untitled: maxon mills

floor plan .pdfs
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untitled: maxon mills, 2015

i set out to work directly with the maxon mills building of the wassaic project during a winter residency in january of 2015. the hamlet of wassaic, new york, is rich in history and the maxon mills building, built in 1954, is a striking remnant of the hudson river valley’s contribution to the industrial age. i am intrigued by the craftsmanship and beauty of form and function visible within the spaces of the old grain mill in this wood crib elevator — one of the last few remaining in the country.

the maxon mills company used the building to collect different grains from local farmers for credit. from the grains, the company created a nutritional feed for livestock which they redistributed and sold to farmers in six counties in new york state and vermont. stretches of land that once held the railroads the company used to transport the feed are still visible from the building — flattened spaces where iron smelted in nearby kilns were hammered in place, opening lines of travel and commerce between new york city and albany, and west from albany to the great lakes.

this installation is a combination of poetry and awareness. an abundance of contrast between textures and shapes allowed me to play with quiet facets of particular spaces and bring them into the open, highlighted by materials found on site. the ultimate goal is to shift awareness and encourage the viewer to become more in tune with his or her surroundings.

working with maxon mills offered an opportunity to work in collaboration with the building, its builders and architects, and the workers who kept it in operation from the 1950s through its closure in the 1980s. my piece is an homage to them — not for the sake of nostalgia, but as an expression of appreciation for the history and heritage of the space and a desire to more fully envision its present and future states. my interventions reflect on subleties and nuances the building itself offers. they invite viewers to contemplate their own placements within each space. ideally, awareness will develop into a further understanding of the power of potential within each space and every viewer.