Diana: Crop Circles by Land and by Sea 2013 might be remembered as the digital fabrication era, with all manner of goods now producible on increasingly accessible 3D printers. Now a similar technology is being applied to farming, dubbed "agricultural printing" by Benedikt Groß, a speculative and interaction designer. His Avena+ Test Bed project "applies algorithms to partition and to create an environmentally beneficial arrangement of plantation to establish, or improve, the connectivity for fauna and flora between habitats." Using GIS, he subdivides the plot of land into pixels and then uses a tractor to "print" a precise pattern using different seed mixes. Quite the complex feat! Makes me wonder: If earthwork artist Robert Smithson were alive today, is this the type of work he'd be doing? On a related note, this video of a small fish creating elaborate patterns on the sea floor is a no-tech (but equally awesome) variation on the crop-circle theme. Photo 4 of 6 in Friday Finds 08.23.13 by Eujin Rhee

Friday Finds 08.23.13

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Diana: Crop Circles by Land and by Sea

2013 might be remembered as the digital fabrication era, with all manner of goods now producible on increasingly accessible 3D printers. Now a similar technology is being applied to farming, dubbed "agricultural printing" by Benedikt Groß, a speculative and interaction designer. His Avena+ Test Bed project "applies algorithms to partition and to create an environmentally beneficial arrangement of plantation to establish, or improve, the connectivity for fauna and flora between habitats." Using GIS, he subdivides the plot of land into pixels and then uses a tractor to "print" a precise pattern using different seed mixes. Quite the complex feat! Makes me wonder: If earthwork artist Robert Smithson were alive today, is this the type of work he'd be doing? On a related note, this video of a small fish creating elaborate patterns on the sea floor is a no-tech (but equally awesome) variation on the crop-circle theme.