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.
