Cyanide tank support ruins at abandoned silver mill, American Flat, Nevada
Artist
Martin Stupich
(American, born 1949)
Date1981 (printed 2013)
Mediumpigment print
DimensionsImage: 16 1/2 × 40 15/16 in. (41.9 × 104 cm)
Support: 22 13/16 × 43 1/2 in. (57.9 × 110.5 cm)
Mat: 24 × 48 in. (61 × 121.9 cm)
Support: 22 13/16 × 43 1/2 in. (57.9 × 110.5 cm)
Mat: 24 × 48 in. (61 × 121.9 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineMuseum purchase, 2014
Object number2014.2.1
DescriptionA large platform with slats dominates the center of this landscape composition. The platform is surrounded by concrete with columns at left and a house or lodge in the upper right corner. Snow is on the ground in several places.eMuseum Notes
This modern ruin was the site of a silver mill in Nevada. The appealing slatted shape of the tank support structure belies its former association with cyanide, a highly toxic chemical often used to separate silver and gold from surrounding rock. Though this photograph was taken in Nevada, it stands in for similar sites throughout the western United States, including New Mexico, where humans have altered the landscape in order to benefit from natural resources and then simply abandon their grand structures.
On View
Not on view
Unknown Maker
circa 1940
