ArtistFranz Jantzen

Thresher

Date2015

MediumPigment-ink print on archival paper

Dimensions40 × 96 in. (101.6 × 243.8 cm) Framed Size: 44 1/2 × 100 1/2 in. (113 × 255.3 cm)

Credit LineDC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art Bank Collection

Object numberDCCAH2017.026.4

ClassificationsPhotographs

Locations

Currently Not on View

DescriptionSome pieces are easily conceived but challenging to complete, and may require stepping away for a solution to percolate. This is one such piece. The subject is a 120-year old threshing machine from a Mennonite farm in central Kansas, and when I saw it in an agricultural heritage museum I instantly committed myself to taking the necessary time to gather several hundred snapshots for a new piece. The composition was conceived while doing so, and I started it soon afterwards. Each new piece poses unique challenges, whether technical or aesthetic, and “Thresher” proved particularly difficult, so I put it down for three months. I would put it down several times, punctuated by periods of intense work, over the course of nine months. But when it was finally done, I was pleased that it fulfilled for me the initial impressions I wanted to convey, and is a clear expression of my intentions with this body of assemblages.