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“…By using Braille in my artwork I may be expressing my feelings that humankind is basically blind…. it seems that the human experience throughout our dark history has been one of blindly groping and stumbling through life…”

Stephen Althouse, June 18, 2005, excerpt from a gallery talk at his exhibition at the 7th International Fototage, Mannheim, Germany

Excerpts from a 2009 letter responding to questions from a Collection Research Fellow at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, Illinois

Saw II

Saw II was inspired by a friendship between Althouse and Elam Beiler, a local Amish Bishop.

“….Each time we crossed paths our conversations became a bit deeper and more philosophical. He [Elam] was carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders, especially the relentless pressures upon his people for change, and he was interested in my opinions…..Elam rarely socialized at his home, so it was special when he had my family over for an evening visit. The following day in the snowy woods behind his farm he was fatally injured while felling a tree for firewood… I’ve been mourning his passing for a long time….”
“….As is Amish custom, Elam’s viewing was in his house. His long body was wrapped in a white shroud and was lying on a simple long thin wooden bench. I’ll never forget seeing him there for the last time, and that mental image was inspiration for Saw II….”

Excerpts from a 2009 letter responding to questions from a Collection Research Fellow at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, Illinois

Weaning Halters

In Weaning Halters Althouse integrates phrases borrowed from special songs that were read at Elam’s funeral from the Ausbund, a 16th century hymnal used solely by the Amish and still printed in old German Fraktur script.

“…phrases stamped into the hanging metal tags describe how each of us may react differently when approaching death, just as calves react differently when being weaned from their mothers…”

Weaning Halters, Saw II, and Wheel I were inspired by a friendship between Althouse and Elam Beiler, an Amish Bishop who was the Amish leader in their area. Amish Bishops try to maintain and regulate the religious and cultural traditions within their church districts while simultaneously not loosing their people to the temptations of mainstream society. It appears that Elam Beiler faced many challenges, and was beginning confide in the artist:

“….Each time we crossed paths our conversations became deeper and more philosophical. He [Elam] was carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders, especially the relentless pressures on his people for change, and he was interested in my opinions…..Elam rarely socialized at his home, so it was special when he had my family over for an evening visit. The following day in the snowy woods behind his farm he was fatally injured while felling a tree for fire wood…… I’ve been mourning his passing for a long time…”

A note about the actual usage of weaning halters on a farm:
As calves mature, some easily transition from nursing their mothers’ milk to eating grass and hay. However some calves have difficulty with this process and will refuse to stop nursing even well past the age when they should be leaving their mothers and eating on their own. Farmers, who want the cows’ milk for their families’ use or to sell, may put weaning halters on the calves to facilitate the weaning process. Weaning halters have metal nails added to the noseband, so when a calf tries to nurse, the nails will jab and annoy the mother, who will then no longer permit the calf to nurse.

Mesa con Tricornios 2008 is a reference to Althouse’s living and working in Spain in the early 1970’s during Franco’s fascist dictatorship. Depicted in this photograph are formal dress ‘tricornios’ which are a unique style of hat worn by the Guardia Civil; the Spanish military police which was used by Franco to strictly enforce his laws and maintain order.

“…As an American I found it curious that men and women could walk alone in the streets at any hour of the day or night in any part of the city [Madrid] without fear of crime….closed shops could even leave their outdoor displays on the sidewalks over night just covered with tarps…..Never once did I see or hear of problems such as alcohol, drugs, or weapons…

…However with time as I was feeling more like a resident than a visitor, I became aware that the peace and tranquility had some unsettling strings attached. Although I had always been aware of the Guardia Civil posted every block or two, armed and wearing their unusual black tricornio hats, their presence gradually felt more prominent and oppressive to me. My friends would get inhibited and quiet when we strolled passed them, and I began to sense their influence everywhere, even in private…when I asked questions about the Guardia Civil, replies were nervous abrupt school-book answers of how they protect us, and then the subject would be quickly changed… There seemed to be security only for people who conformed to Franco’s rules and who never expressed dissatisfaction with the system. It became apparent that the Guardia Civil dealt forcefully and harshly with those who did not… The longer I lived in Spain, the more effective the tricornio became as a tool to make me feel uneasy and intimidated…”

Edited excerpts from a gallery talk by the artist during the 2009 exhibition Stephen Althouse: De l’Entaille de l’Épée au Sillon de la Charrue at the Beaux-arts des Amériques, Montréal, Canada

Wheel I, 2009

Stephen Althouse, 2009, excerpts from a letter responding to a Museum Collection Researcher at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, Illinois

Weaning Halters, Saw II, and Wheel I were inspired by a friendship between Althouse and Elam Beiler, an Amish Bishop who was the Amish leader in their area. Amish Bishops try to maintain and regulate the religious and cultural traditions within their church districts while simultaneously not loosing their people to the temptations of mainstream society. It appears that Elam Beiler faced many challenges, and was beginning confide in the artist:

“….Each time we crossed paths our conversations became deeper and more philosophical. He [Elam] was carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders, especially the relentless pressures on his people for change, and he was interested in my opinions…..Elam rarely socialized at his home, so it was special when he had my family over for an evening visit. The following day in the snowy woods behind his farm he was fatally injured while felling a tree for fire wood…… I’ve been mourning his passing for a long time…”

In Wheel I Althouse integrates phrases borrowed from special songs that were read at Elam Beiler’s funeral from the Ausbund, a 16th century hymnal used solely by the Amish and still printed in old German Fraktur script:

“…The carved phrases in Wheel I question which way to turn, and describe the woods as being barren of leaves…”

Closed Tongs, Jupille sur Meuse, Belgium, 2004

Sacred Tongs, Jupille sur Meuse, Belgium, 2004

He was working hard down in the pit in the freezing metal shop. It was a cold winter in Belgium but his face and bare arms were dripping with sooty sweat as he used his tongs to handle the white hot metal. As I watched from above and conversed with him, I began reminiscing my younger years when my late grandfather and I labored hard together at a stone quarry in Pennsylvania. It opened a floodgate of memories and emotions. He looked up out of the foundry pit and saw me staring down at his tools. He carefully presented his tongs up to me in a gesture of a sacred offering.

Closed Tongs, Jupille sur Meuse, Belgium, 2004

Sacred Tongs, Jupille sur Meuse, Belgium, 2004

He was working hard down in the pit in the freezing metal shop. It was a cold winter in Belgium but his face and bare arms were dripping with sooty sweat as he used his tongs to handle the white hot metal. As I watched from above and conversed with him, I began reminiscing my younger years when my late grandfather and I labored hard together at a stone quarry in Pennsylvania. It opened a floodgate of memories and emotions. He looked up out of the foundry pit and saw me staring down at his tools. He carefully presented his tongs up to me in a gesture of a sacred offering.

Axe, Wood, and Shroud
Artist: Stephen Althouse

Althouse, who lives in Rebersburg, Pennsylvania in Amish country, produced a series of visual meditations on traditional hand tools. In Axe, Wood, and Shroud the function of the tool is aestheticized. The axe and wood bracket the implied act of chopping wood. The soft vernal light raking over thick creased fabric depicts the act as a sacrament symbolized by relics as in a Medieval altar painting while the minimal composition, flat frontal perspective and colorless negative space bring the act into the space of Modern art.

Richard Rinehart, Director
Samek Art Museum
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania

Massacre Ardennais

Excerpts from a letter responding to a viewer’s question from the exhibition Stephen Althouse, Art Museum of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, February 15 – March 28, 2006

“…in slang Belgian-French the word ‘massacre’ simply means ‘trophy antlers’, so the title of the photograph Massacre Ardennais translates as Trophy antlers from the Ardennes; however the words also imply something larger and darker when translated more formally….

….many things were going through my mind while I was formulating ideas for this piece. While living in Belgium I had been visiting the Ardennes Mountains near the German border and noticed antlers hanging as ornamentation on the sides of country houses. I began to recall happy memories of my late grandparents’ summer cottage in the forested mountains of northern Pennsylvania, which had a similar look, feel, and tranquility of the Ardennes. The name of their cottage, the Antlers, was hung over the front door along with a rack of deer antlers.

Intertwined with these pleasant thoughts was the unsettling realization that some of the fiercest fighting in WWII had taken place where I was now walking in the quiet snow blanketed forest, with terrible loss of lives for both Americans and Germans during their great struggle….Knowing how I grapple with humanity’s predisposition for making war, you can imagine how I felt and why I was compelled to create something……..The Braille on the cloth asks quis custodiet ipsos custodies? which is Latin for who shall guard the guardians?…”

Stephen Althouse, March, 2006