Artist
Franz Jantzen
Title
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)
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.
