Crop Circles as Art
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Most people have no opinion about crop cirlces. The people that do, however, for the most part, believe that crop circles are either mystical in nature, a form of alien communication, or a hoax pretending to be one of those two.
No one (that I know of) thinks of crop circles as purely an art form. There are always conotations of the paranormal associated with them. But crop cirlces don't have to be the limited interest of alien-watchers, mystical gurus, and I-wish-I-were-back-in-the-60's hippy people. What about artists?
To me, crop-circling, is not much different that any other art form. It's just another of expressing myself, just like writing, painting, or drawing. But, instead of brushes I use assorted lawn & garden tools. And for my canvas I used a field of 2 foot tall grass. And people call me "eccentric" for it (imagine that).
So here's a few tips if anyone ever got the hankering to make their own crop circle.
As far as tools go you won't need anything fancy. A list of supplies might include a measuring tape, a marker, a hammer, some stakes of some sort, a spool of kite string, some spray paint, a lawn-mower and/or a weed-wacker. Of course, I suggest that you be creative and you anything else you can find that might help.
Step 1: I started by drawing out a plan. If you don't want to that's fine because this is art and if you want to be spontanious go right ahead. But I threw together a rough draft of what my crop cirlce would look like. It was supposed to look something like a spiral galaxy. It turned out to look rather like a big "s".
Step 2: Get some good help. I was reading on the internet about "real" crop-circle-makers in England who spend their life hoaxing crop circles for new-agers to drool over. They claim to do their work, in total darkness, completely spontainously, and with no help. But I found that I needed help so I recruited my best friend to help me. She looked at me funny when I asked her but in the end I convinced her that it would be fun.
Step 3: Use your string, your measuring tape, and any geometry that you remember from high school to measure out all your circles. I put stakes in the centers of my circles. This was the hardest part for us and it took the longest.
Step 4: Then we tied a can of spray paint to a string of the appropiate length (the radius of your circle). We tied the other end of the string to the center stake. Then we just sprayed in a circle (it works just like a compass).
Step 5: The only thing left to do is mow it out. I used the lawn mower and my best friend used a weed-wacker. Each left a distinctly different impression in the grass but it took us half the time.
Step 6: There is one more thing. Once you've finished your crop circle you'll have this unquenchable desire to see it. So it would be nice if you knew someone with an airplane or hot-air balloon. Unfourtunatley I don't so I climbed a tree. Although it isn't the best view it works.
Finally, if anyone dare calls you eccentric just smile, point to your imperfectly shaped crop circle and say, "At least I'm not conncentric."
No one (that I know of) thinks of crop circles as purely an art form. There are always conotations of the paranormal associated with them. But crop cirlces don't have to be the limited interest of alien-watchers, mystical gurus, and I-wish-I-were-back-in-the-60's hippy people. What about artists?
To me, crop-circling, is not much different that any other art form. It's just another of expressing myself, just like writing, painting, or drawing. But, instead of brushes I use assorted lawn & garden tools. And for my canvas I used a field of 2 foot tall grass. And people call me "eccentric" for it (imagine that).
So here's a few tips if anyone ever got the hankering to make their own crop circle.
As far as tools go you won't need anything fancy. A list of supplies might include a measuring tape, a marker, a hammer, some stakes of some sort, a spool of kite string, some spray paint, a lawn-mower and/or a weed-wacker. Of course, I suggest that you be creative and you anything else you can find that might help.
Step 1: I started by drawing out a plan. If you don't want to that's fine because this is art and if you want to be spontanious go right ahead. But I threw together a rough draft of what my crop cirlce would look like. It was supposed to look something like a spiral galaxy. It turned out to look rather like a big "s".
Step 2: Get some good help. I was reading on the internet about "real" crop-circle-makers in England who spend their life hoaxing crop circles for new-agers to drool over. They claim to do their work, in total darkness, completely spontainously, and with no help. But I found that I needed help so I recruited my best friend to help me. She looked at me funny when I asked her but in the end I convinced her that it would be fun.
Step 3: Use your string, your measuring tape, and any geometry that you remember from high school to measure out all your circles. I put stakes in the centers of my circles. This was the hardest part for us and it took the longest.
Step 4: Then we tied a can of spray paint to a string of the appropiate length (the radius of your circle). We tied the other end of the string to the center stake. Then we just sprayed in a circle (it works just like a compass).
Step 5: The only thing left to do is mow it out. I used the lawn mower and my best friend used a weed-wacker. Each left a distinctly different impression in the grass but it took us half the time.
Step 6: There is one more thing. Once you've finished your crop circle you'll have this unquenchable desire to see it. So it would be nice if you knew someone with an airplane or hot-air balloon. Unfourtunatley I don't so I climbed a tree. Although it isn't the best view it works.
Finally, if anyone dare calls you eccentric just smile, point to your imperfectly shaped crop circle and say, "At least I'm not conncentric."
