“WHIMOWA” (2026) for New York Design Week. One-of-one piece on view Monday, May 18, 10am - 6pm, at 132 Bowery - 4th floor, @fluxlumina
27” x 19” x 10”
Rimowa suitcase, wood, glue, turf, putter, flag, pin, golf balls
Photos by @seandavidson
“Lucifer’s Anvil” was the name of the impromptu golf course in Black Rock City, Nevada, that held the annual “Black Rock Self-Invitational” tournament created by artist and photographer Douglas Keister from 1988-2003.
While it began as a 40th birthday party with a few friends and coffee cans for holes, Keister and grew the tournament in the desert year over year and began using biodegradable paint to create the golf course seen in these images. The longest hole was called “Hell”, a 702 yard Par 6, shown on slide 6.
Hence the copyright watermark, we are trying to get in touch with Doug to learn more about the project and hopefully support bringing it back. The spirit of this whole thing floored us and we couldn’t believe we had never heard of it before.
History per Doug which we found on Facebook
“A little history. The tournament started in 1988 as an offbeat celebration of my 40th birthday with just four golfers and 5 holes (none painted). We came back every year for the next five years to repeat the tournament (one year we had 8-9 golfers). In 1993, we decided to expand it and it grew in complexity every year. We capped the players at 72, because we didn’t want to deprive players of the experience of the vastness and solitude. We used special biodegradable paints and tees. At one point, the BLM wanted us to scrape the paint off after the tournament, which we did until the land sailers asked us not to since the rough ground posed a hazard. We only charged enough money to cover costs of paint, insurance and permits. Basically it became an enormous ordeal since (at the time) we had to do the same permitting process as Burning Man, which, of course, had a much larger attendance. Things change. A lucky few have great memories and rocking chair stories to tell their grandkids.”
