IDLE FRONTIER explores the deep and recent history of ecological trauma and land dispossession of the former U.S. military base and munitions depot in Seneca County, New York. The frontier is often described as the edge between the known and the unknown, but despite the site’s long colonial and militaristic history of dispossession, the Depot has regressed back into the realm of unknown and undiscovered. The 10,587-acre Depot, once used to house conventional ammunition during World War II, was also the site of several anti-war and anti-nuclear protests as well as the largest recorded herd of white deer in the world (propagated by the depot’s construction and policy). The site employed thousands during its construction and operation from 1941 until the 1990s.
The project draws from archives of site-specific blueprints, maps, photographs, and other material in coordination with Cornell University, the Seneca County Historian’s Office, and the Environmental Protection Agency. It is both a historical and symbolic account of the effects of the depot on plants, animals, and residents of Seneca County.
IDLE FRONTIER takes the form of two exhibitions. The first exhibit is on view on the first floor of John M. Olin Library from May 6th, 2025 through Fall 2025. The cases display historical information including maps of the Seneca Army Depot cross-sectioned over several years from 1938, before construction of the Army Depot, to 2023, well after its retirement. The second exhibition is on view at The Soil Factory from May 30th, 2025 to June 14th, 2025. This exhibit contains a collection of large-format analogue photography of the Seneca Army Depot, printed in analogue darkroom processes from Gum Dichromate to Vandyke Brown. In coordination with working artist Bradley Verhelle, the Soil Factory has generously provided its darkroom for a small five-day workshop on Split-Channel Printing with the Gum Dichromate Process (Dates & Times TBD). All are encouraged to attend an opening reception for the show on Saturday, June 7th from 5:00pm to 8:00pm.
Collaborator:
- Bradley Verhelle, AAP
