The Mill
2023–
performative sculpture
granite, reclaimed materials
ABK / Kunstbezirk / Kunstverein Wagenhalle, Stuttgart (DE)
Waste management happens behind closed doors. Meanwhile, mills of every kind — pepper mills, coffee grinders, hand mills — sit proudly on kitchen counters, objects of domestic display. The Mill takes this contradiction seriously.
A performative sculpture built entirely from waste materials, The Mill weighs approximately 2.5 tonnes and is modelled on the Asian hand mill — the kind traditionally used to grind soba — but scaled up dramatically. Driven by one or two people using long levers, it requires sustained physical effort to operate. The upper runner stone alone weighs around 750kg.
Its function inverts that of any conventional mill. Rather than grinding food, it grinds waste. Material is fed into a funnel cut into the stone, passes through the mill's interior, and is expelled at the sides — collected in old food jars reclaimed from industrial production. Returned to the context of food, the ground waste granulate completes an absurd digestive loop. The grinding process is slow, bodily, and deliberate — a performance that makes visible what society prefers to keep out of sight.
The Mill asks questions our culture tends to ignore: what happens to all the waste, and who is responsible for it? What would waste look like if it received the attention it deserves?
Shown at ABK Stuttgart/Kunstbezirk (2023) and as part of the group exhibition x/y/z, Projektraum KVwH, Stuttgart (2024). Available for exhibition and performance by arrangement.
Photos: Nadine Brecht