual people, unique situations: Van der Elsken had a keen eye for these. This is his portrait of a sculptor and his wife in front of their peculiar museum in the middle of the desert, miles from any other houses. In a strange way, this photograph is actually a pendant to the previous one. 'Look at them standing there, hand in hand. They really do love each other.'" - Visser, Hripsime, " Ed van der Elsken 55". New York: Phaidon Press, 2002. 'In the middle of the Mojave Dessert, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest village, dozens of kilometres from the nearest house, we discovered this little, brightly-coloured miniature museum. The home of Call and Ruby Black. Call is a fantastic, primitive artist, a Sunday sculptor, one of the authentic unspoiled primitives. he made his mobiles. moving sculpture, which he placed on his roof to move in the wind. He built animals, dogs, "rock hounds" of stones, wood and sand, made jewellery using semi-precious stones, decorated his home with texts and strange colours, and was a great performer on the musical saw. Look at them standing there hand in hand, they really love each other' From: .Elsken, Ed van der. 'Once Upon a Time'. Amsterdam: Fragment Uitgeverij, 1992.