WHAT’S MOVING US
A blog for members to share the art, ideas, and inspirations that move them.
Guest contributor:
Keith Walpole is a writer and musician based in Brooklyn, NY. Alongside his Substack ‘Circles in Space’, he publishes a weekly newsletter, ‘Five Bullets’, which covers everything from art to music to history and science.
Cornfield Masterpieces
npr:
In the small town of Sunderland, Mass., is a 300-year-old, family-run plot of land that fuses fine art and farming.
Mike Wissemann’s 8-acre cornfield maze is a feat of ingenuity, with carefully planned and executed stalk-formed replicas of notables such as the Mona Lisa, Albert Einstein and Salvador Dalí.
But how do those pictures come to life? Maybe you remember Skill-o-Gram puzzles, in which the clues are squares that have labels like A-4 or F-5, each one holding part of the design. When those parts are copied into a blank grid, they create a whole picture.
Corn is also planted on a grid. By breaking the field into squares on paper or computer, each one holding a piece of the picture, and scaling up, you’ve got a blueprint. But in a cornfield, the picture is pixelated, so it’s kind of like creating a giant halftone photo, using the density of the corn to make the image darker or lighter.
At Treinen farm in Lodi, Wis., the maze’s theme and method are much different. Designer Angie Treinen was inspired this year by all of the cute things she found on the Internet: ninja kittens, cupcakes with faces, unicorns, narwhals and rainbows. Her style is based on the Japanese art style known as “Kawaii,” which means “cute.”
Treinen’s is a century-old, family-run farm. About 15 of the farm’s 200 acres are devoted to the corn maze. Here, maze cutting is still designed and executed the old-fashioned way, by using a lot of graph paper and elbow grease.
With GPS And Graph Paper, Farmers Find A-maze-ing Ways To Bring In Cash
Photos: Courtesy of Warner Farm and Courtesy of Treinen Farm
Bodega Cats
If you’re familiar with the Instagram Bodega Cats of Instagram, then you should familiarize yourself with the illustrated version of it. Sunny Eckerle illustrates the bodega cats living in our beloved corner shops across Brooklyn. Check out her work here.
Bad Dads
“Bad Dads” is a pop up art show tributing the films of Wes Anderson. The show will display various original paintings, illustrations, prints, and sculptures. Check it out at the Joseph Gross Gallery in New York City August 7th-9th.
What’s Moving Us Today
A blog about what’s inspiring us today.
Member Curator of the Week
Paralegal by day, drummer by night, and curious by nature, Keith is typically researching various topics at any given moment. His interests include music, writing, all things creative, and exploring the natural world. Posts will encompass his most recent findings, exhibit visits, and important topics pertaining to creatives today.